FX's latest series "Snowfall" hopes to shed light on the crack cocaine epidemic that rocked Los Angeles in the early '80s. At the center of the show is young croupier Franklin Saint, played by newcomer Damon Idris. The themes are taken directly from the country's recent history, but was Franklin Saint based on a real person?
"Snowfall, " developed by "Boyz N The Hood" writer-director John Singleton, will not only follow Franklin's journey deeper into the field, but also how East Los Angeles was transformed as crack cocaine entered its neighborhoods. affected.
The show's protagonist isn't directly based on a real person, but Franklin and the changing world he lives in are inspired by Singleton's experiences growing up in Los Angeles at the time. According to The Hollywood Reporter , the director told the audience at the show's ATX panel that he drew inspiration for Franklin from his own experiences as a young man in South Central. Like Franklin, Singleton went to school in the Valley, where he interacted with his mostly Japanese and Jewish classmates, introducing the future filmmaker to a world different from the one he had back home. Singleton describes the events of Snowfall as his "formative years" and uses Franklin's story to provide viewers with a first-hand account of that fateful summer in Los Angeles.
As one of the protagonists of "Snowfall," Franklin strives to make his mother proud and attempts to support himself and her by selling drugs. Without the advantages enjoyed by his classmates, he tried to improve his situation by switching from selling marijuana to selling the more lucrative crack. In Singleton's case, he chose not to get involved in the drug trade, while Franklin's journey centers on his decision to be part of this major change in his community.
According to Rolling Stone , Singleton drew on a wide range of his own experiences to create the story told in "Snowfall." Like his protagonist, Singleton watched his community change completely when drug dealers began selling crack cocaine. But he still relies on more straightforward accounts. "There are people living this life, and we have to bring people into the room who can talk about that," Singleton said on ATX , according to the same article in The Hollywood Reporter . "We hired people who understand the parts deeply. consultant."
Underlying clues to the growing popularity of crack cocaine provide "Snowfall" with a realism that allows one to understand how it changed lives like Franklin's. "This is an untold story," Singleton told the Los Angeles Times . "It's the story of how cocaine changed Los Angeles. There's a lot of oral history and folklore about this era. And no one's telling it. Dramatic. I want to do that.”
While Franklin Saint leaned more toward the dramatic side of Snowfall rather than the historically accurate side, it's clear that the character and project were important to John Singleton. Franklin's story is imbued with his attention to detail and his own experiences, and "Snowfall" offers an intimate look at key moments.
