‘The Hate U Give’ creates conversation

Plattsburgh State students were given the luxury of price-reduced movie tickets in exchange for their participation in an activity among peers shortly afterward.
The PSUC Activities Commision Board, Educational Opportunity Program and the new diversity center hosted a showing of the film “The Hate U Give” at the Cumberland 12 Movie Theater to generate discussion about race in our country.
The film highlighted relatable themes that surround the world today like racial profiling and code switching, when an individual of color reframes from using slang in order to sound professional. PSUC senior Chelsie Asare organized the event with the intention of educating her peers about these issues depicted in the movie.
“I watched it with my boyfriend, and I was crying hysterically,” Asare said. “There are a lot of different themes students can learn a lesson from. I wanted the school to see [“The Hate U Give”].
With the help of Director for the Center of Student Involvement Cori Jackson, Asare was able to coordinate with Cumberland 12 during the theater’s final week of presenting the film and gather the necessary funds.
Asare found the film to be relatable to people of color in many ways, including code switching.
“It’s the reality,” Asare said. “As much as it sucks, it’s a survival tactic. This is America and this is how we have to live.”
Asare spoke about a particular school scene that related to her feelings about campus.
“That scene relates to how I feel about campus sometimes,” Asare Said. “You don’t know who’s your ally. Sometimes you have to ask yourself.”
Asare explained how the person who one considers their friend isn’t guaranteed to support the same values.
Asare, along with new diversity center director Mona El-Shahat, led the race-related discussion right after the film concluded. The turnout was decent with PSUC students, filling about half of theater five in Cumberland.
Students described the film as realistic because the ending wasn’t cliché where the characters were completely satisfied.
“I didn’t know about the different battles certain people go through,” PSUC junior Kyle Christian said. “I want to do more research [on racial issues], join more clubs and become more active [on campus].”
The overall message of the film was the hate and anger certain people throw out into the world comes back to haunt them later in the form of crime and violence. This theme spoke to El-Shahat.
“There is a little bridging of two worlds and two views,” El-Shahat said. “What you put out there is what you get back if you commit [poor] people, who are underrepresented, to having certain lifestyles because of their situations.”
El-Shahat also believes in overcoming the obstacles life gives us. She said that people who are born into those situations can come out stronger because of the experience by breaking the cycle.
“I feel like this movie was overall great because it had a lot of themes that related to [America’s] reality,” Asare said. “It really hit home.”