11/20/2022 0 Comments Surviving compton movie amazonAnd that trauma and terror are so horrific, several episodes begin with content warnings of graphic violence. Them is also drowning in terror and trauma, and little else. The performances are invigorating, particularly Ayorinde and Thomas, who are tasked with excavating the pain that comes from wounds both generational and directly personal. Them features an impressive array of filmmaking talent across 10 episodes, including Janicza Bravo (who's directed, among other things, the excellent "Juneteenth" episode of Atlanta) and notable horror director Ti West ( The Innkeepers). Because of course they are Black in America. Adding to these immediate threats is the fact that the Emorys - Lucky (Deborah Ayorinde), Henry (Ashley Thomas) and their daughters Ruby Lee (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and Gracie Jean (Melody Hurd) - are already entering into this new environment carrying their own set of deeply unsettling emotional baggage. Betty (Alison Pill) - a dissatisfied housewife who absolutely would have been front and center of the angry white mob that harassed the Little Rock Nine outside Central High School in Arkansas - leads the charge, rounding up the rest of the community to coordinate targeted attacks on the new family. Of course, the Emorys' new neighbors in this cookie-cutter Pleasantville are the opposite of welcoming. More specifically, the terror/trauma depicted in Them includes, but is not limited to: White characters spewing the N-word at Black people White characters graphically assaulting, torturing, and (occasionally) murdering Black people a creepy minstrel character rendered in blackface filicide. (With a brief detour to the 19th century in a later episode.) is there much difference between the two? Certainly not in this case, as the first season centers the Emorys, a Black family moving from rural North Carolina to the suburbs of East Compton, Calif., in 1953, back when East Compton was virtually all white.Įven if you hadn't already seen the much-discussed trailer, it would be easy enough to guess what said terror might entail based on that short description alone: Good ol', mid-20th century American racism. The new Amazon series Them, created by Little Marvin (Lena Waithe is one of the executive producers), has been billed as an anthology that "explores terror in America." Terror, trauma. In those fictional characterizations sometimes, the trauma is merely a plot point at other times, it is the point, or rather, the wrestling with and processing of it is. In pop culture, creators are mining the depths of trauma both personal and historical in a variety of ways - documenting the testimonials of real-life victims in shocking detail weaving harrowing experiences into fictional characters' narratives. Trauma in news form, trauma in essay form, trauma in Twitter thread form. Gracie Emory (Melody Hurd) and Lucky Emory (Deborah Ayorinde) confront their traumas in Them.Ĭourtesy of Amazon Prime Video/Courtesy of Amazon Prime Video
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