Imperial Dreams – a system is a team

Whenever I think of a system my sense of respect is incited by the amount of factors that come into play. How Society tilts to the favour of those who built this complex system, which bounces lives between an uncontrollable rhythm of “living” – whatever that means. The unreal concept of money, for instance, that exists as an idea apart from reality if not for Human hands and hearts. Tied to this belief, it dictates how we can exist. Imperial Dreams counts on positional myths following the duty of a recently released prisoner Bambi, played by John Boyega, who needs to look after his son, who is currently living with extended family due to his jailed parents. Set in LA Watts, the film is captured in a very straightforward and bland manner; a bluntness to suggest it is what it is. It was not scenic or amounted for purposes of attraction but rather carries you along Bambi’s evolving psyche and responsibilities within a mundane and contentious community.

John Boyega is one of my favourite actors — he adds a dynamic to films where I believe he connects with roles and personifies them as if he honestly empathises with his character. A feat in acting someone once described to me as being able to act with not only voice but body language, even if masked such an actors ability is evident through such. Imperial Dreams withdrew compassion from me. I got sucked in by the angle and weighed my view of society by its systems and how it’s mounted against the citizen. I also found myself struck by his acting relationship with his son, Day — played by brothers Justin and Ethan Coach. There is some sort of fetish regarding the Black man and Fatherhood, realised through harmless meme’s and Instagram posts, historically vilified within the past. With that in mind I got to take in their relationship as building toward a new status quo. Although it should not be like that: despite our different cultures, Fatherhood is Fatherhood. This all ties in with just how we conceive life today, a post-modern state where we realise ignorant stereotypes and typecasts. The movie is above the idea of Blackness being its primary concern. It might be a key motive behind its setting, though I feel it addresses the state of life within your settings and overcoming it. We all dream but live within a similar framework, defining against each other through explanations projected by the most privileged. That’s why today an evident distinction between peoples is the working and middle classes which give us a better general sense of how people live.

Imperial Dreams is an impressive film that somewhat seems a flip side to the benevolence of A Pursuit Of Happiness. It is like a working-class, hood edition. I say that because despite the different settings, they share a similar story. A Father, who has lost connection with his child’s Mother for whatever reason, has to endure to provide a stable home – whilst aiming to succeed beyond immediate means, hence the aspiration of dreams. In Imperial Dreams Bambi opts to take an expressive approach, he is a reformed gangster that hosts a reasonable drive to leave the streets behind. Acknowledging the state of Watts through the countless representations in Music, Film and documentation I feel it is the epitome of the idea of the hood. Realities which shroud escape or greater opportunity with doubt, rotating poverty, drug addiction and the impact of criminal records dictate the boundaries of the story. In such a volatile area, the Police play a massive part in impacting the community. In this film, their presence made me wonder how willing they are to play people against the trauma of their realities for the sake of their own job.

Without steady income, living between family and homelessness the struggle is evident in the structure of Watts. In A Pursuit Of Happiness, as it’s based on a true story I feel it is full of realistic situations though I spot the key difference in environment and opportunity hence the question of class. The fact is, depending on someone’s socioeconomic position, their outcome in life is heavily impacted. Bambi’s job opportunities are stunted, his family witness his release from jail as a way of getting him back into the game. This eternal game which I witness as a trap, a phenomenon differing worldwide but similar, due to the style of our systematic societies. Discriminated against by the system, while alienated from the mainstream hopes and opportunities of the standard man — it builds a trap of comfort and access that keeps you caged in. Hence the term leaving the hood. However, Bambi was truly trapped in that sense whilst entertaining the theme of Fatherhood. Selling drugs, robbing, entertaining gang violence which was adopted by area or through family connections. It all leads back to the state of Watts, a trap for the troubled man.

I admired the fact he wanted to write to express these realities which kept him in one zone. His aspirations revolve around the situations he faces, alongside his son, who does not get an ideal amount of quality time with his Father. Imperial Dreams highlights the trauma his son experiences, and it sheds light upon other children who experience such circumstances. It is distant from that Hollywood conception of children, who might fear some sort of evil but we realise they will most likely survive and be victorious. Imperial Dreams is not rose-tinted, it mixes that innocence with tainting surrounding. Victory is not assured. Relationships between the Black father and son are hosted as an idea away from usual parenting. I am unsure about everyone else but I witness the idea of Blackness as existing outside of ourselves, built through the similar experiences Societies and History have accumulated. I liked the fact I didn’t get a great sense of that as the main point within the film. It rather projects the cycle of struggle, gnawing at the almost codified logic of the hood.