The Boys in Red Hats Movie Review

I never thought I’d be reviewing a film about a smirk. Still, I found myself doing that very thing this week while watching Jonathan Schroder’s “The Boys in Red Hats.” ​
Is the documentary about the ‘smirk’ that got the entire world’s attention or was it a simple smile on a young boy’s face, and everyone was misinterpreting it as a smug look? This event is the subject of director Jonathan Schroder’s film. Schroder attempts to determine what the look meant as he interviews or attempts to interview those involved or have opinions about the matter.

At the ‘March for Life’ rally on January 18, 2019, near the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, 17-year-old Nick Sandmann of Covington Catholic High School, Cov Cath, which it’s often referred to as, locked eyes with a drum playing Native American activist named Nathan Phillips. The clip plays on every media platform you can think of, all of which never shows the clip in its entirety. Schroder points out that the media did its job of getting attention by not showing the whole event. Perhaps intentional; perhaps not. What Schroder gets to here is that, yes, Sandmann was being egged on by his MAGA-hat-wearing schoolmates. He stares down a tribal elder, and he looked rather disrespectfully at Phillips while doing so. As it turns out, Phillips claims to have been a Vietnam Vet, but you’ll learn more about that later in the film. What all audiences were being deprived of was what happened right before the incident.

Phillips saw a group of Black Hebrew Israelites about to face off with the students. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Black Hebrew Israelites are an extremist hate group. Knowing the confrontation would lead to no good, Phillips grabbed his drum and started beating it for a good reason. Vincent Schilling, a journalist from Indian Country Today, tells the audience something that most people outside of the Native community do not know about why this was done. He assures us that Phillips was not trying to be a troublemaker. He was approaching the moment with peaceful intentions. Schilling then goes on to explain how he knows this.

A few chaperones and several journalists are interviewed about the matter. We’re also given Schroder’s thoughts on the encounter. As a former “Cov Cath” student, he has a rather intriguing angle. Every person he interviews speaks from the heart and tells us the truth as they know it or see it.
Leaving the Trump administration out of it, what the director and producer Justin Jones do next is get to the nitty-gritty of what kind of institution created a Red Hat wearing Nick Sandmann. Journalist Anne Branigan goes into the cleanup job done by the news, who sadly made the story only about Nick Sandmann. They asked us to consider whether Sandmann was good or bad, a racist or not, which she thought was a “shallow” way to approach the story. When you make it about the character of the youngster wearing the hat, he gets a chance to go on the Today show and say he was scared. I particularly liked when she mentioned that everyone there that day was acting tribal. High School students often are, especially those at Cov Cath. She believes the story should have been approached with that in mind. Both sides are highlighted with everyone’s comments, and so much is revealed for all to consider.

I thought this was going to be a movie I’d be unable to watch. I’d prefer not to cover a film that sticks to one side over the other. That said, Schroder did an exceptional job of giving you insights without trying to persuade you to see it “his way.” Unlike what social media platforms do, who need your clicks, he presents us with evidence and does his best to give the whole story.

You learn a lot from watching this documentary. While viewing, you may be surprised enough to change your mind about the entire episode. As it turns into a fight, pinning half the country against the other, Schroder instead asks us to look at things more clearly and not jump to any conclusions; not let social media do the thinking for us. He doesn’t favor the kids or Phillips; he doesn’t absolve anyone. He just does his job. I highly recommend this documentary to see the whole story to learn the complete truth, like it or not.