So it’s official. 2017 is the year of HBCU’s. Just think about it. HBCU life has recieved so much good free publicity over these past few months. First BET released The Quad, causing outrage among several notable HBCU officials and praise among HBCU students. Then, Donald Trump’s Executive Order forced a well-needed conversation about funding HBCU’s and how to increase alumni giving. Now, Netflix has released their own scripted drama about Greek pledging at fictional Frederick Douglass University called  Burning Sands. And, trust me, the movie sparked a conversation the moment word got out that it was releasing.

I saw the trailer on Twitter two weeks ago and I was compelled to keep my ears out for it. If anything, the fact that another black college centered project was coming out was exciting to me. Although the imaging was chilling, I held out on judgement before I actually saw the film. Apparently others didn’t give the movie and it’s creators the same respect. Thousands of Greek and even non-Greek Twitter users slammed the movie just by looking at the trailer. Things cooled off for a while until the release of the movie on today. Just recently, the National Pan Hellenic Council released a joint statement about the movie written by the presidents of all the D9 Fraternities and Sororities speaking against hazing. The letter was published by HBCU website Watch The Yard.

I finally got a chance to watch the movie and, I must say, that it was shot masterfully. Some critiqued the dim lighting in some of the scenes but it set the tone that director Gerald McMurray. Do you expect for horror movies, tragedies or serious dramas to look like a early 2000’s sitcom? In my view, people are trying to do whatever they can to invalidate the movie and diminish it’s success. There’s nothing that you can say outside of the story. The acting was superb. Although you can probably predict where the movie is going,  Trevor Jackson and the crew got you invested in the characters. I cared about their well-being. I felt sorry for them as they went through that life threatening process. I even found myself grimacing at a few of the scenes.

It was funny to see Rotimi who plays Dre in Starz hit drama Power in the movie as a frat boy. He still had that street edge to him. I thought he was going to pull the strap out on Trevor and his line brother at the beginning of the movie! I also chuckled a bit when I saw Lee from the new season of Being Mary Jane as an older member of the fraternity. However, the most hilarious of all was the surprise that Trevor Jackson’s leading lady was Imani Hakim, better known as Tonya from Everybody Hates Chris. She’s definitely not a kid anymore! If you watch the first ten minutes of the movie you’d see that clearly!

Now, let’s get to the controversial part. The movie’s central focus was about hazing in Greek letter organizations. The movie started out intense. We were inserted straight into the beginning of hell week for the plegees of the Lamda Lamda Kappa fraternity at Frederick Douglass University. The Director of Pledges was abusing them. There was a point where they could’ve walked away but didn’t due to the machismo cliche of “being strong”. Be clear, withstanding physical and emotional abuse doesn’t make you strong, especially of this manner. Strength lies in walking away.

The imaging was horrifying. It’s hard to even imagine that this would even go on. I don’t want to be a part of anything that much! In the conversation that has been started by this movie, all sides need to be heard. Non-Greek affilates (called GDI’s) commentary on the movie should be valid and Greek organization members should be there to answer as many questions as they can to dispel the notion that the pledge process is anything remotely similar to this. Burning Sands isn’t the first time we’ve had this conversation. Since the 1990’s there’s been hazing incidents at campus’s around the nation and many organization chapters kicked off or shut down. If anything, now is the time to take control of the conversation instead of policing what those that aren’t affiliated with these organizations can and can’t do.

Mr. McMurray, a member of Omega Psi Phi Alpha chapter at Howard University, is the director and creative mind behind this movie. Saying that this movie shoudn’t have been made is wrong. If there’s a place for Stomp The Yard, there’s a place for Burning Sands. True, some of the scenes in the movie aren’t that nuanced. But, if you’re looking for a complex HBCU story, you’d watch The Quad. All in all, Burning Sands is a good movie that definitely sparked a well-needed conversation in the community.