Dear White People is a new Netflix series slated to debut on April 28th of 2017. It is based on the 2014 independently released movie by the same name. The plot of the movie centers around a biracial woman named Samantha (Sam) who struggles with her racial identity. She virtue signals pro-blackness through a radio show and a book. While at the same time having a white boyfriend that she tries to keep secret from her black peers at the college they all attend, and also the black male she is allowing to court her as well. This dynamic along with the back-story of a few other characters in the movie makes for much contention and conflict with the white students on campus.
To be clear, this movie is set at a mostly white college. A very expensive college as well, which makes it clear that these kids could go to whatever other school they desired for the most part. Especially a black college (HBCU) which is typically not as expensive as a very high standard expensive school that happens to be predominantly white (PWI). The movie seems to poke fun at the black kids for trying to “fit in” while at the same time creating a black enclave at a mostly white college, rather than skipping all of that and simply going to a mostly black college. The producer of the actual movie, a black woman named Lena Waithe, actually attended a black college herself (Hilman). So that assumption about it being sort of a parody makes a little sense.
The Netflix series trailer for “Dear White People” has garnered many a scowl from people in the skeptic community and the internet in general. Understandably so, since it is reminiscent of content that comes from MTV Decoded and Franchesca Ramsey. Which may not be the correct thing to do since the trailer doesn’t actually depict what the movie was. And it doesn’t show enough of what the series could be. Granted, the series may wind up being a big time racist dumpster fire. And it probably will be. However, there should be more content seen before that type of judgement about the series is made.
To be clear, this movie is set at a mostly white college. A very expensive college as well, which makes it clear that these kids could go to whatever other school they desired for the most part. Especially a black college (HBCU) which is typically not as expensive as a very high standard expensive school that happens to be predominantly white (PWI). The movie seems to poke fun at the black kids for trying to “fit in” while at the same time creating a black enclave at a mostly white college, rather than skipping all of that and simply going to a mostly black college. The producer of the actual movie, a black woman named Lena Waithe, actually attended a black college herself (Hilman). So that assumption about it being sort of a parody makes a little sense.
The Netflix series trailer for “Dear White People” has garnered many a scowl from people in the skeptic community and the internet in general. Understandably so, since it is reminiscent of content that comes from MTV Decoded and Franchesca Ramsey. Which may not be the correct thing to do since the trailer doesn’t actually depict what the movie was. And it doesn’t show enough of what the series could be. Granted, the series may wind up being a big time racist dumpster fire. And it probably will be. However, there should be more content seen before that type of judgement about the series is made.
