Page 2 August 12, 2021
Entertainment
Film Review Check It Out
How Beautiful We Were
by Imbolo Mbue
By Library Clerk Mary Martes
There are times as a reader you begin a
book and it grabs you by the throat. It is a
magical experience to be drawn in by those
first flawless sentences. How Beautiful We
Were by Imbolo Mbue is one of these. “We
should have known the end was near. How
could we not have known?” So commences
a journey of heartbreak, joy, pain and suffering,
courage, rebellion, triumph, resilience,
acceptance, love and death.
How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue.
Set in the fictional village of Kosawa in
Africa during the 1980’s, the population
is devastated by the environmental effects
of oil drilling by a foreign corporation
welcomed by the governing body in return
for monetary riches. This small, remote
community is kept alive through the faith
and belief of its members. Ancestral legend
describes them as the sons and daughters of
the leopard, descendants of a fierce warrior
tribe. But this is not a foe to be vanquished
by physical battle. “The sky began to pour
acid and rivers turned green. We began to
wobble and stagger.” The death toll mounts
while The Representatives from Pexton, the
oil drilling company, keep assuring that all
will be well. Of course, it will not.
Shockingly, it is the village madman Konga
who confronts The Representatives – The
Leader, The Round One and The Sick One
-- and a rebellion is born. The events that
follow tell the story of the community whose
families have lived in Kosawa since ancient
times and their struggle to remain. This is
their home and they refuse to leave. Everyone
is connected and despite disagreement, they
will stand together and fall together.
At once heartbreaking, thrilling, and tense,
the saga plays out over generations and
decades but feels so immediate. In beautifully
written prose, the narrative of various
tribe members is woven together to form
the whole. At the heart of the community
is Thula, a young woman who is bright and
determined to do whatever she can to save
the village. She becomes the catalyst for the
hopes and dreams of the Kosawa tribe in
expelling Pexton, forcing them to clean up
their mess and restoring the land and river
to the people.
Although it is set in the 1980’s, this is a
lesson for today in the fight against corporate
malfeasance and political corruption. Detailing
the environmental effects and resulting
health issues of drilling for oil, careless of
the destruction wrought upon people and the
earth, this novel enlightens the reader to the
devastating personal consequences of greed.
Imolo Mbue is a native of Cameroon and
has a PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for
her New York Times bestseller Behold the
Dreamers.
To check out this and other award-winning
titles, please stop by the library to apply for
your free library card. We are open 9am-9pm
Monday-Thursday and 10am-5pm Saturday
and Sunday. •
Homeroom: Capturing College
and Covid-19 Anxiety
By Morgan Rojas for Cinemacy
2020 was a challenging year for all of us
but it was especially hard for high school
seniors as the expectations of lavish graduation
parties, prom dresses, and college-bound
dreams were dashed in a matter of days. From
director Peter Nicks and produced by Ryan
Coogler, Homeroom - premiering on Hulu on
August 12th - follows the 2019-2020 class of
Oakland High School seniors as they attempt
to create systemic change and leave a lasting
legacy in their hometown while adjusting to
life in a pandemic.
Homeroom feels very much like A24’s
Boys State in the way it captures intimate
and vulnerable moments from impressionable
and impassioned teenagers. Sticking to his
signature style of vérité filmmaking, Nicks
observes a handful of students as they prepare
to submit college applications, sit through
mundane history lectures, attend various club
meetings, and rehearse for the school play.
The documentary begins in the fall of
2019, pre-pandemic, when the biggest topic
of conversation is the ethics of policing in
schools. Students want to defund the police,
citing that implicit bias sparks unnecessary
fear, especially in predominately black and
brown schools like theirs. Their arguments are
articulate and strong, appealing to city council
members and school board members alike.
The film takes a turn with the introduction
of COVID-19 in early March 2020, picking
up a sense of urgency that differs from the
more structured first Act. As Homeroom shows,
the seniors of today are highly adaptable,
goal-oriented, and inspired teenagers. They
use their iPhones not just to create TikTok
videos, but also to catch up on the latest from
ex-President Trump’s first impeachment trial.
They’re paying attention. They don’t fear
speaking up to authority figures; instead,
they see teachers and faculty as their allies
who share a common goal of unifying the
school district in harmony.
From the everyday pressures of high
school life to the unexpected introduction
of COVID-19, Nicks lets the action and
drama unfold onscreen without provocation,
capturing a year’s worth of trauma that is
uncomfortable to relive. The murders of
George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, “murder
hornets,” and the racially-charged murder of
Bay area teenager Nia Wilson are just some
of the devastating events that this class has
had to navigate through.
Homeroom proves that the youth have the
power, and fostering safe environments for
them to grow and learn will be key in creating
tomorrow’s leaders. On a personal yet
somber note, the film is dedicated to Karina
Nicks, Peter’s 16-year-old daughter who died
suddenly in September 2019. As the final
installment to Nicks’ three-part trilogy of
character-driven social issue films, Homeroom
is a gratifying and inspiring ending to this
chapter on Oakland, CA. •
Homeroom, courtesy Hulu.
Morgan Rojas Mary Martes
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