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InBillie Holiday, federal agent and love interest Jimmy Fletcher is the entry point into Holidays world.
As a narrative rig, the Black informant is a crucial interlocutor.
Though the film centers ONeal, it neglects to fully contextualize his connection to Hamptons murder.
I knew nothing of the Black Panther Party, ONealonce told the documentary seriesEyes on the Prize.
I had no idea of anything about their politics.
One might ask then, how a man without any allegiance to Hampton is cast as his disciple.
He knew what he was doing at a very young age.
Whereas William ONeal is in a conflict; hes confused.
And thats always going to make for a more interesting protagonist, he asserted.
In truth, conflict and confusion are the ingredients of war, neither belonging to the informant alone.
After all, as the films Panthers proclaim, Whats a rat to a big black jungle cat?
As it turns out, the rat is low-hanging fruit.
I just assumed the FBI is not the FBI for nothing, you know?
To Fletchers surprise, he ends up falling for Holiday as he seeks to destroy her.
I mean, you cant make it up.
Rather, they flatten both their revolutionary heroes and their counterrevolutionary villains.
Its a narrative betrayal of both the Black informant and their Black victims.
Just as Cissy and Alton are settling into their new home, Franklins handler pays them a visit.
Though intel arms the state, it proves futile in one mans fight against the states overwhelming authority.
*This article originally included an incorrect year of release.
We regret the error.
