Dear
White People,
What? Did that sound racist? I don’t think so. When
the Netflix series with the same name started at the beginning of this year,
there was an uprising. I read many comments that ranged from “What if white
people had a show called ‘Dear Black People’?” to “That show is racist! Netflix
should take it down!” Well, let me tell you, this movie was GREAT. Now I feel
like I need to see the show, because I want more. I want to know where they
took it and how the characters reacted to their situations.
Dear
White People, as a movie, follows a group of black
students at an Ivy League college trying to take back their culture, and in the
end, I believe they do in a way. I’m not going to give it away because I really
want others to watch it. Anyway, these students are also trying to get their
housing situation under control. They want reparations, or in other terms, a
compensation for them not being able to choose their housing freely. We follow
a girl named Sam White who has a talk show named, you guessed it, Dear White
People. She has a cool, poetic voice that people listen to. Everyone on their
campus listens to the show, whether to make fun of it or to be empowered by it,
so when the elections for a house representative (I forgot what they called it,
sorry) happened, Sam became that representative. We find out later that she
didn’t actually win, but that’s beside the point. Sam became a figurehead for a
movement after this, she wanted that compensation just as bad as everyone else.
But as the movie goes on, we see that she doesn’t want to be this leader that
everyone wants her to be.
After reading Coates’ “The Case for Reparations,” I
can’t help but think “we’re better than this” and I mean that as society as a
whole. In my opinion, we think about the past way too much. We’re digging
ourselves into a hole by comparing everything we do to our past, because that’s
how the past gets reenacted. Coates talks about Clyde Ross and how his life
progressed during the 20th century. He tells us about the move from
the Jim Crow South to the freedom of the North, but even then Clyde wasn’t
actually free. Free to do what he wanted, like keep his paycheck and buy a
house, yes, but white owners still had their drawbacks when it came to black people
owning something in their community. It’s still like this today, and I wish it
wasn’t.
I’m not sure where else to go with this, so I’m just going
to stop here. Please leave some comments if you watched this movie, I’d love to
hear what you thought about it.
I've watched the movie before! Honestly, I thought that it was brilliant that they took a movie and completely called us out, you know? They had to sit through and endure countless movies making fun of them, why can't we do the same? And honestly, half of the stuff they mentioned, made me laugh because it's TRUE. It's not racist, it's true. It's calling out the wrongs that people do that they consider "okay" because they have a few black friends.
ReplyDeleteIn our other reading, Mills mentioned how appropriating culture is just a normal thing for white people. They don't see the wrong in it, but it's loud and clearly there. Yet, the moment black people reclaim that culture, they're seen as "ghetto" and "unworthy." I think Dear White People really showed this. They hated Sam for being real, but they didn't bat an eye at the fact that there was a party APPROPRIATING black culture.
The calling out is what really makes everything worth it, you know? I think it's honestly hilarious and true.
This movie sounds great! I really want to watch it now! I think it displays the key fact that people need to keep talking. They need to call others out on racism and not be scared of the repercussions. I think the movie shows how sometimes it's good to get people listening, regardless of what their opinions will be on what it is the person has to say. You mention in your comments that "she has a poetic voice and people listen, regardless of what they think about the girl." I think continuing to talk, regardless of what others think, is important because, regardless of what they think, they still hear the message. It is still in the back of their minds for them to contemplate on. Also, talking is one of the first steps that can be taken to put a stop to racism. If people stand up for what is right and refuse to back down, change can occur.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great movie. I really enjoyed it and found it very eye opening at the same time as having humorous qualities. I would love if our campus had a radio show like Dear White People. I think we should be called out more. Racism is very evident in our society and it needs to improve. We need to be called out on our ignorance. The fact that people of the last few years have thrown Blackface parties really upsets me because that just shows lack of respect for other people. I think everyone should watch this movie because it's very well filmed.
ReplyDelete