It is not easy to be the first in the list of the best films of the year, which I prepare every year. Sometimes many films deserve first place, and choosing which one to put at the top is challenging. But I had no trouble making my list in 2018. Blindspotting undisputedly proudly topped my list as soon as I watched it. I got goosebumps as I found what I was looking for. I still have the taste of the movie I call Shakespearean Rap. Even if many of you haven’t heard of the movie yet, there is such a movie, and it fascinates you when you watch it. Here is a series that is a sequel to that beautiful movie. And do you know? The show is as beautiful as the film.
Let’s briefly touch on its subject… The series continues precisely where the movie left off. Miles gets involved in an incident again and makes his way to prison. His girlfriend Ashley and son Sean must live without him for a long time. Ashley has to establish the order to maintain her life and tell her son Sean that his father is in prison. Ashley, who does not know how to explain the situation to her son on top of the distress caused by being alone and dragged from place to place, falls into a problematic depression by being stuck on two edges.
Blindspotting was about Collin, who was paroled and freed after 3 days, and his trouble-magnet friend Miles. If Collin could stay good for three more days, he would be completely free. But the things he had to keep silent for 3 days were against everything that formed his identity. Murphy’s laws. While he is supposed to behave, everything starts to come upon him. The absurd comedy that the first film built on black characters and the criticism it created within itself greatly impressed me. Collin’s inability to speak out about the death of another black person, the fact that white Miles kept causing trouble while black people kept silent, and little Sean’s gun jokes at a young age were pretty clever. The critique of inequality and entrenched stereotypes was very creative. The way these feelings were reflected was also given through dance. Although I don’t like musicals, Blindspotting made me love its dancing characters. Especially the scene where Collin disses the police in the final is an epic scene that will not be forgotten for many years.
The series picks up where the movie left off, but this time our main characters are women and Earl, who was released on parole with a bracelet on his wrist. This time, it is based on the difficulties faced by black women and the criticism of the stereotypes they have created for themselves. Ashley has to work, take care of her son, and stay faithful. On top of that, She has to somehow tell her son that his father is in jail. Continuous pressure will eventually cause you to react. Throughout the series, we see Ashley’s reactions to her depression. These reactions are sometimes given with dances and music, as in the movie. I repeat, although I do not like musicals at all, I was amazed by the fact that the emotions were tried to be conveyed with a calm and fluent dance technique. The dance, especially in the scene where Earl takes a deep breath, tells the character’s feelings peacefully with the taste of a simple painting.
We can call it the new Shameless for Blindspotting. It is clear that there will be a sequel. The movie’s leading role, Collin, aka Daveed Diggs, is not in the series, but as far as we understand in the final, he will return in the second season. So the family will be united forever, no matter how long Miles is in prison. Our family is not shameless like Shameless. Instead, it is deeply integrated into its own culture. As in Shameless, they get along moderately, but folks in Blindspotting are more intellectual and have higher ethical values. But as I said, they are all reflections of black culture and live with its obsession. This obsession is best revealed in the episode when they try to make little Sean watch a “black movie.” The family thinks their child is black and should live like a black man, but Sean is just a little kid and has no idea what they’re talking about; Colors are not that important to him. Whether he watches Black Panther or Paddington, he only sees the movie. No matter how much they argue over black people at the table and mess with the old and history, we are now in 2021, and the current world is entirely different.
The film was about the problems that being black creates in the country and how they struggle with these problems. The series focuses on personality discovery through black people rather than black issues. Our characters are still searching for who they are and their purpose in life. Of course, Ashley is the most difficult in this process. But all the characters have a quest, including ghetto-stuck Trish and parole Earl. And at the end of the series, they discover that this quest cannot be fulfilled alone; it must be done together. So while all the characters are entertaining even alone, the conversation they have when they come together is delightful and reaches the level of Shameless.
To sum it up… Blindspotting manages to reflect the critical approach like in the movie. Blindspotting, which builds the film on men, builds the series on women who are left alone. I hope the series will continue with its second season, which is also very enjoyable and produces accurate analyzes of black culture. I think we need a new Shameless family, and I think it would be suitable for all of us to see characters who question and argue instead of shameless characters this time. The period we are in also requires a little bit of this. Of course, like the movie, the series isn’t known much, but I hope one day, the name Blindspotting will get the recognition it deserves.
Cast & Crew
creators: Rafael Casal, Daveed Diggs
starring: Jasmine Cephas Jones, Jaylen Barron, Rafael Casal, Candace Nicholas-Lippman, Benjamin Earl Turner, Atticus Woodward
USA | 2021 | 8 EPISODES |