By Kim Bennett
The Seattle Medium
It started out as a crowdsourcing campaign in 2012 to raise funds. Two years and $40,000 later, enter feature film “Dear White People.” It was well received at the Sundance Film Festival and the Seattle International Film Festival.
In an effort to raise funds for the film, writer and director, Justin Simien, posed the question, “Remember when Black movies didn’t necessarily star a dude in a fat suit and a wig? Or have major plot twists timed to gospel numbers for no apparent reason?” And the people spoke.
Dear White People is by no means a letter to White folks. It’s a snarky satire about the trials, tribulations, and unexpected triumphs of being a Black face in a White place. The film opens set in the aftermath of a race riot at the prestigious, predominately White Winchester University. With racial conflict at the epicenter of the story line, we grow to understand the complexities of the at-first-glance archetypical Black characters.
Each character is a throwback from the classics. Main character, Sam White, played by Tessa Thompson from For Colored Girls, is a cheeky Cosby Show Denise Huxtable-like heroine. There is the buttoned-up Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Carlton character, played with swag by Brandon P. Bell. Also, Teyonah Parris, from Mad Men, portrays the bougey Black girl who wants to date White guys. And last, but not least, there is the offbeat outcast played empathetically by Tyler James Williams from Everyone Hates Chris.
Many African Americans can relate to the plight of being one of very few Black faces in a White place. With expert writing, Simien, humorously exposes the ridiculousness of each character’s interaction with White students while uncovering who they truly are in contrast to how Black they choose to be in their ivy league surroundings. One character half-heartedly jokes that his afro is “a black hole for White people’s fingers.”
In the midst of “race riot,” the Black students find their way to their individuality and their true identities. With role reversals like reject to revolutionary and perfect token Black to whistle blower, the initially archetypical Black characters ironically and happily arrive at self-acceptance in a place where they are deemed as “other” and “those people.”
Equally militant, irreverent, humorous, and entertaining, the film makes all viewers really ponder what it means to be Black. Dear White People is a fun movie that will make you laugh out loud and shake your head in disbelief. It takes a balanced look at the silly, sad, and sometimes sobering realities of being Black in a White environment. Maintaining a playful attitude, Dear White People, makes fun of the way our country views race, but also takes a serious look at identity, media, and what it means to be Black in this country.
Dear White People opens in select cities this month, please check local listings for availability and show times.
Click here to view an exclusive Seattle Medium video interview with writer/director Justin Simien.
