Growing up in the urban landscape of St. Louis, Missouri, I witnessed many young African American males losing their hunger to achieve their dreams. I believe American culture instills a desire to achieve a dream for young African American males, and then resentment from family as well as community leads them to self-destruct. To break this bondage, one must be willing to adapt to the ideology of mainstream American society.
In The Allegory of the Cave, Plato illustrates the notion of human beings as prisoners in a cave with a fire behind them. The prisoners are forced to see shadows on a wall. What they don’t know is that puppeteers are actually manipulating the shadows. Once freed some prisoners are blinded by the light of the fire and cannot endure the shock of reality. Others will follow the light to adapt to their new reality. To see life for what it is, one must be courageous and willing to forge his own path, even at the risk of losing his former reality. In my film, Said Things, I question whether getting an education is akin to Plato’s light that will change one’s life or whether it is the light that keeps one blind to reality and that forces one back into the shadows.
Said Things is a drama about two African-American brothers’ estrangement due to one brother’s pursuit of higher education, which leads to their final argument. Before the argument occurs, Don ponders how his older brother will take the news of his departure from St. Louis to pursue his educational goals. Don tells his brother that he is leaving because he believes receiving an education will allow him the same opportunities as a white male. Mac criticizes Don for being blinded by what the white man has instilled in him about black men having equal opportunity. Their argument causes a rift between them but does not prevent Don from carrying through with his plan. The film ends with Don walking towards his new path while pondering his brother’s message.
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