Ava DuVernay tackles an unjust prison system in new 13th trailer

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

The key to a good documentary is simple: take something people don’t know much about and shed light on it. The new documentary, 13TH, by Ava DuVernay does just that by focusing on the incarceration system, and how many young African American men are unjustly put behind bars, often for years at a time. As well we will get to hear about how the private sector of the prison system works to imprison people for a profit. Hence the title referencing 13th Amendment which abolishes slavery, alluding to the notion that the modern prison system is akin to slavery. Heavy stuff indeed.

But that’s just what I got from it. Who knows, it could be about aliens, featuring a cameo from the crazy-haired dude from ANCIENT ALIENS arguing that prisons bars were given to us by Martians. Watch for yourself!

Needless to say this documentary looks absolutely harrowing. For a long time many, including myself, thought of prison simply as prison. You do something bad and you go to jail, meaning all the people in jail must’ve done something bad. But that isn’t always the case. I could talk about this all day, but that would be pointless, plus I have that thing at noon. For now, it’s safe to say that 13TH will be a hot ticket for those who love documentaries which, thank the fish monster in the sky, seems to include a record-high number of people today than ever before. You know who we can thank for that? Aliens!

13TH will premiere on Netflix on October 7.