Indiegogo-Funded Satire Dear White People Heads to Theaters

[MovieBob]

Indiegogo-Funded Satire Dear White People Heads to Theaters

Crowdfunding success-story turned festival hit debuts full trailer

The recent history of crowdfunding and other internet fund-accumulation ventures has seen its share of failures, foul-ups and oddities (anybody for potato salad?) lately. So it's refreshing to see one actually cross the finish line - case in point: Independent filmmaker Justin Simien's Dear White People, a satirical comedy that raised its initial funds via the Indiegogo platform [https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/dear-white-people] and went on to win backing from Indiewire.

Set at a fictional Ivy League University, the film has been described as social satire taking specific aim at "The Age of Obama" and the very idea of a supposedly "post-racial" America, following various students as they navigate changing issues of race and class among their generation. The first teaser [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uag2G0J6iqw] also featured jabs at the films of Tyler Perry, rappers becoming actors and whether or not Gremlins featured racist subtext.

In the main story, Troy (Brandon P. Bell), the popular "non-threatening" head of the overwhelmingly white school's lone historically-black residence hall, is unexpectedly dethroned from his position by "militant activist" Sam (Tessa Thompson) the host of the controversial campus radio show of the title. At issue is a University plan to completey randomize student housing-assignments, which Troy supported as win for diversity but Sam believes is a deliberate attempt to erode dissenting black student voices at the school. Caught up in the drama are Brittany Curran as Troy's white girlfriend, Everybody Hates Chris star Tyler James Williams as a gay black student feeling torn over his lack of affection for black culture and Mad Men's Teyonah Parris as Sam's podcasting "get over it" rival. The conflicts converge and get ugly when a white fraternity's "black-themed" costume party touches off angry emotions - and a riot.

The film has been well-received on the festival circuit, and is now targeting a Fall 2014 theatrical release.


Source: Dear White People [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwJhmqLU0so]

Permalink

 

[TheRundownRabbit]

It seems that part of the message of this movie or at least one of the messages the main character is trying to portray is that culture should be race-restricted and people of a certain race who aren't embracing their "culture" (which in this case is ethnic stereotypes) are just as bad as the other races who are "stealing" said "culture." Feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

I could go off on a tangent because of what I THINK this movie means (e.g "your white, therefore bad, but its not racist because you can't be racist towards white people") but that's probably not what this movie means. I'll wait to comment further until I actually watch it. Now speaking with my taste and personality, I probably won't like it because it looks boring...what do you want from me, I'm the schmuck that's excited for Expendables 3.

 

[TT Kairen]

what do you want from me, I'm the schmuck that's excited for Expendables 3.

Don't be. They dumbed the rating down to PG-13. Which for a film wanting to embrace 80's style action schlock is completely missing the point. It's just gonna be watered-down and boring.

 

[SacremPyrobolum]

The title of this movie does it discredit. I first thought it was going to be something ripped right from the deepest, darkest (non-pornographic) corners of Tumblr and put into movie form, but this trailer and description actually makes it sound pretty interesting and funny.

 

[EnigmaticSevens]

Ooooh, now this I'll have too look into. All shot fired across the bow. A poke at neo-militant race politics, perceptions of black culture and the proliferation of its stereotypes, how its caricatured, colorism, afro-identity issues and toxicity within afro-american subcultures. And it's fuckin' funny! Sign me up.

 

[TheRundownRabbit]

what do you want from me, I'm the schmuck that's excited for Expendables 3.

Don't be. They dumbed the rating down to PG-13. Which for a film wanting to embrace 80's style action schlock is completely missing the point. It's just gonna be watered-down and boring.

But, but, Wesley Snipes can't function at just a PG-13 level....this just got really lame -3-

 

[Parasondox]

Looks like an interesting satire that looks at several interesting view points and isn't one sided.

...

So how long will it be until Fox News takes this as fact and run a long unbalanced segment on it? The trains coming I see.

 

[Nuxxy]

This will cause ripples. People don't get satire.

 

[Jandau]

The whole race thing has always been slightly confusing to me. I'm from a country where a vast majority of the population is white, and racial relations were always slightly incomprehensible to me, as I never had a thing with it. I'm white, everyone around me is white, all the people I meet on the street are white, all the people I know and interact with are white.

Don't get me wrong, there are people of other races around, but I don't have a frame of reference to see them as anything other than slightly different colored people. As in, people like everyone else, only different hue, like someone wearing exotic clothing or having an unusual hairstyle. I just never came to associate skin color as an important differentiating factor.

As a result, the whole racial relation thing you've got going in the USA just seems weird to me. Like, what the hell levels of weird...

 

[Thaluikhain]

Don't get me wrong, there are people of other races around, but I don't have a frame of reference to see them as anything other than slightly different colored people. As in, people like everyone else, only different hue, like someone wearing exotic clothing or having an unusual hairstyle. I just never came to associate skin color as an important differentiating factor.

As a result, the whole racial relation thing you've got going in the USA just seems weird to me. Like, what the hell levels of weird...

Problem is, lots of people believe that of themselves, without it being true. Very often, when someone say "I don't see race", it's more true to say "I don't see racism". If they don't recognise they see races in different ways, they aren't able to do anything about it.

Out of interest, what nation are you from?

 

[Jandau]

Don't get me wrong, there are people of other races around, but I don't have a frame of reference to see them as anything other than slightly different colored people. As in, people like everyone else, only different hue, like someone wearing exotic clothing or having an unusual hairstyle. I just never came to associate skin color as an important differentiating factor.

As a result, the whole racial relation thing you've got going in the USA just seems weird to me. Like, what the hell levels of weird...

Problem is, lots of people believe that of themselves, without it being true. Very often, when someone say "I don't see race", it's more true to say "I don't see racism". If they don't recognise they see races in different ways, they aren't able to do anything about it.

Out of interest, what nation are you from?

You misunderstand. I do see race. Hell, I notice it on the street every day. I just don't get what the big deal is about it. Some people look unusual to me? Hell, a lot of WHITE people look unusual to me.

Also, I was trying to point out how odd the American race relation paradigm looks to someone who isn't immersed into it.

As to where I'm from, I'm from Croatia.

 

[Thaluikhain]

You misunderstand. I do see race. Hell, I notice it on the street every day. I just don't get what the big deal is about it. Some people look unusual to me? Hell, a lot of WHITE people look unusual to me.

Not what I meant. Of course, people literally see people of different races, but "I don't see race" is used as shorthand for "I have no racial biases at all". Likewise, being colourblind.

Also, I was trying to point out how odd the American race relation paradigm looks to someone who isn't immersed into it.

Oh, sure, I can understand that. Race (as is usually thought of) is an arbitrary social thing, which works in all sorts of way in different societies. Notably, in the US, if someone has a black parent and a white parent, they are considered black (at least by most people), which isn't the way it works in lots of other places.

 

[Jandau]

You misunderstand. I do see race. Hell, I notice it on the street every day. I just don't get what the big deal is about it. Some people look unusual to me? Hell, a lot of WHITE people look unusual to me.

Not what I meant. Of course, people literally see people of different races, but "I don't see race" is used as shorthand for "I have no racial biases at all". Likewise, being colourblind.

Also, I was trying to point out how odd the American race relation paradigm looks to someone who isn't immersed into it.

Oh, sure, I can sympathise with that. Race (as is usually thought of) is an arbitrary social thing, which works in all sorts of way in different societies. Notably, in the US, if someone has a black parent and a white parent, they are considered black (at least by most people), which isn't the way it works in lots of other places.

The thing is, racial distinctions are simply a manifestation of a broader social mechanism, which is the construction of the Other, the "Us versus Them". And in that, a certain distinction (or a group of distinctions) is used to define your own group and/or the Other. Race is one of them, sure. So is accent, taste in art, clothing, religion, culture in general, etc.

All I meant to say is that where I'm from, race isn't a particularly important distinctive factor. I'm not saying there aren't any biases, but around here, the bias is more focused on nationality (welcome to the Balkans, where the bickering between tiny ethnic groups never ends) than on skin colour.

As a result, when I watched the trailer I was annoyed and confused on an instinctive level (please note the word "instinctive"; rationally I understand the whole thing, I'm just talking about my gut response) - there was a person calling out everyone who's white on some shit, and I'm like "Hey, I'm white, what did I ever do to you?".

The thing here is, the process of constructing the aforementioned Other kicks in here - this girl, through her generalized hostility which I find unprovoked set herself as the Other, and I unconsciously start seeking to construct a framework for her, resulting in a racial bias where there might have been none.

Granted, that's likely one of the points of the movie - to show how needlessly confrontational behavior in racial relations can make a problem worse...

 

[Thaluikhain]

The thing is, racial distinctions are simply a manifestation of a broader social mechanism, which is the construction of the Other, the "Us versus Them". And in that, a certain distinction (or a group of distinctions) is used to define your own group and/or the Other. Race is one of them, sure. So is accent, taste in art, clothing, religion, culture in general, etc.

Certainly, yes.

As a result, when I watched the trailer I was annoyed and confused on an instinctive level (please note the word "instinctive"; rationally I understand the whole thing, I'm just talking about my gut response) - there was a person calling out everyone who's white on some shit, and I'm like "Hey, I'm white, what did I ever do to you?".

The thing here is, the process of constructing the aforementioned Other kicks in here - this girl, through her generalized hostility which I find unprovoked set herself as the Other, and I unconsciously start seeking to construct a framework for her, resulting in a racial bias where there might have been none.

Granted, that's likely one of the points of the movie - to show how needlessly confrontational behavior in racial relations can make a problem worse...

Ah, drifting into the tone argument there, which is a big can of worms. Who decides what is needlessly confrontational?

Should victims of discrimination play nice to avoid upsetting people? What's the point if they are doing that?

Now, it's certainly not fun being called out, whether or not it's deserved, but to respond with racism to someone angry at racism, or to say they were wrong to do so in the first place, that's not leading to a good place.

 

[Jandau]

Ah, drifting into the tone argument there, which is a big can of worms. Who decides what is needlessly confrontational?

Should victims of discrimination play nice to avoid upsetting people? What's the point if they are doing that?

Now, it's certainly not fun being called out, whether or not it's deserved, but to respond with racism to someone angry at racism, or to say they were wrong to do so in the first place, that's not leading to a good place.

I wasn't trying to say anything about right and wrong, just about a general process and how it triggers. I don't want to get into a big debate. Also, just a personal opinion, but racial relations (not just in the US) often seem to me to be fixing the problem by perpetuating it (from either side)...

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

I... really, really don't know how to feel about this trailer.

I sincerely hope this movie turns out to present complex characters from a broad range of backgrounds and viewpoints, who don't always start off understanding each-other but can if broad-minded people try hard without malice, and that even if there are out and out villains (such as the 'racism is over' guy and 'hardest thing to be white and educated' guy) who has truly bigoted and moronic views, are represented as speaking only for themselves.

I hope that this is what this movie is, because I don't want to go to a theatre and get told that I'm a bad guy for being white and listening to hip-hop without a 100% appreciation of its background; or even worse, that the black guy in the seat next to me be told he's a bad guy for acting 'too white' because he's not always spoiling for a race war.

Oh, and another thing... A movie about racism in the 21st Century shows no hispanic people in the trailer? Hmmm...

 

[wulf3n]

Haha, that was not what I was expecting. Felt like I was watching the The Jeselnik Offensive.

 

[softclocks]

This looks like absolute trash.

Why can't Americans leave the race-thing alone already?