Dear White People (2014)
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Dear White People Movie Review
Dear White People is a 2014 independent satirical dramedy film directed by Justin Simien and starring Tessa Thompson. It’s a complicated film about a complex issue.
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“Dear white people, please stop touching my hair.
Does this look like a petting zoo to you?“
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Four black students try to survive at an Ivy League college dominated by white people. However, things go from bad to worse when an offensive party is thrown by the white students. And that party in a nutshell was the main reason why this movie went from a four to a 3.5-star rating for me. Nobody would throw a blackface party in America in 2014. It was such an unrealistic scenario that it took me out of it completely.
But everything before that highly unrealistic, overly charged third act actually worked in this rather clever and surprisingly amusing take on race relations in America and the toxicity when it comes to this subject from both sides. The movie goes out of its way to actually criticize both parties and to strongly critique the racism coming from the film’s black protagonist.
Sam is a complicated figure, but there are people like her, so it was important for this film to depict her in all of her complex facets. Tessa Thompson killed it in one of her earliest big roles and she was perfectly cast as this perpetually angry activist. She is the main star of this picture.
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There is also a terrific performance from Tyler James Williams in the role of Lionel, a black gay student who has to fight off both racism and homophobia in this school. This character’s arc was obviously autobiographical for Justin Simien, a director who is gay himself. Although even more could have been done with this interesting arc, all of his scenes were still quite effective.
Other characters left a much lesser impression and the movie is populated by a huge cast of characters, so it failed to properly develop most of them. Troy’s arc was the least interesting of the bunch, but the adults in the story are well defined. The acting ensemble did a terrific job across the board.
Dear White People is at its best when it’s focusing on Sam and her racist tendencies and her relationship with a white student. The movie depicted truthfully how out of probably real grievances activism can turn to toxic and hateful itself. There is also a strong emphasis on microagressions and class, showing how rich black people are just as privileged as the white ones. The depiction of many different types of black experiences was also quite potent.
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This was a solid feature debut for Simien and he showed a lot of filmmaking potential here, one that he would squander later down the line with his Disney effort. This is a fine satirical piece with a particularly strong sense of humor at times and clever, sophisticated dialogue that characterize most of the film’s scenes. It’s an undeniably engaging film, but one that was not edited or paced best given that it jumps from one character to another in a whiplash.
Dear White People was a solid debut for Justin Simien. This indie dramedy is at its best when it’s focusing on its protagonist played so well by Tessa Thompson in one of her earliest roles. Sam’s arc is phenomenal. The movie had a truly horrendous final sequence that was unrealistic and plain dumb, but at least everything before that was pretty believable and surprisingly humorous. The dialogue is excellent and the film’s exploration of black activism today, the racial divide in the country and how toxicity and privilege effect activism was quite strong. It focuses on too many characters and it’s not edited well at all, but it’s consistently engaging, funny and clever.
My Rating – 3.5
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