The conversation about race in American life/society can so often get bogged down in the same old insecurities and battlelines to make it seem almost hopeless to have an authentic conversation about the topic, much less enact any sort of meaningful change. What writer/director Ava DuVernay (adapting a book from Isabel Wilkerson) does in Origin, however, is think about the topic from a different vantage point-moving away from the emotionally-charged "racism" claim and towards an examination of how elements of a caste system may be even more destructive. It is a thoughtful and compelling argument.
For a very basic overview, Origin doesn't just adapt Wilkerson's Caste book, but rather tells the story of Wilkerson's (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) research to put it together. She wonders why a Latino man felt the need to patrol a largely-white neighborhood and accost a young black man, or why early-20th century families would turn their children over to black women to raise them but then deny those same women their basic human rights. Through research, travel, conversation, and life experience, Wilkerson links India's millennia-old class system to the Holocaust to slavery and the U. S. Civil Rights movement all under one umbrella: the dehumanization of a social caste system.
Basically, Origin's DuVernay-adapting-Wilkerson message here is that rather than focusing on color-of-the-skin racism, the deeper issue of systemic inequality stems from the subjugation of one class over another. Those time-ingrained "ruts" are what cause certain populations to struggle for decades while others prosper. I have an enormous amount of respect for this line of thinking and the care/research that made it happen. I missed Wilkerson's book in the midst of 2020 craziness and thus am glad this film provided a wonderful summation of her ideas.
Lest you think this is an overly serious "sermon" film, however, do not worry: Origin still works as a major motion picture and not strictly social/history lesson. DuVernay accomplishes this by depicting Wilkerson's genuine (and often very personal) conversations with friends, family members, and other scholars. The film is littered with acting talent like Jon Bernthal, Niecy Nash, and Audra McDonald (amongst others) to help with this cause. DuVernay also anticipates potential blow-back to her arguments and incorporates those into the narrative here. The "unstable home foundation" analogy is fantastic, and her friend telling her to "explain this all in plain English" is instructive to helping general comprehension.
Overall, I was pretty blown away by Origin considering I came in with little expectations and the sort of current world-weariness that so often accompanies a social-issue film such as this. But DuVernay-through-Wilkerson absolutely knocks this one out of the park by mixing scholarly pursuits with big screen emotional wallop.
For a very basic overview, Origin doesn't just adapt Wilkerson's Caste book, but rather tells the story of Wilkerson's (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) research to put it together. She wonders why a Latino man felt the need to patrol a largely-white neighborhood and accost a young black man, or why early-20th century families would turn their children over to black women to raise them but then deny those same women their basic human rights. Through research, travel, conversation, and life experience, Wilkerson links India's millennia-old class system to the Holocaust to slavery and the U. S. Civil Rights movement all under one umbrella: the dehumanization of a social caste system.
Basically, Origin's DuVernay-adapting-Wilkerson message here is that rather than focusing on color-of-the-skin racism, the deeper issue of systemic inequality stems from the subjugation of one class over another. Those time-ingrained "ruts" are what cause certain populations to struggle for decades while others prosper. I have an enormous amount of respect for this line of thinking and the care/research that made it happen. I missed Wilkerson's book in the midst of 2020 craziness and thus am glad this film provided a wonderful summation of her ideas.
Lest you think this is an overly serious "sermon" film, however, do not worry: Origin still works as a major motion picture and not strictly social/history lesson. DuVernay accomplishes this by depicting Wilkerson's genuine (and often very personal) conversations with friends, family members, and other scholars. The film is littered with acting talent like Jon Bernthal, Niecy Nash, and Audra McDonald (amongst others) to help with this cause. DuVernay also anticipates potential blow-back to her arguments and incorporates those into the narrative here. The "unstable home foundation" analogy is fantastic, and her friend telling her to "explain this all in plain English" is instructive to helping general comprehension.
Overall, I was pretty blown away by Origin considering I came in with little expectations and the sort of current world-weariness that so often accompanies a social-issue film such as this. But DuVernay-through-Wilkerson absolutely knocks this one out of the park by mixing scholarly pursuits with big screen emotional wallop.