Aired on PBS-TV's "Independent Lens", this Emmy-winning nonfiction feature by director Brad Lichtenstein hails from the production company founded by rap superstar/entrepreneur Snoop Dog. Yet it is nothing showy or hip-hoppy, but a straightforward and thoughtful personalization of the American tragedy of black-on-black crime.
One June night in 2014, random family man and aspiring law student Claudiare `Claude' Motley is shot in the jaw while in his car in Milwaukee. The assailant is also black - and young, 15-year-old Nathan King, part of a localized crime spree with his peers. Nathan is taken into custody after subsequently being shot and crippled by another of his targets (an armed black woman, who is distinctly uncomfortable afterwards about being treated as a community hero).
Even wheelchair-bound prior to his trial, Nathan manages to violate parole repeatedly. Although Claude is on his feet a week after the shooting, medical costs and long-term health ramifications derail his career plans and steer his household towards bankruptcy. But two years after the shooting, Claude wants to meet Nathan in prison for a "victim/offender dialogue," determined to find forgiveness.
The setup is almost Hollywood-script rife with ironies; Nathan had a fairly stable, upscale upbringing in a nice neighborhood and went to a notably good (overwhelmingly white) school. Claude reveals to the camera that his own childhood was troubled (especially his relationship with his father) and classically "at risk." Surrounded by violence and temptation, Claude believes he might easily have made lawless and self-destructive choices himself.
Larger factors in Milwaukee's crime rate (the city is said to literally destroy young Afro-American males) are ascribed rather fuzzily to entrenched racism, especially a badly segregated community. Nathan's own reasons for his lethal acts, when he finally speaks late in the film, come across as evasive and banal (frustration at his pro-basketball dreams not materializing). There is no addressing the widespread arsenal of guns in the US, nor (given the Snoop Dog DNA of the production, maybe surprising, or maybe not) cultural impacts of hip-hop and glamorization of thug life.
Instead of being about the big picture, then, When Claude Got Shot aims at an arguably bigger picture - the plight of a casualty of violence crime, the plight of the perpetrator, and the slow grind of the justice system. The effort to empathize with the offender and seek closure via sincere reconciliation rather than retribution is what sets the material apart. Recommended.
What public library shelves would this restorative justice documentary be on?
While the documentary easily fits under True Crime, it also belongs on shelves dedicated to African-American Studies, Urban Studies, Criminal-Justice Reform, and Trauma & Recovery. Libraries that maintain specialty sections on Milwaukee History or Midwestern social issues will find strong local-interest appeal, and branches curating media on gun-violence prevention or restorative justice can highlight the film for community programs and discussion groups.
What classroom settings and age levels are best suited for this restorative justice documentary?
Because the shooter is a teenager and the narrative revolves around choices made in adolescence, the documentary can resonate powerfully in high-school social-studies or civics classes—provided instructors prepare students for brief profanity and intense subject matter. At the college level, it works well in seminars on race and justice, restorative-justice practices, or community health. Graduate programs in social work or criminal-justice reform can use the film to prompt conversations about systemic inequality, parole supervision, and victim-offender reconciliation.