Fantastic!

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

DuVernay's documentary does an extremely good job of drawing a line from slavery to Jim Crow to the mass incarceration of black men in America, tying incarceration to the rider in the 13th Amendment that allows the enslavement of those convicted of a crime. The War on Drugs started by the Nixon administration (DuVernay includes an incredible quote from John Erlichman admitting that the "War on Drugs" was a ploy to persecute anti-war protesters and African Americans) is shown to have been a tool to exploit the public's fear of black men and push agendas to get people elected and to allow corporations to profit from the prison system. A superb documentary that perhaps attempts to make few tenuous connections here or there, but is generally spot on ... and amazingly infuriating as a result.

This documentary was truly poignant and inspiring. I have no issue with the motivation or the legitimacy of the increase in prison population or the fact that minorities make up more of the population than social majorities. I also acknowledge and appreciate the patterns throughout history that may have contributed to this problem. I do, however, have an issue with the fact that many "facts" were exaggerated for the purpose of sensationalism. The ratios of population demographics, the prison population numbers, and the skewed political views made it very difficult to appreciate or trust the documentary's information. There are real numbers and statistics that support the basis of this film, however, they are not the ones presented in the documentary. For example, the population numbers are inclusive of local jail inhabitants despite being labeled "prison" population, increasing the numbers by hundreds of thousands for dramatic effect. Also, the documentary stats are that African-American males make up 6.5% of the US population, which is true. The documentary also states that African-American males make up 40.2% of the prison population. In reality, African-American Inmates of both genders make up 34.8% according to the Department of Justice's 2014 report. Hispanic/Latino inmates of both genders make up 34.9% while Caucasian inmates of both genders make up 27%. These numbers are accurate but not as dramatic as the ones presented in the documentary. They are still disturbing since they are not proportioned with the US population, showing minorities at a gross disadvantage since Hispanic/Latino and African-American races make up roughly 70% of the prison population despite only making up roughly 30% of the United States Population based on the 2010 Census. The problem is legitimate. The documentary's statistics are not. They also did not address the serious economic failings of our last president that contributed to poverty which contributes to crime, unemployment, and drug rates, however they did address failings in every other administration. The documentary was also politically skewed, using propaganda and voice overs out of context to disparage a certain political party or individual. Therefore, their political views could not be seen as objective either. Individuals presenting an issue of such grave importance should not allow themselves to be discounted by giving into the temptation for sensationalism, dramatics, and petty propaganda. Let the true facts speak for themselves to make known that the issue is real and must be addressed.

This is an Oscar nominated documentary . Its title is taken from the 13th amendment to the United States constitution which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude and apparently the disparity in rich and poor is so great in America that slavery still exists. I came to this documentary thinking that the documentary had a point. After all in America you have "workfare" where to receive state benefit you have to clean up litter etc . America still incorporates chain gangs and thankfully in Britain European Union legislation protects us from this exploitation which is nothing more than modern day slavery so yeah I came in to it ready to cheer for a classless society for my American brothers and sisters , fellow members of the international proletariat. Long before 13th finished I was actually booing The documentary comes in thee distinct parts and the first third is the worst. It gives a potted history of slavery in America and towards the end of this segment takes in the war against crime. What's the connection between the two ? Apparently it's all down to keeping the black population in their place and is a big conspiracy to criminalise blacks in order to jail them so they'd be slaves again. To be fair 13th that Richard Nixon introduced "the war on drugs" and Republican President Ronald Reagen took an even harder line. Common sense should tell someone the problem is if you outlaw a product then anyone who uses it becomes by definition an outlaw. But not here where it's all an excuse for right wing racist politicians to wage war on black people. This is all taken as fact so it's no good bringing statistics in to anything apart from the burgeoning prison population so I won't bother mentioning things like if America legalised all drugs and the state manufactured everything from weed to crack cocaine for dimes that cure a terrible problem and prohibition is bad because 13th wants to play the race card instead of talking sense To be fair it doesn't suffer from party politics bias because the Democrats are every bit as bad as the Republicans. Yes indeed Bill Clinton was pro death penalty and anti-crime , so much so a little known British Labour MP called Tony Blair went over to America to see how the slick spin doctors of the Democrats operated and came back with the slogan "Tough on crime tough on the causes of crime". Such a pity Blair never thought about winning a major battle against crime by legalising drugs. Even if you think Clinton and Blair were being draconian being anti-crime is a vote winner because everyone in general and lower class people in particular are the ones who suffer so why not give the electorate what they want? That's because it's all a big conspiracy to jail black people just for being black. As it turns out Clinton in shown in a clip saying he thought that his anti-crime legislation was a mistake. Why is it a mistake now ? Probably because like this documentary Clinton tells people what they want to hear and truth doesn't come in to it The second segment revolves around the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) which is responsible for amongst other things state level legislation and private prisons. Among other things it involves the "stand your ground law" where a person can use deadly force to protect themselves. It uses a high profile case that made worldwide headlines. Again the race card is used in this case but the fact is every state in America has a similar law, not just the states who have the stand your ground law, but again there's the insinuation that it's all a big conspiracy to put all the black people in jail. The third segment then tries to back up these statistics by pointing out the large number of black men jailed. Might it not be social rather than ethnic demographics have something to do with this ? ie if you're poor and white then you're more chance of going to jail than someone middle class and white ? And if you're black and committed a crime against a person might the person be black themselves ? Don't let an agenda get in the way of facts If nothing else 13th does go to show that Americans regardless of their background all seem to suffer from an irony deficiency we see a bunch of academics and politicians saying how much African Americans are suffering from institutional racism much of which is a conspiracy by a racist white elite. If this is the case then how on earth were the black academics and politicians interviewed able to get where they are ? If there was a conspiracy then I doubt if Ava Duvarney would have been able to make this documentary and Barack Obama would have never been allowed to run for President never mind winning two Presidential elections. It could be that people are conditioned in to being victims they will never get anywhere and despite being well made 13th is another contribution to keep the downtrodden proletariat in their place

I am a member of the target demographic who would be predicted to be sympathetic and supportive of this film. I really was looking forward to this film and upon seeing it pop on netflix immediately sat down to watch it. The film does a great job of laying out the political landscape that led to where we are on this issue and all the stripes of the political players who made this reality we find ourselves in today. It also does a great job regarding the cultural landscape and historical context that led us to where we are on this issue. The history of slavery, racism, KKK and civil rights movement is covered very well and captured powerfully in images that are difficult to look at. But there are some serious omissions that should have been addressed and its not a oversite that can easily be dismissed. Specifically, 1) If you are going to bring the drug war into this discussion, you should include an examination as to why poor neighborhoods and regions are saturated with these substances. If you don't, you allow the naysayers to run to easy cover under the shelter of "law and order" which only takes a few breathes before one starts blaming the imprisoned for getting caught up in the systematic net that was set up and created by design. 2) If you are going to compare statistics or numbers, you need to make damn sure you are comparing apples to apples and not using them willy nilly. If you don't, you look like at worst a propagandist and at best, just plain stupid. This issue is pivotal to the culture we find ourselves in as Americans today. There is no room for slapdash half measures to raise public awareness that we are slowly but surely moving towards a military state. A process during which the populace is taking it all in stride, swallowing the trigger language whole and behaving like frogs in a pot of water being slowly heated on the stove. The filmmakers could have done better and should have done better as it would not required much effort or much more research. They did not serve the issue well with this film and that is frankly tragic.