Why such low IMDB scores?

Oh this is spooky! markschu, I'm Mark Chu too!

And I can't agree you more, I am definitely puzzled by such a low rating here. This is a film everybody should watch! Not to mention it is based on a true story. We can see that racism is still quite active these days.... sad.

I gave a rating of 10 to boost up the score.

I read several years ago when I first signed up for IMDB that there is a group of racist reviewers who deliberately score every movie about people of color on IMDB very low in order to lower the average rating. The goal is to rate these movies very low so that: 1) people will think they are bad movies, 2) no one will want to see these poorly rated movies (including films like this one that tell important stories), and 3) most importantly, so that filmmakers won't even bother making such films as a result of few people seeing them when they are made. Don't take my word for it - look at IMDB scores for other important films, particularly those about blacks.

The only solution is for film viewers like you who enjoyed American Violet to rate it fairly, and in higher numbers than those who set out to torpedo it - many of these people have never even seen the film!! Get as many of your friends as possible who have seen American Violet signed up to rate it on IMDB - that's the only way for it and films like it to get the rating it deserves.

The current rating is a 6.6, which is where it should be. Compare this movie to A Few Good Men, particularly the courtroom scene and interchange there between Daniel Caffey (Cruise) and Colonel Jessup (Nicholson). The way the story was told in that movie, there was built in suspense--we knew beforehand what the strategy was and what was at stake--Caffey could be disciplined for accusing Jessup of ordering the "Code Red." That knowledge imparted a dramatic tension to the whole scene.

Contrast that with the deposition scene at the end this movie--no suspense. There was comparatively little at risk. Dee's lawyer wasn't going to go to jail for asking the wrong question, and the DA wasn't going to jail for answering it. There were no mysterious witnesses waiting in the back of the courtroom,only known and foreseeable witnesses played on tape. While having the black lawyer interrogate the racist DA was sound strategy, it was far from brilliant. And while the back and forth between the questioner and the witness was entertaining..."Even black people can tell time" etc, it lags behind the brilliant and entertaining examination/interchange in A Few Good Men.

I don't foresee anyone quoting this movie, but I know people who have the entire "You want me on that wall" dialogue memorized."

This was a good movie worth watching, but let's not make it out to be more than it is. Higher ratings are reserved for superior movies, movies that do more and do it better than this one.

After watching this movie I couldn't agree more. This movies should be rated a 10/10 easily. But that's the state of the nation, as you said they're so dumbed down and just want to be entertained, see people get shot, and see stuff blown up. God forbid a cinematic masterpiece that happens to TRUE nonetheless comes along and provoke thought. Nooooo! We can't have that, the last thing the powers that be in America want is an aware, educated, and well informed public.

Because very few American citizens (read: white) don't won't to accept the fact that their beloved fiefdom has massive flaws. America is so quick to point at other injustices in the world but when it comes to its OWN BACKYARD then the 'smoke and mirrors' come into play. This movie is just a sliver of reality of the corruptness, greed, and arrogance that lies within the border. Plus if laws were "TRULY" applied without regard to color then way more whites would be targeted, arrested, and in jail. You can guarantee that the local yocal white cop isn't breaking his backside to throw some white boy in jail for a small amount of powder cocaine. But that's just fine because the hypocrisy that created this country called America will be its Achilles' Heel...

Most black films have low ratings because a vocal portion of American film (white) goers don't respond to black films, or films surrounding racial biases, or ethnic studies. I remember watching Erin Brockovich and feeling rather empty by the performances; but it took home Oscars. I'm not suggesting some films with racial tones are unfairly rated; but I will suggest that the awards, the ratings aren't fair, are not a testimony to a film's value; and therefore I would question any person that took these items seriously in the face of choosing to watch or not watch a movie.

I do believe there are racist people rating films surrounding black themes, I've seen it with films where majority black viewers and film community viewers love and praise a film for excellence, but then go on to receive scores that don't speak to their critical acclaim.

I would attribute this to people's inability to evaluate and interpret the times. Terminator films are escapist films- an American art form, and American Violet is realism.

This movie came recommended to me and I watched it on Netflix. I found it to be too melodramatic. I gave it a 7 (disclosure - I am a middle-aged, college educated black woman).

I plan to also watch the PBS Frontline special "The Plea" for a more factual accounting.

Having been on IMDB for quite a few years I do feel that there are a number of very good films featuring a predominantly black cast which should be rated higher. A few that come to mind ar Do the right thing, The Colour Purple, Crooklyn, Get on the bus, Hustle & Flow. I would like to believe that the majority of people don't vote films down just because they see a black cast so maybe it is more about the fact that films often have an impact on us depending on our experiences. It is impossible that a non black male is going to be impacted by a film like Get on the bus in the same way that a black male would. I almost always expect black films to have lower rating than they should due to the probable make up of the IMDB community. The most worrying thing on IMDB is that it appears practically impossible for anyone to discuss race on these boards without someone adding a derogatory comment in one direction or another.