Netflix pulled the plug on “Seven Seconds” —When media imitates life?
Understand that full dimensional representation of Black women’s experiences, pains, and truths is entirely next to impossible to come across. This reality has long since rendered Black women’s voices inaccessible and silenced. First, and foremost, that is why season one of Seven Seconds is prolific, necessary, and powerful.
“Seven Seconds” is a Netflix original series starring Regina King. The show follows the story of a young Black boy who is killed in an anonymous hit and run, with multiple Jersey City police officers behind the cover up. For those who have not yet indulged in binge watching, allow me to offer the content warning that I very quickly found that I needed when watching the series myself; if you are someone who is actively committed in any way to the struggle against racist government-sanctioned violence and are invested in Black liberation, this show will hurt, as it quite accurately reflects the reality of what happens in efforts to seek justice from the legal and criminal justice systems when Black bodies are brutalized and left for dead at the hands of police.
This fictional series follows the challenges navigated these two Black women, Mrs. Butler (Brenton’s mother) and KJ Harper, the prosecutor on behalf of the Brenton Butler and his family. This short-lived series is arguably quite educational as it provides viewers with some perspective on what kind of challenges are guaranteed when attempting to bring criminal charges against policemen, especially in the case of hate crimes.
These two women are the primary voices through which the narrative of the series is shaped. Harper and Butler are the only characters in the series actively working to get to the bottom of the murder investigation, and they’re also the only two characters who choose to humanize Brenton Butler as a victim when everyone else (including his father) dismisses dead Brenton and writes him off under the assumption that he was engaging in gang-related activity at the time of his death.
Seven Seconds puts forth a cautionary tale about how intricately the justice system is woven to protect agents of the system from being held accountable , so much so that prosecuting police officers for the violent crimes they commit, is virtually impossible. Also, this short-lived series brings to the forefront how dangerous stereotypes like “junkie” and “gangbanger” are, and the pill often left un-swallowed which is that the cost of these stereotypes infiltrating an already violent system of justice is fatal, and often irreparable. This season of Seven Seconds emphatically represents some of the perspectives and nuances we typically don’t get to experience.
Seven Seconds provided viewers with a painful yet minute perspective into what Shelly Frey’s family went through, what India Kager’s family has gone through, what Sandra Bland’s family has gone through, what Eric Garner’s family went through, what Trayvon Martin’s family went through and what these families are still going through as they have been forced to not only rally in the name of their siblings, children, and parents but also to watch their murderers get off without so much as an indictment or a conviction, or even a pink slip— largely no accountability from the “justice” system and none of which could ever repay the costs these families have endured and are paying for, still.
So, why did Netflix canceled this series which currently has a 77% success rate amongst viewers?
We can truly only speculate as Netflix has offered up only a vague and seemingly neutral response to the cancellation of the series.
But what we do know is that knowledge is power, the kind of power the fuels ideas and conversations of multifaceted insurrection. Seven Seconds offers up the very vital knowledge that listening to Black women is the way and what needs to be done, as Brenton’s life would have never been advocated for if not for Black women. Just as in real time, without fail, we always find that Black women are the ones mobilizing to advocate on behalf of human rights against sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, classism, and globalization (though we never in turn see the same advocacy on the behalf of Black women and the social problems they are affected by).
What is the impact or message that Netflix is putting forth by cancelling a show that in its first season amplified the voices and trials of two Black women up against the world, though the show was successful in landing viewers and critics (according to Rotten Tomatoes)?
In real time, we know that in our current popular and political culture, silencing the power, intuition, contributions, and dedication of Black women is common place now as it has always been in popular culture and mainstream media. Though it was viscerally challenging to get through, Seven Seconds is worth the watch, so catch it on Netflix while you can still stream it.
