Overview:
Current episodes of the HBO Max drama “The Pitt” function a Haitian American household by way of fictional siblings Chantal and Jude Augustin. Their storyline — set off by a firecracker accident — presents a uncommon depiction of Haitians in mainstream American tv. The portrayal feels particularly well timed amid intensifying immigration deportation efforts nationwide.
As quickly because the paramedics wheeling the kid into the ER informed medical doctors the boy’s identify was Jude Augustin, a few of us had a suspicion. It took one other complete week to seek out out, however the instinct was spot on: A Haitian household is being featured on a success medical drama — “The Pitt” on HBO Max, aka the present of the second for avid followers.
Introducing the characters across the identical time that Disney+ debuted “Surprise Man” felt like one other milestone in Haitian People’ journey towards illustration on mainstream screens.
However how would the writers and administrators current this Haitian household’s story? Would the depiction make us cringe, as so many others have? Wouldn’t it depart viewers wishing the present hadn’t even tried? Would the characters be so compressed and flattened, their accents too heavy or not heavy sufficient that they barely felt recognizable? So many questions got here up because the storyline unfolded.
Because it seems, the medical drama acquired it largely proper — to date. With out giving all of it away, right here’s a quick recap to indicate why this Haitian American household is value watching.
In Season 2, Episode 9, the hospital’s heroic workers deal with 12-year-old Jude, performed by Anthony B. Jenkins, after he’s injured in a firecracker accident throughout Fourth of July festivities in Pittsburgh, the place the present is about, that despatched some wild instances into the town’s namesake ER.
Since Pennsylvania is house to greater than 30,000 Haitians, it appeared solely a matter of time for one among them to cross paths with the hospital. In any case, each main metropolis in America runs on immigrant labor, however they’re largely solid within the background on main reveals — there, but invisible. However in actual life, we “Haitians are in all places,” as we prefer to say. And coincidentally, a Haitian lady in Pittsburgh was discovered lifeless in a bus cease.
Apparently, The Pitt’s present runners have been leaning into the town’s numerous workers and sufferers. They’ve featured many immigrants as multi-dimensional people, from workers who swap simply between their mom tongue and English to carrying culturally acceptable clothes.
When Jude’s older sister arrives on the hospital, her identify alone — Chantal — turns into a 3rd clue since their Haitian identification nonetheless isn’t explicitly revealed. Performed by Sasha Compère, a Detroit native born of Haitian dad and mom, her character lastly shares the reason for the siblings troubles with the medical doctors, confirming what viewers following current information can recognize because the supply of their troubles…
To keep away from spoilers, let’s simply say that Chantal and Jude’s storyline feels particularly well timed. With Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) finishing up the Trump administration’s mass deportation targets, “The Pitt” brings to mild the actual influence of immigration coverage on households. In a visceral manner that information headlines can’t get throughout, we see the domino impact of 1 federal determination on the lives of not simply the individual concerned on paper, however of their cherished one’s trajectory in society.
For Haitian viewers, whose day-to-day tales nonetheless seem too not often on mainstream American tv, seeing Haitian characters portrayed with complexity is a welcome change. Seeing Haitians exterior the realm of catastrophe protection or cultural occasions, and in on a regular basis scenes — as caring but offended, struggling but decided, sensible but fallible — is overdue. It’s a shift for an immigrant neighborhood usually portrayed askew. We’re both extremely resilient, tremendous non secular or magical Negroes tropes, or clueless, haughty figures.
“The Pitt” even went as far as to solid Compère, an actress of Haitian descent. A bona fide one at that, with the red-and-blue Haitian flag in her Instagram profile bio.
That call provides one other layer of authenticity. After watching Hollywood solid actors from different Black or Caribbean backgrounds play roles written for Haitian roles, it’s refreshing to see them attain for precise Haitian actors.
So whereas Chantal’s Kreyòl might not be flawless — whose is, anyway — her story, her household’s story, is intriguing sufficient to maintain watching. The sibling’s story transcends ethnicity, pretty much as good tales do. So Haitian or not, tune in.