Review of Dope (2015) by Steviegjd — 23 Jun 2015

Ignorant conservatives who do not want to appreciate the realities of growing up in an area where you can get shot going home from school or where "A students, with their eyes on Harvard, have their sneakers stolen in school, physically taken from their feet, with no adults around to stop the thieves" should not see this film.

You will not like it and will reject any truth in it. Moreover, it will fuel a plethora of ignorant observations that would be better left unobserved. I did not grow up in such a place. But my wife did.

Though this, like every movie, cannot include every type of person who grows up in such an area, there have not been many movies about a smart young black kid who lives in a ghetto, and who understands that education is a better ticket out than sports or crime.

This should be celebrated not dismissed. Though I'm not a huge John Hughes fan, this film is reminiscent of Hughes' films. I look forward to the director's next outing. The film has many cultural and music references that some people will not understand, and might cause them to dismiss the film.

I know I did not get them all. But I got enough that I laughed plenty of times and was pleasantly shocked a few times. People who don't like profanity, intense sexual situations and drug references will not be pleased either.

But I, for one, really liked this film.