Dear White People (FILM REVIEW)
Dear White People
Film Review
by Kam Williams
Social Satire Takes Sophisticated Look at Race Relations in the Ivy League
The academics are tough enough at Winchester University,
a mythical Ivy League institution. It’s too bad that black students there also
have to worry about making themselves comfortable socially.
That’s
precisely the predicament we find a quartet of African-American undergrads facing
at the point of departure of Dear White People, a sophisticated social satire marking
the directorial and scriptwriting debut of Justin Simien. Earlier this year, the
thought-provoking dramedy won the Jury Award for Breakthrough Talent at the Sundance
Film Festival.
The picture’s protagonists are as different from each other as
night and day. Lionel Higgins (Tyler James Williams) is gay and
uncomfortable around his own people because blacks teased him the most about
his sexuality back in high school. So, he lives in a predominately-white dorm
where he’s ended up being bullied anyway.
Then there’s Troy Fairbanks
(Brandon P. Bell), a legacy admission to Winchester
courtesy of his father (Dennis Haysbert), an alumnus and the current Dean of Students.
Troy’s dating an
equally-well connected white girl, Sofia Fletcher (Brittany Curran), the
daughter of the school’s President (Peter Syvertsen).
Political activist Samantha
White (Tessa Thompson) sits at the other extreme, being a militant sister who lives
in the all-black dorm ostensibly serving as a refuge for the “hopelessly Afro-centric.”
She also hosts a talk show on the college’s radio school’s station, “Dear White
People” where she indicts Caucasians about everything from their racism to
their sense of entitlement.
Finally, we have Coco Conners (Teyonah Parris) who just wants to
assimilate into mainstream American culture. In fact, she’s more concerned with
whether she might make the cut for the reality-TV show conducting auditions on
campus than with challenging the status quo, ala rabble rouser Samantha.
So, the premise is set by establishing that the four lead characters
have little in common besides their skin color. And the plot subsequently thickens
when Pastiche, a student-run humor publication, decides to throw a Halloween
party with an “unleash your inner-Negro” theme.
Now they share the prospect of being stereotyped by white classmates
cavorting around in blackface dressed as pimps and gangstas, and as icons like President
Obama and Aunt Jemima. En route to a surprising resolution, director Simien pulls
a couple of rabbits out of his hat while lacing his dialogue with pithy lines (“Learn
to modulate your blackness up or down depending on the crowd and what you want
from them.”) and touching on a litany of hot button issues ranging from
Affirmative Action to Tyler Perry.
A delightful dissection of the Ivy League that stirs the pot in the
way most folks mean when they a call for a national discussion of race.
Excellent
(4 stars)
Rated R
for profanity, ethnic and sexual preference slurs, sexuality and drug use
Running time: 106 minutes
Distributor: Roadside Attractions
To see a trailer for
Dear White People, visit:
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