OPINION: Coming off of his film, “The Nurse That Saw the Baby on the Highway,” Alvin Gray has an eye for current events and Black storytelling.
Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
Until very recently, I had never heard of filmmaker Alvin Gray, though apparently, I was aware of at least one of his films. You see, when Black creativity and the internet collide, amazing things can happen and that’s exactly what transpired when I was sent the link to the trailer for the Tubi film, “The Nurse That Saw the Baby on the Highway.”
Here’s the YouTube description for the trailer for said film: Based on true/false events, nursing student Marlee Wilson has been struggling with day-to-day issues with school, work and her cheating boyfriend who’s addicted to strippers. Feeling like she’s not getting enough attention from her boyfriend, she decides to fake a kidnapping, but the hoax ends up getting deeper than she ever expected bringing real-life issues across the country!
As you can imagine, Marlee Wilson sounds A LOT like Carlee Russell, who in July, claimed she saw a baby on I-59 in Birmingham, Alabama, and launched a million articles, thinkpieces about real issues affecting Black women and our care for them before finding out the whole thing was a hoax. I watched that movie, by the way. I watch Tubi movies, but I especially watch Tubi movies that seem like they are 100% with the shenanigans. So, it should come as no surprise that when I saw the trailer for “The Rapper That Got Shot in the Heel,” I felt a sense of deja vu. After watching the trailer, I had two thoughts: 1) wow, Tubi gives zero effs; and 2) the person who made this HAS to be the same person who made “The Nurse That Saw the Baby on the Highway.” And I was right.
Let me just say this: It’s amazing how stuff goes viral but doesn’t at the same time. For instance, I have had NO LESS THAN 20 people send me a tweet or IG post about this film where the comments sections are on fire, implying that everybody is talking about this film, but the actual trailer on YouTube has about 3,000 views, which isn’t even close to viral. People are talking about a thing they aren’t actually engaging with — go check these things out, y’all. Support Black filmmakers.
Anywho, I am absolutely on board with watching this movie, and I even checked out an IG video by Mr. Gray who addressed his making of the film; now, I’m intrigued if it goes in the direction he claims, but listening to him talk also made me interested in the rest of his filmography and what else he might have on deck. I’ll watch and pay for the films — this film
