My Review of “If It Ain’t Broke”

Audio/Visual Pros
“If It Ain’t Broke” is the independently made documentary by Kennan Morgan and his friends. The videography for the documentary is wonderful. The voice acting in the animations is also terrifically done. It is also great that he managed to find so many people willing to be speakers for his documentary--especially given his likely limited budget. The acting was also nicely done.
Audio/Visual Cons
Now, as I stated, all of the aforementioned things are great. The problem is the way some of the things were inserted. For example, there is nothing wrong with having animations in a documentary of this sort; however, the issue is the animations were comedically done. Also, the acting was comedically done. However, this is a serious documentary. Therefore, both seem out of place and forced.

Speakers: Pros and Cons
Next, are the speakers. Some of the speakers were very thorough; Dr. Jemadari Kamara, Melissa Waddy, Marilyn Jackson, and the woman at the 1:06:00 mark are. Others were decent; the three college students were. However, one was useless; Edward Burks. Finally, one is a bona fide coon; Regina Thomas. In the future, Kennan will need to find more thorough speakers.

Context: Pros and Cons of Black Family Structures
The context of the film was to talk about black family structures. The film did do that. The film also attempted to delve into the issues plaguing the black community regarding black family structures. The aforementioned people did that. Others talk about their history growing up. Edward Burks spit nonsense.
Now, the film could’ve gone deeper on black family structures. For instance, it did state that many black families are headed by a single-mother. However, it did not really delve deep enough into the why. It talked about men sleeping around, and that’s why many women are now single mothers. However, it did not talk about the fact that these women chose these men. Many women choose men that will not make good fathers. Furthermore, many women raise their sons to be like the man that helped her create him. Therefore, it is a repetitious cycle. Also, many women are not raising their daughters to make good future wives and girlfriends because they lack those traits themselves. Finally, and this is the elephant in the room, we live in a system of white supremacy. This system targets us both, but men are targeted even harder. Therefore, men are even further disenfranchised than black women are.

Context: Pros and Cons of Racism
The film did talk about our history involving racism. Moreover, the aforementioned speakers went fairly deep on the subject. The film focused on the damage racism did during slavery and Jim Crow 1.0. The aforementioned speakers were very thorough on this topic matter, except Regina Thomas. I understand that she is the State Senator, so she probably did not want to exclude anyone. However, if she is going to speak about our history, then she needs to be honest about our history. If people get offended by the truth, then that is not a mark against her; that is a mark against them. It will just mean that those people are likely white supremacists that do not like to give credit to black achievements. However, she was not the only one to give credit to our accomplishments for the Civil Rights Movement to the white people that helped. There were other elder individuals in the documentary that mentioned that as well. Back then, black people made up the workforce. So when they picketed, they shut down the economy. That is why we achieved Civil Rights. The white protesters that assisted the black protesters only helped us to achieve Civil Rights. They were not the reason we gained Civil Rights.

Context: Pros and Cons: Issues and Solutions
A speaker in the documentary talked about black children not performing well in school. He also spoke of the children not attaining the skillset necessary to compete in the workforce. Someone else talks about black children needing to focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors so that they can get a good job. The speaker also talked about us creating a human agenda for ourselves so that we can coexist productively amongst other groups.
The speakers that cosigned his line of thinking may have had their hearts in the right place, but their brains were in the wrong place. Many black people are majoring in STEM majors and are still not getting hired, under-hired--employed at a position less than their qualifications so they can be paid less, although they often perform at positions above their level--or they are being underpaid for the same position. We are systematically disenfranchised. Many hiring managers overlook black candidates simply based off our names. Another contributing factor to black people being displaced is our geographic location. Black people are systematically relegated to certain areas thanks to gentrification. Furthermore, once Black people get transferred to different areas, white people take flight. This allows hiring managers to have a pretty keen idea that an applicant is black, even if he/she has an inconspicuous name. Therefore, black people must establish a black agenda. Black people must put pressure on companies that discriminate against us so they can be punished. Also, rather than asking for “good jobs,” select black individuals are better off crafting business plans and asking for business loans so that we can start employing our own, like other groups do.

Advice for the Guys.
Pay attention to what the single mother stated. At the beginning of the documentary, she makes the comment about her likely not finding a guy “strong enough” to accept her and her 3 children. The correct word she should’ve used is “willing to accept” her and her 3 children. Empty affirmations won’t change her reality. Also, the single mother lies in the end about a dude taking care of her bills for nothing. She’s fucking him for provisions. No guy is going to do all of that for a random female. I know that she says “friend,” but this “friendship” is the result of him spitting at her to fuck. Furthermore, he has a female that he is already with, so she is the side-chick. Women lie about these situations all of the time to save face.

Advice for the Gals.
How a man treats his parents isn’t indicative of how he’ll treat you. You’re not his parent. Look at how he treats those around him.

Last Gripes.
There are some pointless things done in the documentary that would have been better left out. You will spot them when you see it. Also, Edward Burks spits unsubstantiated claims.

Enclosing.
This documentary is an ambitious endeavor. Hopefully, Keenan Morgan takes notes on my criticisms and improves upon the formula that he has already established. Also, hopefully, he leaves Edward Burks and Regina Thomas out of future documentaries. Finally, to people looking to revive their zombie cohorts, this may be a good introduction for them. However, make certain that you have them listen to the aforementioned people and disregard Edward Burks and Regina Thomas. If they need clarification as to why, you can refer them to this post. This documentary will go down easier than immediately introducing a zombie to films such as 7AM and/or the Hidden Colors series.

(You can subscribe to Keenan Morgan’s channel here. Also, you can rent or buy the film here.)

(Disclosure: This website may be compensated for sales of products linked to.)

(If you enjoyed this post, then please consider subscribing to stay up-to-date with my latest postings and sharings. Also, please share and support Worldly Game.)