Fruitvale Station

The scene from the film “Fruitvale Station” by Ryan Coogler that I chose to screen was the scene where Oscar Grant, played by Michael B. Jordan, was shot.

In this scene Oscar and his friends are being aggressively detained and questioned by police. They are forced to sit on the ground while being yelled at by these officers. After yelling back some choice words, the officers angrily began to put these men in handcuffs. Oscar gets handcuffed with an officer’s knee in his back with another’s knee on his head. While kneeling on Oscars back the officer stands, draws his pistol, and shoots Oscar Grant in his back while he lays face first on the ground of this Bart train station. I think this scene is important because it shows how much power police officers have and how they often abuse this power in different situations. I feel this way because throughout the scene there is one officer in particular that is yelling, grabbing and throwing these men, and is using offensive language. After all of this physical and verbal abuse another officer stands and decides to use the power he has with his weapon to shoot this man, who in the film does not seem to be struggling with these officers. This scene is also important because it shows how you never know when your time can be. Oscar was just trying to change his life around and make a better life for him and his family. In a matter of minutes the life he had just began to change had be tragically taken in an incident that could have been avoided. This scene takes place at the end of the film after a long plot of the activities Oscar went through that day. Oscar ends up going to the hospital and dies shortly after this tragic scene