Movies

‘Government Cheese’ stays outside the box with a surreal Black family in the Valley

BBG News

When Paul Hunter began circulating his script for an autobiographical film titled “Government Cheese,” which portrays a Black family leading a peculiar life in San Fernando Valley during the late 1960s, he frequently encountered similar refusals: We don’t recognize any Black people like this. These aren’t characters we’ve ever seen among Black people. As Hunter recently shared, “I was taken aback and said, ‘This is my family.’ You seem unaware of another side of the culture that exists.

Initially, the music video director known for working with artists like LL Cool J, Lauryn Hill, Marilyn Manson, and Deftones, Hunter, transformed “Government Cheese” into a short film featuring David Oyelowo (“Selma”). This production has since grown into a series, set to debut on Apple TV+ this Wednesday. It’s known for its outlandish, imaginative elements (similar to “Severance”), creating a surreal landscape reminiscent of Wes Anderson’s visual style, all while defying conventional storytelling structures. As Hunter explains his creative philosophy: “My goal as a storyteller has always been to avoid being confined within a box.

Entertainment & Arts

In an unexpected twist, the “Government Cheese” container would sport a highly unusual design. The story unfolds with Oyelowo portraying Hampton Chambers, a man recently released from Chino State Prison due to check fraud charges. Upon his return to his expansive home on a bright, open street, he anticipates a warm reception. However, that’s not what he gets. His wife, Astoria (Simone Missick), has developed new professional aspirations in interior design. Their youngest son, Harrison (Jahi Di’Allo Winston), displays bitterness and resentment. Their oldest child, Einstein (Evan Ellison), a budding prodigy, is applying to colleges but appears more engrossed in mastering the art of pole vaulting. As the Notorious B.I.G. once put it, times have indeed evolved.

However, Hampton harbors a vision. He’s created a remarkable tool – the Bit Magician, a self-sharpening drill – and he’s keen on marketing it to an aerospace company nearby. Yet, his obligations don’t end there. He’s indebted to a local French Canadian crime syndicate, and his former companion, Bootsy (Bokeem Woodbine), is pushing him to participate in a robbery at the local Jewish temple. Additionally, there’s a significant catfish lurking around with implications from the Bible.

Hunter poured a significant amount of both his creative mind and personal experiences into “Government Cheese.” His father indeed served time in prison, and upon release, found himself navigating a foreign landscape. Similar to the youngest Chambers son, Hunter, he was profoundly fascinated by Native American culture. In the show, Harrison finds one of his father’s acquaintances from prison, Rudy (portrayed by Adam Beach), as a mentor figure. This character is modeled after one of Hunter’s neighbors from the Valley, an Apache man named Rudy, who also held great influence over him.

At a more fundamental level, Hunter aimed to portray the experience of being a Black family who stand apart from societal norms, living in a kind of secluded sphere, detached from the intense cultural movements of their era.

In my childhood during the ’70s, the Black Panther movement was quite active, yet my family chose to concentrate less on those events and instead, we maintained our own little universe.

He likened the characters to The Addams Family. “They represent a unique, separate entity, and my intention was to convey the sensation of standing out from societal expectations, particularly for Black individuals,” he further explained.

In a recent interview, Oyelowo, who’s also an executive producer, succinctly summed up the show’s mood as “a parabolic, surrealist, absurdist family comedy.” (Carr jokingly added in another chat that Oyelowo has many words.) In one episode, while Astoria is watching a vintage coffee commercial, the TV housewife mysteriously materializes in the Chambers’ household. Astoria expresses her disapproval of the TV wife’s submissive role in domestic life. The unexpected visitor then explains, “The coffee symbolizes taking care of your husband.

Carr, who worked on “The Carmichael Show” as both a writer and producer, was deeply impressed by Hunter’s ability to transform written concepts into visual narratives. As a writer myself, invested in story and character development, he broadened my perspective regarding visual storytelling. In essence, he is a highly visual individual with an aesthetic appeal that leaves me in awe.

Earlier, Hunter was at the helm of one movie, “Bulletproof Monk” (2003), which left him feeling unsatisfied. As a relatively young director, he admitted, “I didn’t have much influence on it.” He gained recognition through music videos and advertisements, such as the highly acclaimed Nike ad, “Freestyle,” that seamlessly combines basketball and hip-hop beats. However, his creative mind was still drawn to big-screen projects, even when offered the opportunity to create “Government Cheese” for television.

He proposed a concept where we could structure our 10 episodes as interconnected short films. This idea sparked from the hues found in vintage Polaroid images. He explained, ‘The sunrise in the valley seems to bleach out the structures, causing all the paint to fade.’

In everyday life, “government cheese” was a term used for a processed cheese that was distributed to individuals with low incomes, food banks, and schools as part of a program established in the 1950s. This term can symbolize poverty, but as Oyelowo notes, it can also represent resourcefulness – the skill to innovate and create something novel and surprising from limited resources on hand.

If this describes Hampton Chambers, it also describes Paul Hunter.

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2025-04-15 13:32

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