Michael Brown’s death spurred the rallying cry,
“Hands up, don’t shoot.”(Elcardo Anthony)
Warner Bros. is reportedly bringing the story of Michael Brown to the big screen and not everyone is thrilled, believing it is simply exploitative.
Brown was fatally shot by white officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Mo., after the Black 18-year-old allegedly stole cigarillos from a convenience store in 2014. Brown’s death launched protests throughout the U.S. and a grand jury decided not to indict Wilson, who was exonerated in 2015.
The story, which The Tracking Board reported will be based on “Tell the Truth & Shame the Devil,” a memoir by Brown’s mother, Lezley McSpadden, will be told in the same vein as the 2004 film “Crash.”
The winner of the Best Picture Oscar, “Crash” focused on the interconnected stories of several different people of various races, genders and classes. Warner Bros., which beat out other studios interested in the project, reportedly wants to hire a nonwhite writer to develop the on-screen adaptation of “Tell the Truth.”
Many are unenthusiastic about the Brown film, slamming it as taking advantage of a Black tragedy.
Capitalism exploits Black lives even in death. pic.twitter.com/tGEGi8oNiK
— Abbas (@Abbas_Muntaqim) June 19, 2017
Y'all really goin sit there and watch that Michael Brown movie nothing was riveting about his story it was sad and disgusting
— ❤️🔥 (@imnosweetdream) June 17, 2017
https://twitter.com/yayaswh0/status/876148883172327426
https://twitter.com/race_jones/status/876108049592836096
Some especially took issue with the decision to make the movie similar to “Crash.”
Crash was All Lives Matter the movie before that was a thing, dont do this to Michael Brown
— #AllPodcastsMatter (@AllPodsMatter) June 17, 2017
The movie #Crash was some self-serving white liberal BS. Relativizing racism in ways that redeem racist rapist cops.
— Duane Deterville (@duanedeterville) June 19, 2017
Others felt conflicted.
I certainly won't boycott a Mike Brown movie, but it isn't in my spirit to see it either. There will be more cases like this. Trust.
— FilmFatale_NYC 🇭🇹 🇩🇴 🇺🇸 (@FilmFatale_NYC) June 17, 2017
https://twitter.com/linusashford/status/876450826465689600
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