Fruitvale Station

Fruitvale Station

Off the bat, the film opens with real footage of the violent scene that played out in the early morning of New Years Day 2009 in which BART police officer Johannes Mehserle murdered Oscar Grant. For the murder, Mehserle received a two year sentence, and served only 11 months- less that half the time of his ridiculously short sentence.The biographical nature of the film is boosted by this real life footage, reminding the audience that what they are going to see is mostly true and that Oscar Grant was a real person who lost his life to police brutality. Furthermore, the use of the real life video gets the audience to instantly emotionally invest in the film, allowing them to have a stronger reaction to the film's events. Not only this, but it create the set up for the film, because the audience already knows the ending; they know what's going to happen. So instead of the film playing out like a normal film with audience's following the narrative/story, the film is more of an opportunity for learning about characters.- especially Oscar. 

One of the opening scenes shows the issue of deceit. A conversation between Oscar and his girlfriend reveals he had cheated on her. This sets up for the audience to create an idea of what type of person Oscar is. This negative image of Oscar the audience has created is furthered by the fact the couple have a young child together and they're not married and he has cheated on her; these stereotypes depict a negative image of Oscar; this negative image is crucial in order for the audience to invest in the character's development throughout the film, allowing audience's to see the change is Oscar in the short period leading up to his death. Another example of deceit is when Oscar hides the fact he lost his job from his girlfriend and mother. This example doesn't particularly show Oscar in the same negative way as the other example did. Instead most audience members will take this in the preferred reading in that Oscar done this to try and protect his family and not letting them worry about the issue. However, some audiences may see the oppositional reading and see it as rather than Oscar trying to protect his family, but alternatively trying to protect his masculinity, as males are meant to be the breadwinner.

In one scene, a stray pit bull is presented to which Oscar pets it and gives it attention. Soon after, the dog is hut and Oscar displays concern and distress over the death. This incident gives audiences a chance to grow more affectionate towards Oscar's character after being able to see more of his compassion compared to the earlier use of stereotypes. The death of the dog could foreshadow Oscar's death later on, as neither were their faults and they both died violently. This idea is backed up by the director comparing pit pulls to black males, drawing on the connection that you never hear any positives about the dog breed or black males in the media; "It's for getting shot and killed or shooting and killing somebody- for being a stereotype" instead.

One leading theme within the film is family and love. When talking about family, not only are literal family relationships, but the bonds between the group of friends are family like. Family and friends play a massive part in the life of Oscar, it's shown how he tried changing his life for his girlfriend, and his daughter- which is shown he loves unconditionally. Oscar is shown to have a considerable amount of love for his daughter, Tatiana; she seems to be his main motivation for the change he's trying to make. This is evident in the scene where it's revealed that when he's in jail he lied to her in what can be gathered as a form of protection- he is then heartbroken to hear that she thinks he doesn't love her as much as his "vocations". The relationship he has with his daughter is a positive representation as stereotypically, black males are not in their children's lives. When looking at the relationship between him and his mum, he is shown to have a deep rooted love and care for her and even though he isn't working and has no money, he still buys her food and a card for her birthday; even though he is living in what can be considered poverty, he still puts his mother first. The relationship between Oscar and his friend's is tight with them seemingly willing to stand up for each other- this ultimately resulted in Oscar's death; Oscar reacted to the brutality experienced by his friend from the police in which he tried to calm the situation down, which failed. The extend to their bonds can be seen when the fight broke out on the train and his friends tried to help Oscar. 

The police seemingly used racial stereotypes to gather Oscar's group of friends once the flight happened. The police didn't even look at or for the other group involved in the fight; they were of other ethnicities. The BART police seemingly used the stereotype of young black males being in gangs and instigating crime. This scene highlights the toxicity attached to using stereotypes; especially when said person or people are in a position of power or behold a weapon. This scene highlights the injustice in the justice system- especially in the US. It highlights how racial profiling and discrimination run through the veins of the police system and it needs to be sorted; people shouldn't lose their lives in the same way as Oscar Grant did.

Oscar and his friends were wearing clothing that is typical of people living in areas of poverty and worn generally by black men as depicted in the media. When trying to hide himself, Oscar was stood behind another black man who was wearing a costume that would be considered more smart than Oscar's attire and yet he wasn't even acknowledged by police, but Oscar was- he didn't display any physical injuries so the police must have judged him on costume; police therefore identified the characters on stereotypes related to clothing.

Another key theme in the film is poverty and unemployment. Oscar is ashamed that he's unemployed and cannot provide for his family, which can be seen when he conceals the fact he lost his job from both his girlfriend and mother. In order to make money, Oscar turns to crime in which the audience see him contemplating first and then deciding against it in the end. This theme shows how that sometimes the stuff people do and the crimes they commit is born out of necessity and shows the audience the other side to people like Oscar, instead of the usual representation of them being a waste of life. This life of poverty and unemployment although is prominent in society, and generally in families and people like Oscar there isn't much coverage in the media showing why people end up in that situation and why they sometime have to commit crimes. The film somewhat educates audiences on the issues, which is a reason why people consume media according to uses and gratification. It educates audiences that this is a real issue in society and is one that does need to be sorted out.

The lead women in the film have a great representation and act as good role models for women in the audience. The positive representation comes from showing the women to be independent and not need a man in their lives to cope; something that is said a lot in the media. Sophina (Oscar's girlfriend) has her own job and makes her own money meaning she doesn't financially depend on Oscar- as he has no job. This character shows that women are capable to independently go out and make money, even if they have children. Oscar's mum, Wanda is shown to be a strong woman devoted to her family which can be seen in such scenes as her birthday party. Wanda visits Oscar in prison as is able to stand her ground, and although is emotional she isn't persuaded not to carry out articulating her thoughts in a way that makes Oscar think about his life. Her character strength is also seen in the hospital scene where although offered to be companied by one of Oscar's friends, she went to see Oscar alone- something that is incredibly difficult to do.  In other media forms such as TV, when a similar situation occurs, the woman is seen to be needing support form a male: generally their husband. Furthermore, the positive representation of the women is furthered by the limited father figures in the film; It can be concluded that Oscar's mum brought him, and Sophina seems to have been brought up by her Grandma- a father figure isn't mentioned in neither situation. This shows the women as strong as they wasn't necessarily able to rely on a male to help with living and bringing up a child.

Police brutality and violence is an important theme in the film, although it's only contained within the film and isn't an actually running theme. Ultimately, this is what the film is about, the rest of the film is just a set up for this issue. To have it at both the start and ending of the film demonstrates the importance of the issue. The film is set up around Oscar's death due to police brutality, with the intention to allow audiences to learn about Oscar and the lead up to his death. This allows for audiences to grow a deeper emotional investment to the character and eventually elicits an anger response from the audience- hopefully motivating them to do something about it in real life.

Furthermore, in the scene at the train station, the use of using mobile phone to record to events unfolding is made a point off. Oscar records what is happening in the film, much like what the members of the public did in real life. It shows how technology and recording has the power to show the truth of what happened; a more accurate account of what happened is recorded on phones and used in the trial, if not for this, the officer involved may not be been found guilty. For instance, when the incident occurred in real life, fellow members of the public recorded the events which proved vital as the train was sent off to the next destination by the police with no witnesses being questioned over what they had saw, and no one radioed in that a shooting involving an officer took place until later on; even the supervisors didn't know what had happened.

This film does a great job in telling the story of Oscar Grant, and manipulating audiences to have a certain emotional response at different parts of the film. It has good character development reflecting a real life person, to which many audience members can relate. The film speaks out about real life issues that society suffered from surrounding the time, and that are still suffered from today. It gives an account on stereotypes and how people can conform, break them or use them to judge people; it gets people thinking about the state of society and the use id stereotypes within it.