The movie Dear White People, a film directed by Justin Simien, 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 seemed to be extremely real and willing
to speak her mind. I also enjoyed the
bits of comedy.
I feel as if my few responses of
dismay to this film came 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. Because of this, I feel my surprising
responses to a few scenes in the movie are most likely different than someone
who grew up in a larger, more diverse community.
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