MovieChat Forums > Poetic Justice (1993) Discussion > What is this movie about?

What is this movie about?

posted 14 years ago by thepoet21
2 replies | jump to latest

I remember when I first saw this movie in suburban CT, and I liked it, since I was into that whole jazz/poetry vibe at the time and it was part of the whole "golden age of hip hop" era.

But, I remember being disappointed by a friend who just didn't get it. "What is this movie about"? He said.

I feel though that back in the early 90s, with the race issue, Rodney King's trial and rap getting really popular in the mainstream, the movie was just about black youths. At the time, people wanted to see inner city black youths because there was such a mystique about them at the time.

There is nothing that really stands out about this film, especially if you are black, well, alot of what is in this film is everyday life. There was nothing about this film that really stands out, aside from Tupac. If Tupac wasn't in this film and it was the actor who played Cain in Menace to Society, or anybody else, it wouldn't have been worth seeing. So, it was a starring vehicle for Tupac also.

It's clear now that this whole faze in Hollywood has passed, and we are now reduced to entertaining but unreal and stereotypical flicks like Lottery Ticket.

Like everything artistic, everything is open to interpretation. So, what was this movie about to you?

[–] screen14 14 years ago

What this movie is is a character study and an exploration of some of the differences affecting the interaction and communication between young black men and women in small communities around the country. The meaningful and profound moments of Poetic Justice are less in the simple visual narrative and more about the internal experience brought into view by the voices of the film's characters. Poetic Justice asks us to improve the thought and the responsibility in ourselves and between each other if we want to reunite and get off the dark road that we, our friends and families know too well. Every scene in the movie follows this theme and the biggest example rests with Lucky and Justice: It's after they start listening from the inside that they begin to understand each other and they invite the type of relationship that deep down their hearts had been searching for. That's what poetic justice is; it's something we all deserve and this movie shows us how to make ourselves more ready to receive it--open up and listen.

[–] thepoet21 14 years ago

I like that response! Thanks for your insight.