Common Sense Media Review
By Melissa Camacho
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Uneven, fraught docu about devastation of gun violence.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Freedia Got a Gun
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
FREEDIA GOT A GUN is a documentary featuring New Orleans-based bounce musician Freddie Ross, Jr., aka Big Freedia, as she tries to make sense of the impact gun violence continues to have in the Big Easy. After losing her younger brother, Adam Ross, to gun violence in 2018, Freedia and a camera crew visit schools, prisons, and neighborhoods to try to help people in the area think differently about gun violence and how it's impacting their lives. As she reminisces about her life growing up in low-income communities, and reflects on her brother, she highlights how guns and gun violence is a perpetual, systematic problem that is growing worse with every generation. Contributing to these narratives are archival family photos, and interviews with Freedia's late mother, Vera, and sister, Crystal, which offer some insight into the joys and difficulties of Freedia's childhood. Meanwhile, disturbing police footage and conversations with experts offer insights into how the gun violence epidemic is destroying the future generations of New Orleans' Black community.
Is It Any Good?
This troubling documentary underscores how community gun violence is perpetuated by systematic racism and poverty while exploring how it's been normalized throughout generations of young men and women caught up in it. It highlights how the lack of male mentors, as a result of gun violence and incarceration, has contributed to a misguided desire to appear strong by shooting and killing people. The challenge to survive this system also motivates the violent behavior.
At times, the narrative in Freedia Got A Gun feels a little disorganized, and the presentation of some key ideas isn't always clear. But listening to middle and high school children talk nonchalantly about being shot at, watching family members being murdered, and being charged with crimes before making it to high school, is harrowing. However, these are the conversations that are the most powerful, and they show, first hand, how much far-reaching damage the gun violence epidemic continues to cause.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the reason systemic racism leads to violence and other social injustices in Black and other communities of marginalized racial/ethnic backgrounds. Are specific reasons given in Freedia Got A Gun for the high gun violence rate in New Orleans?
There is much said about the problems associated with systemic racism and its relationship to gun violence, but what are the solutions? How can the system be changed to help communities thrive, rather than simply surviving?
What other movies or shows have you seen that address social injustice and racism? What are some key takeaways from this documentary and others you've watched? What can you do individually and as a community to help heal America of its racism and widespread injustices?
TV Details
- Premiere date : October 15, 2020
- Cast : Big Freedia
- Network : Peacock
- Genre : Reality TV
- TV rating :
- Last updated : October 3, 2022
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