July 2002 Our America

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Reviewed by Chika Chukudebelu Our America Distributor: Showtime Networks Director: Ernest Dickerson Teleplay by: Gordon Rayfield Based on the Book: Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago Producers: Eda Godel Hallinan, Joseph Stern and Angela Bassett Music: Patrice Rushen Running Time: 95 min Cast: Josh Charles, Vanessa Williams, Roderick Pannell, Brandon Hammond American media consistently portrays life in the ghetto as fraught with violence and drugs, a situation lacking any hope or human compassion. Young people living in these areas aren’t expected to contribute anything positive to society because they “just don’t have it in them.” Society feeds this expectation (or lack thereof) into these young minds and when a ten year-old is constantly fed the message that he won’t live to see twenty-one, it doesn’t make sense to him to plan for a future. In Showtime’s latest original feature, Our America, these stereotypes that are placed on inner-city youth are challenged as we follow two teenagers on their journalistic voyage to find themselves and tell the truth. Based on a book written about a true story, this film raises poignant questions about racist journalism and what happens when we see ourselves through the eyes of children. David Isay (Charles), a National Public Radio (NPR) producer in Chicago, has been trying for two years to get NPR to produce a new segment. This segment follows two kids who live in Chicago’s inner city around for a month and shows NPR’s audience exactly what it is that they go through everyday dealing with family, sidestepping violence, staying ahead in school and fighting the odds of their circumstances. LeAlan Jones (Pannell) and Lloyd Newman (Hammond) are two ambitious teenagers who have a lot to say and have just been given a medium to say it. NPR listeners soon learn just how narrowly these high school juniors escape gunshots, how their younger peers get caught up in gangs and selling drugs, and how violence has become a form of entertainment. When the community accuses David of exploiting LeAlan and Lloyd for the sake of a juicy story, it threatens to destroy the validity of their truth and hard work. When the media machine goes into action again to report the death of a five year-old who was dangled and dropped out of a 14th floor window by two boys ages eleven and ten, LeAlan and Lloyd get fed up with the monster-like portrayal of the boys accused of the crime. Armed with a well-deserved confidence in their own journalistic abilities, the two set out to tell the real story. The two young actors, Pannell and Hammond, were given the difficult task of carrying a film based on a widely publicized event. Although they won’t be handed any acting awards for this performance, there is a strong story here exposing the existence of racial bias in broadcast journalism. Overall, the story is heartfelt, but less than compelling. Audiences will find satisfaction in seeing two young men take charge of themselves and their circumstances and build something positive out of it. Definitely a strong case for becoming a proponent of mentorship.