Dear White People

Dustin: 4 of 5 stars Nick: 4 of 5 stars Average: 4 of 5 stars (Live canary)

Dustin: Dear White People is a comedy/drama/social commentary showing some of the bone-headed ways white people interact with black people, while also poking fun at some of the ways black people are oversensitive to media depictions (like Sam’s argument for why Gremlins is a racist movie).

What did you think of Dear White People, Nick?

Nick: A comedy that is able to transcend the tag of just being funny to give its characters depth and the ability to grow and change is a rare find. Dear White People is so good at certain times it felt as if I were in the room talking to college kids about their radical views and not just watching actors portray that on film.

Dustin: The movie wasn’t as funny as I was expecting from the trailer (this is one of those comedies where all the funny stuff is in the trailer), however, I agree the characters had enough depth that I was able to enjoy this movie on its other strengths. This is the first commentary on race that I’ve seen where I didn’t feel like it was preaching to the choir (A Day Without a Mexican) or insulting to the audience’s intelligence (Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner).

Nick: Dear White People isn’t funny in a losing your breath from laughing sort of way, but more in a poignant way. The dialogue made me smile constantly from its clever ways of depicting a person, place or thing in terms of the perspective of each race. So, stop me and edit this out if I’m being insensitive at all, but my favorite part of seeing the film was being the only white person in an all black audience. When the movie started there were only 10 people in the theater and 30 minutes into the movie there were almost 40. There was a joke in the movie about how the stereotype of black people being late is not true for all black people! Not only that, but there is a joke early on where the black kids confront one of the main characters, Lionel, a young black man who is gay, and tell him that just because they’re black doesn’t mean they are homophobic.  So when the character said that I kind of scoffed because in my experience that is not the case, but my belief was somewhat proven later on when a character kissed the black kid. When the film was setting up that kiss the whole theater started to scream, “NO!” Not kidding, wish I was. Every other person, other than me, started freaking the fuck out, and not in a humorous way, but in “that’s fucked up” sort of way. It pissed me off beyond all reason. This is the first time I kind of enjoyed the loudness of the movie theater as it acted kind of like a reassurance for what the film was trying to put a finger on. Though in saying that, I still look forward to viewing the movie in a quiet space.

Dustin: I saw it in a far less packed theater, maybe 10 other people. I cringed during that scene, and I felt the audience’s reaction too, but it wasn’t so strong. I don’t know if that makes me a homophobe, but I often find kisses on screen, even between straight characters, to be awkward, as well as in real life.

Nick: I don’t know. I think it’s more of how you feel on the inside about that.  Anyways, I had to move three times in that movie theater because of the people who were arriving late would decide to sit next to me and show me why I would not want to sit next to them very quickly. The first time, an older woman came in and had her phone volume turned up and brightness all the way on and kept playing with her phone for 5 minutes. In the 10 minutes that I sat next to her she would speak every time a character uttered a word she would turn to her friends and go, “Mmhmm, that’s right!”... sigh…  

All the main characters served a purpose and did, equally, both likable and unlikable things. It’s really enjoyable to watch people who have faults instead of “perfect” people portrayed by Hollywood films.

Dustin: I thought some of the characters were stereotypes, but I believe that was the intention of the film makers. I’m referring to the university president’s son who is a total pig and the militant guy in the black student group. I think they balanced each other out and showed some of the extreme ends. The other characters were very well developed and had arcs.

Nick: All the characters started out as stereotypes, but all the main characters, the four main black characters, grew into a blend of the beliefs they held and what they have come to realize.  

Dustin: I thought the best touches where in the ways liberal whites can unintentionally be racist, and showing how that hurts black people. Such as touching black people’s hair.

Nick: I know this is a filmmaker thing, but with the camera Sam uses and the video cam that Coco uses they wouldn’t be able to get anything but distorted sound on their devices. So I laughed every time when their videos were shown and the sound was crisp and clear, especially in Sam’s last video when she records the fight and it has clear sound and voices, yet she has no sound equipment and that kind of camera doesn’t record sound! Sorry… had to get that out there… phew!

Dustin: Overall, Dear White People was a clever satire aimed at both liberal white audiences as well as black audiences. It was entertaining, even though it was rarely laugh-out-loud funny.