ironically this movie is going to need white people to see it to realize its full
potential
you're watching Beyond The Trailer's review of Dear White People...
Dear White People...the minimum requirement of black friends needed to not
seem racist
has just been raised to two. Sorry, but your weed man
Tyrone does not count.
I really don't see the issue, never ran into any lynch mob...
It would be good to elect someone like you as school president...
Someone else is running?!
Together, we can bring black back to Winchester
Who does Sam think she is?!
It's like, Spike Lee and Oprah had some sort of pissed off baby...
one year after Fruitvale station made a big splash at the Sundance Film Festival
yet failed to get any traction in mainstream Hollywood
will dear why people be able to fare any better? now the big Sundance winner this
year is actually whiplash said to be a strong Oscar contender
but writer-director Justin Simien did win the US dramatic Special Jury Award
for breakthrough talent
they don't even award that every year which either makes it special
or apologetic - but still clearly sundance felt dear white people was worthy of
some level of recognition
now to see if hollywood and audiences agree! this is indeed an interesting time
to discuss issues of race as many would like to argue it no longer matters
while some would counter that the divide has simply become more subversive
and a certain level of humor has certainly entered the conversation
from the boondocks comic strip and animated series, to the blog and book
stuff white people like
to the new ABC sitcom blackish! but while all of this commentary is going on
producers like Will Packer are quietly taking Hollywood by storm
and not by crying foul but by playing the game! if Kevin Hart and Will Packer
can rule the box office again and again and again
is there still a need for Spike Lee and Oprah's pissed off baby?
Simien himself is certainly entering hollywood in a new age
where he worked his way up from social media manager at Sony
publicity assistant at Focus Features, and publicity coordinator at Paramount Pictures
Hmm, publicity? is that what Dear White People really is? a calculated effort by
someone well versed in what it takes to get the Twitterverse's attention
there has been keen interest in dear white people thanks to an impressive
trailer but again
trailers are a publicity tool
while an actual movie is much harder to pull off - in fact
Simien made a trailer for dear white people before even shooting the movie
itself
in an effort to raise money to get it made. sure enough the original trailer went
viral and Simien practically doubled his financing goal on IndieGoGo
So, is dear why people actually a good movie
are just a really great headline? so first off purely based on craftsmanship
I'm surprised at how much dear white people plays like a student film
I mean you see movies like Fruitvale Station and Whiplash come out of
Sundance and you assume a certain level of quality
but that assumption is unfortunately incorrect because Justin Simien's film is
nowhere near
on the same level as fruitvale station and whiplash
it is indeed much harder to make an actual film than a trailer and I have to
say
all the best parts of this movie are indeed in the trailer
now as I said in the open this conversation about race
is being had in many places these days
even to the point where it's on prime-time network television
with blackish - so if you want to join the conversation this late in the game
you definitely need to add something fresh and concrete
and by concrete I mean extremely well thought-out and that is
also not the case with dear white people - there are a lot of
angry cliches in this movie and I feel a lot of the
logic is just convenient - you know it's
it's very immature I would say, I think that comes not only from the
student film perspective but also from the lack of depth
and intelligence I'd have to say unfortunately
in lot of the arguments that are made in terms of the message up the film
now but wait a minute because this it about to get very ironic
now of course the film's called dear white people and a big plot point in the
film
is that these white students at this college want to throw a
blackface party
where they all dress up in blackface and, you know it's really
quite appalling! and the whole time I was watching the movie I was like "no way
would anyone actually do this in real life, at least not enough people to
constitute a party!"
but then lo and behold over the credit sequence at the end
they showed actual photos from real white students at
colleges recently who have held blackface parties
and it was appalling to behold and I'd also say
that that's the movie that should have been made here! and I think it's probably what
first
inspired Justin Simien to make this movie but do you know what dear white people is
missing? and this is where the irony comes in
it's missing the white perspective - everything is told from the black
students' point of view
and I think therefore it makes no effort to understand where that
racism is coming from, because that's the new angle to this conversation
not even angle, that's where to take the conversation next - in today's day and age
how can racism still exist? and not only still exist but it
seems to have become even more insidious - and to explore that aspect
of, you know, this current culture that we live in
and race relations, would have been fresh, new and concrete
and I think that Justin Simien has to think to himself "hey you know what?
I am guilty of what my character in my film is accused of being
and that's presenting a one-sided argument" and Justin Simien should think
about how many white friends that he has
and agents and managers don't count!
so dear white people - by the way and there were a number of white people in the
audience - I just thinks this whole movie
is a missed opportunity and it's unfortunate because it came very close
but at the end of the day while it hints at a phenomenon, this new level of racism
that is fascinating and very disturbing, highly disturbing
unfortunately Justin Simien isn't mature enough, or at least the film isn't
mature enough, and it's too one-sided to really accurately tackle the subject
the actors did a very nice job though! every one of them was very likable
both the black and white actors - and I just wish that
there were better roles available to them, particularly the black actors
We talk a lot about lack of rolls out there for black talent
and unfortunately I don't think Justin Simien created
very good ones. Alright so that's my review of dear white people
if you've seen the film please leave your own thoughts down below thank you
so much for tuning in
and you can check out some more episodes right now