Indiegogo-Funded Satire Dear White People Heads to Theaters

Saetha

New member
Jan 19, 2014
824
0
0
Jandau said:
I see where you're coming from. I see a lot of non-Americans express confusion at the heavy emphasis on race here in America, and I have to say it is pretty baffling. The whole thing's rooted in history, really. Race, as most Americans know it, didn't get all that much attention for a very long time in human history. Most conflicts were, and still are, cultural-based rather than racial. There's still a tone of "You're different from me, and thus inferior" to both sets of ideals.

But anyway, the heavy emphasis of race really started to emerge during colonial times, in colonial countries like Spain and Britain. And really, it was originally a cultural conflict in and of itself - the Spanish wanted to bring God to the Incas, the British wanted to civilize the Native American "savages." They didn't focus so much on their race, but that these people had a culture that was different - and to the colonials, that made them inferior. However, since said cultures were mostly confined to different races - white people had European culture, Incas had Incan culture, so on and so forth - the lines between "culture" and "race" became sort of blurry between generations. Those cultures started to interact and merge and people of both races would be born into what was effectively the same culture. But they'd still remember and be taught they're parents' prejudices against the other race, and since it was now a person's skintone that was more "other" than anything else about them... well, that's what people latched onto.

So... it's kinda like the reasons behind racism (If you could even call them reasons in the first place) have been lost, but people still kept that prejudice because, well, that's the way things are. They don't question it anymore. Even though the cultures that originally caused the conflict are long-gone or warped beyond recognition... And really, cultural conflicts aren't unheard of, either. I had a friend once who's dad would tell stories about how he immigrated from Ireland and had to put up with a lot of shit for that, despite being white as can be.

And yeah, it's a bit self-perpetuating, how people tired of being put in boxes respond by... putting other people in boxes. It's a big problem I have with American activists. They seem unable to comprehend that other parts of the world do things differently - that by dragging their baggage out of the country, they might be doing more harm than good, and spreading the very attitude they want to combat. After all, America's screwed-up history with race and racism has got nothing to do with you or Croatia. You don't even possibly benefit from it, as a white Non-American who recently moved to America might. But you might get blamed for it all the same, because in America people see things along a racial axis rather than a cultural one. A by-product of being a cultural melting pot, I guess.

But anyway... that's my take on it. Sorry for the long post.
 

strumbore

New member
Mar 1, 2013
93
0
0
Jandau said:
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".
HA! Excellent observation, I've been saying this for years! Marx thought he was so clever about "class warfare", but he ignores the Indidual's irreducible role in the primal social struggle, which is satisfying your own ego. Life is a competetion and for any creature to survive in life, it must recognize its friends and its enemies. People are programmed to find their friends and attack their enemies. People are also emotional, butthurt crybabies ever resisting (and usually failing) the temptation to claim the world is conspiring against them when things get hard. So to not feel alone we find our tribes and whine about how the other tribes have it in for us. The Christians, the Jews, the Muslims, Conservatives, Communists, White, Black, Men, Women, and those two other tribes that really are getting whipped in America to some extent right now, are all eagerly waiting for the other tribe to lash them so they can whine about how persecuted--and correct about being persecuted--they are.
 

Serrenitei

New member
Jun 15, 2009
35
0
0
softclocks said:
This looks like absolute trash.

Why can't Americans leave the race-thing alone already?
Because the 'race-thing' is still very much a thing that negatively impacts millions of people around the US on multiple levels every day. Historically, it's been insanely challenging to talk about in any constructive manner because people love hyperbole and taking *every statement* to ridiculous extremes (note: every statement, not to imply you can't take some things to ridiculous extremes to make a point, but it becomes less than productive when everything is taken to that point).

Prejudice in all it's forms is an insidious thing -- it weasels in unexpectedly and seemingly innocuous ways.
 

Ninmecu

New member
May 31, 2011
262
0
0
Fenrox Jackson said:
NinjaDeathSlap said:
Oh, and another thing... A movie about racism in the 21st Century shows no hispanic people in the trailer? Hmmm...
Uhh, watch again, there are hispanic students in the background. IF trolling, there are ZERO gay Eskimos of color in it.
Trolling or not, try being a Native American, the only recent "big" movie with us being fairly well represented was Twilight and Taylor isn't even remotely Native American(despite what they advertised.)

I'm not big on movies. I'm not big on movies that try and make a point or social commentary, so I'll likely pass on this one.
 

Lightknight

Mugwamp Supreme
Nov 26, 2008
4,860
0
0
Serrenitei said:
softclocks said:
This looks like absolute trash.

Why can't Americans leave the race-thing alone already?
Because the 'race-thing' is still very much a thing that negatively impacts millions of people around the US on multiple levels every day.
Sure, and it impacts every race negatively too.

I wonder how a "Dear Black People" movie would go over? I'm sure it's only a matter of time before we see a Bollywood adaptation named "Dear Red People".

If the movie is good satire, I'll probably like it. I liked Everybody Hates Chris and that was basically similarly themed. But at least that was a movie about someone's experience during that time period rather than a potential "white people are evil conspirators". Though I guess I should ask what time period this was in?
 

NinjaDeathSlap

Leaf on the wind
Feb 20, 2011
4,474
0
0
Fenrox Jackson said:
I can't claim to have seen them, even after taking you advice and watching for a second time. Still, you may be right, and if so that was my bad. However, I don't see how the most discriminated against and disadvantaged racial group in modern day America being left 'in the background' is actually being any better. I certainly didn't see any hispanic (or asian) people, who looked like they might be named characters.

What this trailer certainly does do, is appear to present a lot of different viewpoints coming from both sides. That's good, but it could also turn into something quite ugly depending on what side (if any) the authorial voice of the film falls on, and in what fashion. It's tricky to separate the opinions of characters from the opinions of people writing them sometimes, as all characters have to, to some extent, see the world through the eyes of their creators, but that doesn't necessarily mean said author will agree with everything they say and do. Far from it, in fact.

Anyway, I suppose what I'm rambling towards is, one example from the trailer that kind of made me grimace a bit is the "Black people can't be racist." line, because God-damn am I sick and fucking tired of hearing people hide behind that mantra in order to make hateful and ignorant generalisations about The Other Side (the same applies to 'women can't be sexist'). I don't give a damn who you think can't be 'racist'. You can argue over the semantics of certain words all you like, but it won't change that that's all they are. 'Racist' or not, discrimination is discrimination, hate is hate, and untrue, harmful stereotypes are untrue, harmful stereotypes. If you're a black person lambasting 'White People' for 'having one black friend who sells you weed and listening to Jay-Z', then you may not be 'racist', but you are an arsehole.

So yeah, if that line is presented in terms of 'This girl needs to get over herself a little bit, no matter how many otherwise valid points she may have.' then I don't have a problem. If it's presented as 'Isn't this girl great for knowing how to spin her bullshit to claim she's not being just as bad as everyone else?' then I do. Time will tell which is which I guess. If nothing else, this movie has my attention.

EDIT: Also, I went back and checked a third time, paying special close attention to the (largely blurry) background characters...

I saw one Asian girl. That was it. Every other face was either distinctly Black or White.
 

Khanht Cope

New member
Jul 22, 2011
239
0
0
There are only 2 predictions I have for this movie:

1. It will not be controversial.
2. White people will not find it threatening.

Think I may actually watch this, on the chance that it may be somewhat smart.
 

Vault101

I'm in your mind fuzz
Sep 26, 2010
18,863
15
43
Lightknight said:
Sure, and it impacts every race negatively too.

I wonder how a "Dear Black People" movie would go over?
it would go over really shitty...because in the real world these things do not exist in a vacuum


[quote/]If the movie is good satire, I'll probably like it. I liked Everybody Hates Chris and that was basically similarly themed. But at least that was a movie about someone's experience during that time period rather than a potential "white people are evil conspirators". Though I guess I should ask what time period this was in?[/quote]


I mean we couldn't just say "oh look its a movie examining racism in the present day from (what seems to be) a black perspective" noooooo we had to [b/]just make sure everyone knew[/b] thats its [i/]totally hard on whites TOO guys[/i] we gotta jump in and even the playing field every single time just so no one feels uncomfortable

I know....I sound a little to "angry SJW"


but I [i/]get it[/i] its uncomfortable, we dont like being addressed as a whole like that, we dont like to feelwe are being judged because of our race and we DEFINETLY don't like being "cast" as the "bad guy" in a lot of situations, like whatever we do were gonna be somehow racist, enjoy black culture things? youre fake! or your doing cultural appropriation! get all chummy with the idea of black peoples rights? youre fake and or some clueless white person trying to be "cool" [b/]you ain't part of our club and you never will be[/b]...no matter how progressive, you laugh at those jokes because they are funny but it still strikes at the primal level, [i/]you don't belong because of who and what you are[/i] that hurts

but

I don't understand why people feel the need to combat that via the same old "but but we got it hard too!" rhetoric it just isn't going to work, because most of the time it just isn't the same or it just isn't relevant

NinjaDeathSlap said:
[
So yeah, if that line is presented in terms of 'This girl needs to get over herself a little bit, no matter how many otherwise valid points she may have.' then I don't have a problem. If it's presented as 'Isn't this girl great for knowing how to spin her bullshit to claim she's not being just as bad as everyone else?' .
erm..I thourght it was pretty obvious thats how it was presented...(the former)
 

Vault101

I'm in your mind fuzz
Sep 26, 2010
18,863
15
43
Objectable said:
I can't wait to have all the angry white people tell me how horrible it is.
lots of white people feeling uncomfortable

I think the move/trailer has done its purpose...
 

Fairly Chaotic

New member
Jun 18, 2014
44
0
0
I came to this article with the attitude of "meh" yet, after watching the trailer my interest has been piqued. Looking forward to its opening night.
 
Aug 1, 2010
2,768
0
0
Vault101 said:
Objectable said:
I can't wait to have all the angry white people tell me how horrible it is.
lots of white people feeling uncomfortable

I think the move/trailer has done its purpose...
So the movie is literally the racial equivalent of trolling. Wonderful.

Vault101 said:
but I [i/]get it[/i] its uncomfortable, we dont like being addressed as a whole like that, we dont like to feelwe are being judged because of our race and we DEFINETLY don't like being "cast" as the "bad guy" in a lot of situations, like whatever we do were gonna be somehow racist, enjoy black culture things? youre fake! or your doing cultural appropriation! get all chummy with the idea of black peoples rights? youre fake and or some clueless white person trying to be "cool" [b/]you ain't part of our club and you never will be[/b]...no matter how progressive, you laugh at those jokes because they are funny but it still strikes at the primal level, [i/]you don't belong because of who and what you are[/i] that hurts
Also I'll be totally honest here, Vaulty. This is one of the most thoroughly confusing paragraphs I have ever read.
Are you saying all white people feel uncomfortable be the idea of equality? Are you saying some do? Are you saying they should or shouldn't? Is it that one culture trying to emulate another culture because it seems cool is wrong and impossible? And what's that thing about jokes? If a white person laughs at a joke about white people, they're secretly feeling bad about it? What?

OT:
I'll be honest here; I'm not entirely sure what some of those scenes is satirizing.

The thing about Gremlins feels like it could easily be actually criticizing the movie or it could be to show how nonsensical and silly racial criticisms can be. Similarly, the bit where the crowd is yelling at the movie attendant seemed really odd. The guy just sells tickets. Yelling at him isn't going to do any more good than yelling at a Starbucks employee that caffeine should be banned.

Also the whole thing about "Dear White People" seems odd to me. So Fox News does something wrong and horrible and that means doing exactly the same thing in reverse is the right and appropriate thing to do.

Still, this looks much better than a lot of other attempts to look at these issues. Mostly because it actually looks pretty damn funny and the issues seem to be looked at as complex and not black and white, pardon the pun. If the humor is really as quality as it looked, I'll give it a watch.
 

NinjaDeathSlap

Leaf on the wind
Feb 20, 2011
4,474
0
0
Vault101 said:
NinjaDeathSlap said:
[
So yeah, if that line is presented in terms of 'This girl needs to get over herself a little bit, no matter how many otherwise valid points she may have.' then I don't have a problem. If it's presented as 'Isn't this girl great for knowing how to spin her bullshit to claim she's not being just as bad as everyone else?' .
erm..I thourght it was pretty obvious thats how it was presented...(the former)
It could well be that (especially considering the Taylor Swift snippet later on). I hope it is, and I don't want to sound like I'm damning the thing before I even see it. Like I said, time will tell, and if the aim of this trailer was to get me invested enough in the answer to that question to go and see it when otherwise I might have passed it over as being not for me, then it was a success.

All I'm saying is that if I go and see this, and the message is 'You're racist or a collaborator of you don't agree with all the opinions of this one black girl' then I'll be disappointed and a little insulted. Let's be blunt though, no matter how extreme, or otherwise, the actual content of this movie turns out to be, a movie that makes a conscious choice to name itself 'Dear White People', cannot claim to not be provocative. It can be thoughtful, it can be moderate, but if it didn't want white people to be questioning it on the internet, it would have been called something else.
 

Lightknight

Mugwamp Supreme
Nov 26, 2008
4,860
0
0
Vault101 said:
I mean we couldn't just say "oh look its a movie examining racism in the present day from (what seems to be) a black perspective" noooooo we had to [b/]just make sure everyone knew[/b] thats its [i/]totally hard on whites TOO guys[/i] we gotta jump in and even the playing field every single time just so no one feels uncomfortable

I know....I sound a little to "angry SJW"
Eh, nope. I've been savagely treated by people because of the color of my skin without ever even being raised with a notion of doing the same to any other human being. From my blind grandfather who worked long hours at black colleges and who tuned pianos for the likes of Stevie Wonder to my family's proud history of fighting for the North as Ohioans and supporting those reaching the end of the underground railroad. But no, apparently everyone who is white is descended from slave owners or directly responsible for the sins of their forebearers if they really are or just plain old Jim Crow law proponents. It is absolute bullshit that racism against someone else makes racism against me something I need to shut up about. The given of these movies is that racism isn't a two way street. That these people are in a vacuum and are the only people getting hurt by racial issues by the white man. That we're just stupid idiots who don't realize racism is happening and are all part of the problem simply for existing and because racism exists it is clearly all of our faults. Who doesn't feel uncomfortable for being blamed for something they have no control over?

I don't know if people think that we all have a white people meeting where we discuss how to keep the minority population down or some shit, but I've only ever tried to quell racism when I've come across it because I was raised that way and somehow I keep getting held accountable for shit other people do.

Look, my wife is third generation American. Weren't even here during the Civil war. Last week in a disagreement with a coworker the coworker made an off the wall comment that my wife's people enslaved hers. The girl apologized for saying it later but damn, who thinks like that?

I once worked for a government contractor that had over 50 employees. I was one of only three white males (statistically impossible to be random here) and all three of us were left in the mailroom with no hope for advancement in the company. There were two white females in actual company positions but one of them left while I was there after being passed up for a position she was more qualified for by far (it actually required specialized knowledge that only she had experience for, her leaving left a vast knowledge gap in response).

Do you think my bringing it up is somehow diminishing that minorities also receive racist acts against them? Racism is shitty no matter where we find it. So you can social justice warrior yourself all you want but you're not doing social justice any good by ignoring that there's simply a racism issue in this country and it's not just a black issue or a white issue but a god-damn human being issue. So feel uncomfortable. If I should feel uncomfortable for something some white people do, then you should feel uncomfortable for things some black people do. I disagree with that. I only think you should feel uncomfortable for things you are actually guilty of. But maybe that's just me here.

Is there some kind of doubt that racism is still a problem? Do you really think the assholes saying that racism is dead not that a black man is President really believe it. I mean, sure, some of them do but I don't think we should really have to worry too much about what those few think. I'd imagine that most of them are just liars hiding behind the notion that racism is over just so they can stop hearing about it. At the end of the day, I just want to be judged on my own merits and my own actions. I just want to be an individual. I'm sorry that you or people like you think that desire is unique to minorities and that someone like me doesn't have a right to the same feelings of mistreatment but it's simply wrong and it's unethical to maintain a desire for equality while harboring prejudice against someone else because of the color of their skin. A pretty large double standard, don't you think?

Vault101 said:
Objectable said:
I can't wait to have all the angry white people tell me how horrible it is.
lots of white people feeling uncomfortable

I think the move/trailer has done its purpose...
Insulted, belittled. Wouldn't you be a little insulted too at "black people are evil racists" movies? Assuming you are black. From our interactions I only recall you mentioning that you are female.

Don't take my response as me being particularly upset at you personally. I like you, a lot. I'm just frustrated by the situation. Same way I'm sure countless minorities have been frustrated at the situation. But I don't deserve it any more than you do. Right? Or do I count for less in this situation?

Saying that black people can't be racist is hilariously racist. I'll have to see the movie to see if that's actually a tenet it abides by or is a joke.
 

yamy

Slayer of Hot Dogs
Aug 2, 2010
225
0
0
Oh God. This thread. Just reading all the posts is already doing my head in. And this is BEFORE the film is even out yet.

I can't wait to see what the thread is like when it comes out and someone makes a thread about it or if Bob does a review in future.

OT: Trailer did make me much more interested in the film than just from the title. I think it has the potentially to be at least thought provoking without causing a controversy.
 

Lightknight

Mugwamp Supreme
Nov 26, 2008
4,860
0
0
yamy said:
Oh God. This thread. Just reading all the posts is already doing my head in. And this is BEFORE the film is even out yet.

I can't wait to see what the thread is like when it comes out and someone makes a thread about it or if Bob does a review in future.

OT: Trailer did make me much more interested in the film than just from the title. I think it has the potentially to be at least thought provoking without causing a controversy.
Sounds like it will be fairly offensive. But it also looks like it'll be well acted and potentially very funny. It really depends on what the core message ends up being. If it's that black people can't be racist then... fuck the writers and their racist one-sided views. If it's just a general commentary that racism exists and a lot of white people are ignorant then it'll be fun.

Thought provoking though? Depends on what it actually brings to the table.
 

Nowhere Man

New member
Mar 10, 2013
422
0
0
This looks good. It's really too bad that most people are so dumbed down that they don't understand the concept of satire. Just looking through the Youtube comments to get a feel of what people think (not that Youtube comments ever have anything positive to offer) and it's filled with people so fucking stupid they have to resort to flinging shit at the opposing side instead of picking up on the trailers attempt at portraying everyone as flawed in their logic. The irony is rich!
This movie is going to piss off a lot of people for all the wrong reasons all because they aren't intelligent enough to read between the lines. Makes me hate people.