Dear White People
Dear White People
In Theaters: Oct 17, 2014 Limited
On DVD: Feb 3, 2015
Rated R for profanity, ethnic and sexual preference slurs, sexuality and
drug use
Running time: 1 hr. 48 min.
Genre: Drama , Comedy
Directed By: Justin Simien
Written By: Justin Simien
Distributor: Roadside Attractions
Film Review by
Kam Williams
Excellent (★★★★)
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.
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