Dear White People:
If you elect to go to a movie named ‘Dear White People’ make sure you have a black person in tow. Any sitings of Caucasian Americans in the theater alone will be met with snorts of derision and, just maybe, a modicum of stereotyping. Now watching the movie is highly recommended. In fact, I teach a course on Afro-American lit that would’ve benefited greatly from not only including the film but theming the class around the main construct of the film: An exploration of audience, perception, reception, tropes, and stereotyping.
The film is colorful ride into a private college that is dealing with intense racial awareness and stereotyping issues–not only between races but within races as well. The film opens with the construct of a college radio show called ‘Dear White People’ in which the DJ offers advice to white people between songs. ‘Dear White people, the number of black friends required to not seem like a racist has gone from 1 to 2’
Most of the early stereotypes and tropes being displayed are standard. As the film progresses so do the stereotypes. In time the film attempts to deconstruct tropes and stereotypes (at least the black ones) from all possible angles, working to expose the motivations beneath.
I picked up the book written by the writer/director and hope it offers just a taste of the positive vibes that can be generated from this film and resultant conversations. At the very least, it offers a very interesting angle from which to approach discussions on race.