The
movie Dear White People takes place at a prestigious college known as
Winchester University, a predominantly white school. One of the main characters, Samantha White,
runs a radio show titled “Dear White People” while another character named Coco
tries to become famous and a gigantic afro wearing character named Lionel
Higgins knows minimal of his black culture and feels like an outsider. The school is segregated in just about
everything, and no one realizes just how bad things really are until an
offensive Halloween party is exclusively thrown one night.
I think
this film depicts what it can be like to be on the minority side of things,
especially at an Ivy League school where everyone is there for their intelligence,
yet no one is treated equally. This
movie shows just how segregated and prejudice society can still be, even after
so many movements and changes in history.
Personally,
I enjoyed this film. It was quite controversial
and sensitive in some parts, but I believe that’s what made it such a hit, because
it was different than the everyday comedies and dramas. I also like that it not only depicted the
struggle of being the minority, but also just the everyday struggle of a
college student. My favorite quote that really stood out to me and made me
chuckle came from Samantha White, whose answer to Professor Bodkin’s statement “Might
I also remind you that I read your entire fifteen-page unsolicited treatise on
why the Gremlins is actually about suburban white fear of black culture,” was
responded with “The Gremlins are loud, talk in slang, are addicted to fried
chicken and freak out when you get their hair wet.” She just seemed really real and willing to
speak her mind, and I also enjoyed the bits of comedy.
I
feel as if my few responses of dismay to this film come from the fact that I came
from a very small town that is predominantly white. I grew up not seeing or experiencing some of
the racism that still occurs in society because my high school rarely had any
races other than white.
I really think your post had a lot of really good points! I agree with your point that though the film is set on a campus where learning should be the main priority but instead race and class are. Also, I agree that the humor helped to lighten and balance out the darker tones of racism in the movie, there were so many scenes where I was laughing out loud (especially the Gremlins one). I too am from a very small town, so I really didn't see a lot of that discrimination growing up, either.
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