"How can you defend someone who doesn't want to defend himself?"
Blind Faith is a fictional 1998 legal drama written by Frank Military and directed by Ernest R. Dickerson, and stars Courtney B. Vance as rising lawyer John Williams. The film premiered on the cable network Showtime.
Primarily set in 1957 Bronx, John lives with his elder brother Charles Sr. (Charles S. Dutton), poised to become the first African American sergeant in the NYPD. When Charles' 18-year-old son, Charles Jr., is arrested for the murder of a white youth in Van Cortland Park, John comes the defense of his nephew but soon discovers that there is much more to the case than anyone realizes.
Film trailer/introduction here
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Blind Faith provides examples of:
- Bury Your Gays: It turns out that Charles Jr is gay and killed the youth for being part of a white gang that murdered his boyfriend in a hate crime. Between not wanting to shame his father with the truth of his homosexuality and put his father's career in jeopardy with that same, Jr refuses to reveal this fact, ultimately ending up on death row and committing suicide to ensure his father isn't 'tainted' by the truth.
- Dedication: The film is written in the memory of Yusef Hawkins, a 16-year-old black teenager who was murdered by a mob of white youth in a predominantly Italian-American section of Brooklyn in 1989.
- Fantasy-Forbidding Father: Among many other things, Charles Sr. insists against Charles Jr. taking an art class.
- Follow in My Footsteps: Charles Sr. wants his son to take the police entrance exam and become an officer just like him, feeling that his son will benefit from his trailblazing father's pedigree among the ranks.
- Framing Device: The film starts and ends in 1990 with John watching news coverage of the verdict of the Yusef Hawkins murder case, causing him to reflect upon his own personal history of dealing with the injustices of the legal system and recall to the viewer the case of his nephew back in 1957.
- Law Procedural: Although the story encompasses much more than just legal proceedings, much of the film is set in a courtroom as John tries to argue his nephew's case.
