Ryan Coogler, the director of “Fruitvale Station,” answered emotional questions from the audience at Lincoln Center’s Summer Talks series Thursday. Coogler, whose buzzed-about film is based on the real-life story of Oscar Grant, an unarmed 22-year-old black man who was fatally shot on an Oakland subway platform by a white cop, commented on the Trayvon Martin case, telling attendees, “It affects you and depresses you and saddens you, because I think you know Trayvon had love in his life and potential.” He continued, “There are millions of Americans that don’t see Trayvon’s potential. They look at him and see him as a thug who got what he deserved. You know he was a 17-year-old boy that couldn’t even vote yet, had never been arrested, never had a criminal record. My question is, why do people look at him and see that?” Coogler concluded, “We look at him and see something else. We look at him and see us.” He said he hopes people will leave the movie asking the question, “What is the value of human life?”
Fruitvale Station director Ryan Coogler comments on Trayvon Martin
