Web Series Wednesday – Five Points

By: Krista Ann Freego

WHAT?  Five Points

BY: Executive Producer Kerry Washington and Indigenous Media

WHY SHOULD I WATCH?

The series takes place at Five Points High School in Chicago and tells the same story from five different points of view. Each episode so far has been following the events of the same day, each time from a different character’s side. Interestingly, the five characters were given one-word descriptions in the trailer for the series. Lexi (played by Hayley Kiyoko) is the “outsider.” Lexi is a well-intentioned introvert who is struggling to find her voice and her place at Five Points High School. Tosh (played by Madison Pettis) is the “overachiever.” Tosh strives for perfection and places far too much stress on herself to be perfect scholastically. She is popular and cruel to those who are not. In actuality, Tosh’s parents are the one’s placing too much stress and importance on perfection. CJ (played by Ray Cham Jr.) is the “dreamer.” When we meet him, his mother is MIA and he has to find a way to pay two months of back owed rent to keep him and his little sister from being evicted. You can tell by how he interacts with other characters that CJ is not a bad person, but sadly he is driven to do bad deeds due to desperation. Eric (played by Spence Moore II) is the “winner.” Eric is the all-star high school football player who’s room is littered with trophies and who dates the most popular girl in the school (Tosh). At first glance his life looks like a dream, but all of his hard work and all of his accolades cannot stop his dreams of a college scholarship from slipping through his fingers due to no fault of his own. Wallace (played by Nathaniel Potvin) is the “fighter.” I found this moniker deceiving because in all the episodes that have been released thus far he is being bullied and I have yet to see him throw a punch. I have certainly seen him take a number of punches. Wallace appears to be the character that no one sees or remembers his name, except for the bully and Eric.

An important lesson being taught by this series is that looks can be deceiving. Based on each characters’ stature in high school all the other players in the series have certain assumptions about him or her. It is only when they actually interact with another character, talk to them and get to know the real them that they realize how incorrect their original assumptions were.  This series also depicts a realistic view of life in high school for this generation from school shootings, unreasonable parent expectations, crippling self-doubt, depression, drug use, isolation and that feeling that no one else will understand and that no one else cares.

I do want to give a warning to readers: This series does deal with issues such as depression and suicidal ideations. It also urges it viewers that they are not alone and that it is okay to not be okay but to please reach out to someone. Tell someone.  The series provided a special message at the end of episode five with the contact information for Suicide Prevention. If you are having suicidal ideas, please reach out to www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org or call 1-800-273-8255 (TALK).  You are not alone, and you don’t have to be alone.

WHERE CAN I WATCH?  Five Points can currently be found on Facebook Watch. New episodes are released every Monday at 6pm PT/9 pm EST.

Facebook:     facebook.com/fivepoints