Blindspot: an area in which one fails to exercise judgment or discrimination
As the film opens, Collin (Daveed Diggs) routinely stops at a red light on a mostly empty Oakland street when he witnesses a cop (Ethan Embergy) shooting to death an unarmed black man to death. Imagery so horrific for Collin, not only as a black man but a recent parolee, it sets the tone for Blindspotting’s 3-day duration.
Directed by Carlos López Estrada, Blindspotting chronicles the years-long relationship between Collin, a parolee serving the final days of his sentence in a halfway house, and Miles (Rafael Casal) a hot-headed, fair-skinned Hispanic with an unhealthy attraction to trouble and the need to complain about the gentrification of the neighborhood he and Collin grew up in. As their relationship is fully revealed, the clear message is Miles’ inability to understand that his lighter complexion affords him the ability to act out without serious consequence while Collin frequently falls victim to racial profiling.
In route to the film’s conclusion, Collin comes to grips with identifying his blind spot and the newfound clarity that he has to distance himself from the rip and run life he and Miles have been living year after year in order to survive. Miles, on the other hand, is unwilling to recognize his own blind spots and continues to live every day like any other day despite having a bi-racial black child who is susceptible to facing the same challenges as Collin.
Despite the myriad of social ills plaguing Oakland (police brutality, gun violence, gentrification), the city’s depiction is presented rich with culture and diversity. There are films that build to a crescendo while there are films like Blindspotting that grip you from the opening.
BSO sat down with film stars Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal to discuss the film’s darkest elements and whether or not Oakland residents would celebrate the City’s depiction or shrink away in disgust like Chicago residents viewing Spike Lee’s film Chiraq.
BSO Grade: B+
To see the official trailer, plus additional film details, flip the page.
