MovieChat Forums > Dear White People (2014) Discussion > Racebaiting: the movie

Racebaiting: the movie

posted 7 years ago by cooler56
2 replies | jump to latest

This movie attempts to create a dialogue about racism against black people, but it's laughable.

The white students are walking strawmen- one sided psychotic villains with no redeemable qualities. The one "respectable" white student is an Africa-phile.

The black students are eloquent scholars who somehow seem to have such vast knowledge and insight into race relations compared to the ignorant white people. They use academic logic against the own educational institution that opresses them.

The movie comes off as surly, snarky, and self-congratulatory. The "self-hating" aspects of some of the black characters are quickly replaced with pride in their own heritage.

The movie tries to drive in its point further by posting photos of college parties with blackface students in bad taste. It is merely cherry-picking, a symptom of a greater issue. The average "white" person off the street is not going to show up to a party wearing dark curly wigs and eating watermelon.

You want to have a REAL discussion of about race in this movie? Fine. Then answer some questions. If black people are offended by white people dressing up in "ghetto" clothing, why do black people, on the same hand, celebrate "ghetto" culture? Hip-hop culture stemmed from black resistance of the cultural hegemony of "whiteness" that wasn't working for them- so they are again, ashamed of this culture that individualizes them and validates their rebellion against oppression? The black students in this film talk and act like the "white" people that they hate - in order to get on their level; in order to be taken "seriously" by them. Because they feel that if they give "hood" talk, they will sound silly. Yet they admonish white people for mocking this "silly" hip hop culture?

During the 60s, black people fought for the right to be integrated with the rest of society. In the film, they fight to get their "own" house. So now in the 21st century, they are fighting for the right to be segregated again. Such sweet irony.

This movie is a joke and only looks at the superficial aspects of racism, and lays its arguments by appealing to emotion. Even Spike Lee was better at discussing race in his films.

[–] jhowington32 7 years ago

Good post! I agree 100%

[–] crc32 (2584) 6 years ago

This movie is a joke and only looks at the superficial aspects of racism, and lays its arguments by appealing to emotion. Even Spike Lee was better at discussing race in his films.

It appears to me dispite its title was never intented to be a film where white people were expected in its audience. Instead the movie spends more time depicting internal conflicts the black community is having with its self in its response to the alleged racism it is supposedly facing. And worse instead of trying to solve the problems the black community is facing (For example income and educational disparity MIT only has a 5% student body for example) the show squanders all this away by showing the black community insulting and judgeing members of its own community some of which are genuinly trying to solve the problem of disparity between blacks and whites. Alot of time is also wasted on non issues and nonsense such as the notion "Black people by their own redefinition of racism can't be racists". Surely the black community can admit only a small misinformed miniority of its population believe in that. Also absent are realistic discussions as to how the black community arrived at its economic disadvantage and what can be done to fix these issues instead discussions such as this are replaced with repeated sentiments instatutionalized racism and even more bizare assertions that all whites are guilty of racism(A total copout for anyone that actually gives a danm about rasing up the black community.)

Yes I agree their is a huge disparity between black and whites interms of economic, and educational success I find alot of those problems are better suited by advocating for equal spending on education, and general encouragement of black children in valuing their education and combating the single mother culture the black community is currently plagued. But its difficult to do when films like these.