NATIVE SON: A Modern Retelling

The modern adaptation of Richard Wright‘s 1940 novel comes with its own various alterations that manage to allow the story to seamlessly fit into today’s pop culture without taking away from the starkness of its tragedy. Ashton Sanders plays Bigger Thomas, a 20 year old living in Chicago who is hired by a wealthy businessman to drive his daughter, university student Mary (Margaret Qualley).

Despite its Green Book-esque premise, Native Son provides an exciting narrative arc in the life of Bigger, and creates a Chicago that draws the audience in with its effortlessly alternative pizzazz. However, beyond the aesthetics and Bigger’s development, the story still has its downfalls in the form of too-quick personality changes, and a plot that lulls at certain points.

Punk Was Never Dead

By far, one of the most compelling changes in the film is the inclusion of Afro-punk and alternative styles. Bigger’s hair is dyed bright green, while his girlfriend, Bessie (Kiki Layne), sports a septum piercing and various different hairstyles with poise. It was one of the first times I had ever seen punk and gothic people of colour on a filmscreen, and the beauty in their painted nails and facial piercings drove the whole film in a bundle of colour and metal.

Mary and her boyfriend, Jan (Nick Robinson), were altered from their original communist personas in the novel to be more social justice oriented in a modern context. It is bemusing to see them stumble over asking Bigger their questions about what he feels about today’s political shortcomings as a Black Man. Neither Mary nor Jan are characters you can dislike. They try, as much as they are able to through their white, upper-class lens (at least in Mary’s case).

All of these changes not only add a layer of brightly coloured intrigue to the story, but they also serve to tell us about the characters through their very way of being. From its very birth, punk was a way of screaming out to the world that you would not go down without a fight, a cry against the sociopolitical systems that trapped our world in a net of tradition and stifling social customs. It extended to politics, sexuality, and economy.

By giving each character their own punk-rooted identity already tells the audience that, although outcasted by much of society due to race and class, they are not afraid of being seen. They dress themselves up in coloured hair and piercings, leather jackets with screaming words etched into them, and music that screams even louder. It is not only a fitting change considering the retelling of the story, but it’s one that gives it a whole other layer of meaning, and makes each character an even greater delight to watch.

Bigger’s Complexities or Hasty Plot Changes?

One of the biggest discrepancies in the film was the way Bigger’s personality seemed to change quite abruptly as the film went long; he started out as a relatively reserved man, although clever and quick-witted. The most violence we see out of him is when he dives to kill a rat terrorizing his family’s kitchen. He is a devoted boyfriend to Bessie, and seems to be content with keeping his head down and working to move through the world as he sees fit.

Throughout the film, Bigger has his own internal monologue that he keeps going, giving a vague insight into his thoughts about the world around him, as well as his place within it. However, his descent into violence (whether intended or not) happens with a blink-or-you’ll-miss-it kind of quickness.

He has a physical altercation with one of his friends, and then various interactions with Mary and Bessie (respectively) that have the audience scratching their heads and wondering what happened to the Bigger they had watched sneaking his girlfriend perfume and playing with his siblings. This is not to imply that it is impossible for someone to be capable of all of the above, but it would have given some more clarity into his mindset.

Native Son: What Isn’t Said

James Baldwin once said, “No American Negro exists who does not have his private Bigger Thomas living in his skull.” The commentary on race extends much further beyond the trope of a black man driving around his white boss. It is in the forced smiles by Mary’s father, the drunken questions she and Jan spill to Bigger – as if he is just too different a person to have the same opinions -, and the acknowledgement from Bigger that they have decided he has committed a crime before there is any real evidence.

The end scene is as heartbreaking as it is jarring, and yet unsurprising. The audience knows that will happen because we’ve seen it on the news, on our streets, in protests. And, yet, the realization that we are so used to it that we expect it to happen is jarringly terrifying. Bigger is able to use this to his advantage in the last scene, utilizing it to achieve the ending he wants. However, we are left wondering who really won in the end, and who we’re even rooting for in the first place.

Native Son was released by HBO on April 6th, 2019.