"Dear White People"

[Koko Ricky]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Uag2G0J6iqw

This dramedy currently has a 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and is being praised for its biting satire of race relations in the Obama era. After watching the trailer, I felt a wave of embarrassment wash over. As someone who is part black, white and Latino, I've had the luxury of peering into cultural norms from multiple perspectives. The problem I see here is that a movie with a predominantly black cast used a potentially game changing opportunity to angrily soapbox about the treatment of their culture in mainstream America, rather than release a film (be it comedy, horror, drama, etc.) that just happens to feature a predominant black cast.

I am continually disgusted by this attitude that, because it's taking longer than it should for blacks to be treated with true equality in America, that alienation, separatism, racial bigotry, entitlement and pressure to conform to self-defined norms becomes acceptable in many pockets of black communities. It's that shitty attitude that led to this film, which should have been a documentary covering the progress and problems of both sides of the fence.

[Kontra Kommando]

The most of the white people I tend to hang out with are in my family. Most of my friends are not white, probably because where I'm from is very diverse. A big portion of them are black, and they are nothing like those people in that movie. I dislike movies like this because they focus on what brings people apart, than what brings them together.

[Technician]

To be fair I'd have to see the film to actually know if this is a satire or some college-tier privilege checking romp.

Also the Director's name is Justin Simien and he's black. That's cruelly ironic.

[Clonehunter]

Satire? It looks like a full-blown documentary.

[AndrewB]

I'd rather watch 5 royal weddings and 2 Justin Bieber concerts than 1 documentary about race relations.

[clamgor]

Looks like it would be a nice movie.

Although I could be horribly wrong.

[Waffenak]

Meh, I hate trailers that constantly pause to show you how many awards it has and music pauses when someone tells a joke

[Doom_Dude]

AndrewB said:

I'd rather watch 5 royal weddings and 2 Justin Bieber concerts than 1 documentary about race relations.

2 Bieber concerts? I don't think I could live through one.

[Koko Ricky]

Clonehunter said:

Satire? It looks like a full-blown documentary.

From what little I've read about it, it's satirical. The whole thing seems to ugly and unnecessary. I think race relations are a fascinating subject, and with the right emotional tone, could be approached in a way that doesn't come off as preachy or melodramatic. I've always been fascinated by the idiosyncrasies of different cultures. Would it really be that painful to sit through, AndrewB?