Blindspotting

Blindspotting is a carefully crafted meditation on moral concerns, that is, what it means to be human and exist in this world.  On the surface it’s a consideration on the gentrification of the Bay Area — a condemnation on the way housing costs have skyrocketed.  The reason for this has a lot to do with the success of tech companies that have lured young wealthy transplants from places like Seattle and Portland.  The influx has had a considerable effect on life in Northern California.  But it’s so much more than that. In a larger perspective, it’s a dissertation on race and class.  Yet the milieu is not didactic. Blindspotting loves the Bay Area and everything that makes it one of the most diverse intersections of cultures in the world.

Blindspotting is the tale of two friends: Collin (Daveed Diggs) and Miles (Rafael Casal). The two work for a moving company.  Collin’s association with Miles is deep but it can be challenging.  They have been close all their lives.  They are of the same class but of a different race.  Collin is black; Miles is white.  The fact is unimportant in their relationship but relevant in the way they are perceived by others.  Miles is a father with a young child.  He is fiercely loyal to those close to him but unstable and prone to violent outbursts.  Collin is on probation for one year.  He has an 11 p.m.curfew.  The nature of his crime won’t be answered until much later.  Oh, but when it is, know that vignette is a reveal that is both hilarious and lamentable at the same time.  The important thing is he’s completed 11 months and 27 days.  He is literally just a few days away from finishing his term.  Collin is a good guy desperately trying to live his life on the straight and narrow.  So when Dez (Jon Chaffin) and best buddy Miles (Rafael Casal) show up carrying guns, Collin is visibly unnerved by the sight.  Later that night, Collin is stopped at a red light.  He’s past his check-in time.  All of a sudden a young black man (Travis Parker), runs in front of his truck.  Before Collin can proceed, a cop (Ethan Embry), runs in front of him and guns down the runner in the back.  Collin is stunned. Another officer pulls up and orders him to move.  When he arrives home, Colin has missed his curfew by nine minutes.  This will present a moral dilemma.  Does he speak up and endanger his impending freedom or keep quiet and live with the guilt?

Stars Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal have an enduring friendship in real life too.  Casal is a white-Hispanic spoken-word artist.  Diggs is a biracial rapper.  He’s best known for his role as the Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson in Hamilton on Broadway.  They have a relaxed easy going chemistry.  They also wrote the film together.  Working from their script, director Carlos López Estrada expertly juggles together drama, comedy, and hip-hop in his debut feature.  The developments of the story don’t always play out as you expect.  Blindspotting introduces tense moments only to subvert them.  A few times I tensed up at what looked like a violent resolution to the scene I was watching only to have the tension defused.  That’s not the expected development, but it is the more mindful one.  The screenwriters give us something to ponder.  They’re talented with words as well as in performance.  Diggs, in particular, is a charismatic presence.  If there’s any justice, he will be a star one day.

Blindspotting is a thoughtful reflection on the changing population of a city.  That diversity is something to celebrate.  Yet the disparate points of view that can lead to conflict.  The changing landscape a society of transplants can have a major effect on a region.  The drama can be serious when dealing with weighty topics but it also maintains a sense of humor as well.  Miles resents the upscale Whole Foods grocery corporation that now inhabits their hood.  “They have great produce” Collin offers.  Their local fast-food joint from back in the day has surrendered its menu to health-conscious elements.  The default burger is now vegan.  So please specify MEAT when you order a hamburger.  Fries have become potato wedges.  The community has now succumbed to establishments that subscribe to the religion of craft cocktails and food that promotes sustainability with only locally sourced ingredients.  It all comes to a head when Colin and Miles attend a trendy party at a sleek Oakland townhouse thrown by an affluent tech entrepreneur hipster – the symbol of everything Miles hates.  Miles wears a T-shirt that reads “Kill a hipster/Save your hood.”  When his natural way of speaking is mistaken as cultural appropriation by a guest, it hits a nerve.  The social commentary is surprisingly lighthearted at times.  Other times it is as grim as a heart attack.  It’s always incredibly entertaining.  Blindspotting gets it right.  It understands the city of Oakland., It appreciates the human condition. It gets the very fabric of humanity.

8-14-18