The “Walkout” promotes student activism
As students begin to pressure Congress to pass gun control legislations, student activism has increased and the students have made it very clear that they will not go down without a fight. While the media has done a great job of covering the movement, this situation has brought to light films that have been made based on young activists. Receiving an 82 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, HBO’s “The Walkout” showcases students’ involvement in politics. The “Walkout” has influenced students’ protest for a cause during the 1960s, the “Walkout” has encouraged high school students to take a stand on political issues today.
In the film, set during the Civil Rights protest in the late 1960s, students in their history class learned that Mexican aspects of U.S. history were deleted from their lesson by their teacher. This leads to frustration amongst hispanic students further resulting in them taking action. Paula Crisostomo (Alexa PenaVega) is the protest organizer of the Chicano Movement and claims that everyone in the East L.A. schools had been treated very harshly by their school’s officials. Crisostomo started to give surveys on improving their schools and the surveys were ignored by the school board. She and other students’ organizers dedicated time to put together a daring plan to bring public attention to their situation. This leads to the response of school authorities by threatening suspension on students participating in the protest demonstrations.
There are scenes of student organizers planning the walkout to fight for their civil rights in public schools. This results in the audience getting a feel for what had to be done before the protest.
The film incorporates drama making the viewers more sympathetic towards the students who protest for better treatment as well as to be viewed as equal to their peers. The dramatic aspect of the film makes it come to life and not be seen as a cliche but rather an inspiring movie. Many critics claimed there should have been more minority groups represented in the film due to others, not just latinos, being discriminated in the 1960s. However, many viewers found this movie enjoyable due to the actors expressing the emotions needed to portray the plot extremely well. The actors did a good job on making the audience members feel sympathetic and emotional throughout the entire film.
The movie encourages students to express their views on political issues. Furthermore, the film does an extremely good job at keeping viewers wanting more and it gives them inspiration to exercise their freedom of speech.
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