The N Word - Divided We Stand
Directed by: Todd Larkins (Williams)
Producer: Helena Echegoyen
Street Date: Out Now
Rating: NR
Cast: F. Lee Bailey, Sandra Bernhard, Donald Bogle, Todd Boyd, Elaine Brown, LeVar Burton, George Carlin, Cee-Lo, Morris Chestnut, Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., Stanley Crouch, Ice Cube, Damon Dash, Chuck D., Dr. Dre, Laurence Fishburne, Mark Fuhrman, Nelson George, Whoopi Goldberg, Dick Gregory, Bryant Gumbel, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Rock, Quincy Jones, Michael Rapaport, John Singleton, Nia Long, and more.
Running Time: 85 Minutes
Studio: Urban Works
Grade: A
The ‘N’ Word is an interesting documentary which chronicles the history of the word before delving into the question of its use today. Its eighty-five minutes are threaded together by various interviews with A-list celebrities, linguistic scholars, and common pedestrians discussing their personal use or disuse of the word and what they feel it means in today’s society. The content is also broken up by various poetic readings, movie clips, and onstage routines by various performers like the late Richard Pryor and Chris Rock.
The heart of the film examines how the generational gap effects how people view the word. Most of the older speakers in the film, save Sam Jackson, deplore the use of the word because to them it represents the oppression and racism they fought so hard against. In contrast, many younger people including white kids look at the word from a hip-hop standpoint as just another slang word for friend. There is also the obligatory discussion of ‘nigga vs. nigger’ and the use of the word between blacks as opposed to its use between blacks and whites. What I found most interesting is the contradiction that is present throughout this film where blacks can call each other nigga all day but once a white person says it the whole point of view changes. This is even present with many of the kids who say their white ‘friends’ can call them nigga but if its someone outside their circle they’re ‘getting knocked out.’ I think this more than anything shows how derogatory the word continues to be despite its overuse in hip-hop
The film obviously doesn’t solve or attempt to solve if/how we should use the word. However, it does present the various arguments in such a way that you can generally understand everyone’s point of view and then wholly disagree with it in the very next segment. To me this is the strongest aspect of the film, it allows for further discussion by showing the contradictions and putting various arguments side by side for better dissection.
