Monster: The Truth Will Set You Free

By Briana M. McCarthy

The new Netflix film ‘Monster’ chronicles the life of 17-year-old high school student Steven Harmon. Steven is an aspiring filmmaker that always has a camera in his hand snapping beautiful black and white images of the people in his neighborhood. He’s a good kid. He gets good grades and stays out of trouble. Well, that is until one day trouble comes to find him. Steven becomes an accessory to a crime when he is forced to be a lookout for a robbery attempt that leads to a vicious murder. That one decision lands him in jail where he is not only fighting for his freedom, but also to prove his humanity. 

 Like most black teens awaiting trial, Steven Harmon was already deemed guilty simply because he was young and Black. The prosecutor, hell-bent on a conviction, refused to accept that Steven could be innocent and demanded that he accept a plea deal of 25 years in prison. However, his public defender who knew that Steven was not the monster he was painted to be,  led the charge in proving that he was not guilty of the murder charges. 

 Monster captures the painful experience of being wrongfully accused from Steven’s artistic lens as a filmmaker. This film is equally as beautiful as it is gritty and raw.  It puts on full display how our legal system dehumanizes black and brown people. It lays bare the reality that oftentimes the pursuit of a conviction is tainted by the prosecutor’s implicit bias and not the evidence in the case. All too often this bias robs the innocent of their freedom. Monster also perfectly illustrates how quickly a great kid with big dreams can become a victim of his environment. Most kids don’t want to participate in the crime and violence that surrounds them. Oftentimes, they are pressured into breaking the law and end up dead or in jail because of it. 

As I watched this film, I thought about how Steven’s experience mirrors the Black experience today both in the world and within our legal system. We have been dehumanized throughout history, seemingly robbed of basic respect and dignity. Like Steven Harmon, am I so glad that we don’t have to accept the lies society tells about us. We know the Truth and that has made us free. We are made in the image of an awesome God who knows full well our value. 

 All in all, Monster was an amazing film that is a must-watch.