Film Reponse - film response for \"The Last Black Man in San Francisco\" PDF

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film response for "The Last Black Man in San Francisco"...

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Tomci 1 Brianna Tomci Professor Goar ETST205-001 17 April 2020 Film Response: “The Last Black Man in San Francisco” Based on a true story, “The Last Black Man in San Francisco” directed by Joe Talbot, tells the story of Jimmie Fails, a young black man born and raised in San Francisco who hopes to reclaim the home that his grandfather built years ago. The title comes from the fact that, according to Fails, his grandfather was the first black man in San Francisco. Fails and his best friend Mont continue to visit the house to repair it in a now unrecognizable neighborhood. Perhaps the biggest issues in the film that pertain to race and class are the poor quality living situations in black communities, the internal racism and heterosexism within the black community, and the gentrification of black neighborhoods. The movie begins with a preacher who is talking about the poor quality of the environment and water and how this has been a problem for years that has affected his community. Later on, kids are shown playing by toxic waste and a mutated fish with several eyes was shown to portray the severity of the situation. This reminded me of the 2014 water crisis in Flint, Michigan when the city decided to change its drinking water supply from Detriot’s system to the Flint River to save money. These actions resulted in issues with water quality and health issues for the residents. For example, water causing rashes, hair loss, and itchy skin. It is important to note that a majority of Flint’s population is African-American and about half live below the poverty line (Denchak). In short, the situation in Flint was an example of systematic racism that is portrayed in the film. The idea of building plants near these communities is directly

Tomci 2 an issue of race and class because these facilities most of the time affect poor and predominantly black communities. In addition to the poor quality of the living standards for this community, the film portrays the hegemonic cycle of internal racism and heterosexism within the black community. There are different groups within the black community shown in the film, for instance, there is a group of African-American men who are always on the street corner, covered in tattoos, etc. In contrast, Fails and Mont are portrayed as these clean-cut African-American men who skateboard and read and write plays. At one point in the film, this group of men physically assaulted Mont and made heterosexist comments towards him. There is also the concept of gun violence within the black community which was shown as one of the characters was killed as a result of gun violence. In addition to racism and heterosexism, many relationships are portrayed in depth to show the connections between the black community. With this, I think it is important to mention that the relationship between Jimmie and his father was highlighted. His father is a single man who does not have a good relationship with Jimmie considering the tension between the two. When Jimmie tells his father that he was going to buy their old house back, his father gets upset because that neighborhood is now white. Jimmie’s relationship with his mother is not shown much, the only time he met with her was by chance on a bus. Another example of this can be seen when Jimmie was speaking with his aunt who had left the poor community and now is in a white community which she claims is a “safe neighborhood”. I realized that because black people leave their neighborhoods, there are fewer opportunities for that neighborhood to grow. Internalized racism, heterosexism, and the broken relationships within the black community show a struggle of a race within itself. The main issue that the film exemplifies is the reality of gentrification in black

Tomci 3 neighborhoods specifically in San Fransico. Gentrification is a process of renovating and improving housing in a particular neighborhood or district so that it is representative of the middle and upper classes. In the film, the preacher describes this process as “half in the past, half in the future”. The film itself highlights the number of homeless people amid these newly built communities. At one point a landlord burned down an apartment building to immediately evict the African-American tenants. Also, when Jimmie met with the house realtor, he is very skeptical about Jimmie being able to realistically purchase the house. These are some examples of institutional racism and discrimination that have become intertwined with the process of gentrification. In an interview, Jimmie Fails who was born in raised in San Francisco describes how there is a small population of African-Americans, hence the film title, because it is less affordable and buildings are being torn down to be rebuilt. He also talks about how families are broken apart by gentrification and this is evident in the film with his relationship with his mother and father and the reality of being homeless (PBS). With cities around the country being gentrified, it is important to note that while home values are increasing, buying a home is dependent more and more on generational wealth (Robertson). Gentrification is directly an issue of race and class because African-Americans are being displaced from their homes, their jobs, and their families as a result of this process. In my opinion, the film overall showed the reality for many people in black communities in America. There were certain aspects like conversations or actions that were particularly shown that from my experience, are quite representative of the black community. In general, the film supported my values in the sense that it showed the hardships that these communities face. I enjoyed that the film was based on a true story and the main character, Jimmie Fails, was able to bring his story to light. I enjoyed the cinematography of the film and the actors I think brought

Tomci 4 character to the story and the profoundness of the issues that black communities are facing because of their race and class status.

References Denchak, Melissa. “Flint Water Crisis: Everything You Need to Know.” NRDC, 13 Mar. 2020, www.nrdc.org/stories/flint-water-crisis-everything-you-need-know. PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 8 Nov. 2019, www.pbs.org/wnet/amanpour-andcompany/video/jimmie-fails-discusses-gentrification-in-san-francisco/. Robertson, Michelle. “A Citywide Crisis in Gentrification? New SF Residents Make Far More Money than Those Leaving.” SFGate, San Francisco Chronicle, 16 Apr. 2018,

Tomci 5 www.sfgate.com/expensive-san-francisco/article/Who-s-moving-to-San-Francisco-Therich-the-12805760.php. The Last Black Man in San Francisco. Dir. Joe Talbot. 2019, Film....