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The thread title refers to this clip (which is explained more in the movie).  Dear White People focuses on the events that lead up to a white frat throwing a Ghetto themes party on a prestigious college campus. It does this by focusing on multiple people across the campus but mainly on four that one of the posters conveniently put all in one image:  Samantha White is pretty much a troublemaker that likes stirring the pot and pissing people off. She's the host of the titular "Dear White People" radio show on campus and a film major. While jokingly running to be head of her dorm, she manages to get more attention than she wants by actually winning and gets put into a position of leadership she's really not all that comfortable with . Troy Fairbanks is the son of the Dean and is constantly trying to do his best in all things and basically the best role model and example he can possible be. He's constantly trying to live up to his father's high expectations to him. He loses the dorm election to Samantha White and this does not sit well with him. Lionel Higgins is a homosexual, nerd with dreams of being a journalist. He's always had trouble finding his place due to being too white for the black crowd and too black for the white crowd. Coco Conners dreams of being famous and wants to be a reality TV star. She is uncomfortable with any issues that will make people assume bad things about her but there also isn't alot she won't do to get to her dreams. In typing that out I know this sounds kind of lame but I assure you it's really pretty great. The characters in this film while seeming in some ways to be a series of points the filmmaker wanted to make, really do flesh out well into real people. While you can feel many aspects of the filmmaker in his characters, no one is just a plain Mary Sue that is right all the time. All the characters are well developed with positive and negative characteristics that come together to drive their actions and lead the movies plot where it goes. Overall this movie is just a great ensemble piece about what it's like to be black in a mostly white place in post-Obama America. It's about the ways people will sell themselves out in order to belong to one group or another. It's about the pursuit of just basic acceptance and the need to find a place to fit in and how race plays a part in that whether you want to or not. And yes this is a movie based on a twitter account. To be fair, the twitter was made by the filmmaker to see the public reaction and test how viable it would be for his type of humor to be made into a movie. Here's the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwJhmqLU0so and here's a link to the youtube channel which has alot of videos in general. The movie opens limited October 17th and nationwide October 24th
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Oct 5, 2014 18:19
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 07:38 |
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This looks good and I want to see it but I've got a worrying this is either going to generate a strong backlash or end up like Chris Rock's N word sketch with a scene taken out of context becoming really popular with the "I'm not racist but..." crowd.
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Oct 5, 2014 18:34
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ReV VAdAUL posted:This looks good and I want to see it but I've got a worrying this is either going to generate a strong backlash or end up like Chris Rock's N word sketch with a scene taken out of context becoming really popular with the "I'm not racist but..." crowd. The latter is unlikely because the types of things is criticizes it's black characters for aren't really the types of things that racists give a poo poo about. There's no "negative stereotypes are actually true!" moment in the film that I can really recall for that crowd to focus on. Still, it is never a good idea to underestimate idiots. The former could happen though. The most cartoonish character in the movie is white and while even he is given depth he's pretty much the voice in the film that assures black people that since Obama racism is over and they really need to just calm down, which, y'know, might be a sore spot for some people. I mean in general people tent to react very badly to the idea that they're acting really insensitive without realizing it and that's like half of what this movie is about.
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Oct 5, 2014 18:53
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This looks way too on-the-nose to be satirical and far too smug and self-satisfied to be entertaining. Bad poo poo.
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Oct 5, 2014 19:10
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That is one good lookin' group of kids.
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Oct 5, 2014 19:12
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Y Kant Ozma Diet posted:This looks way too on-the-nose to be satirical and far too smug and self-satisfied to be entertaining. That is pretty much what I was fearing going into this but it in my opinion it really avoids that pretty well. It's a movie that is critical of all of it's characters to varying degrees while trying to make them real people. It also doesn't suggest that "the answer is somewhere in the middle" nor is it is a South Parkesque "everyone is stupid for even caring" type of thing. It just presents it's issues as being complicated and the result of people who have arrived at their actions through their various worldviews. I also did find it to be pretty drat funny. I can't guarantee any given person will like it but it completely blew away my expectations, thus why I made a thread.
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Oct 5, 2014 19:21
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I'm definitely going to see this, even though I'm cringing just from the reaction to the title alone.
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Oct 5, 2014 19:24
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This looks like a smart, hilarious satire of the Obama age.
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Oct 5, 2014 22:27
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So this is a sequel to A Different World?
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Oct 5, 2014 22:59
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Y Kant Ozma Diet posted:This looks way too on-the-nose to be satirical and far too smug and self-satisfied to be entertaining. HUNDU THE BEAST GOD posted:I'm definitely going to see this, even though I'm cringing just from the reaction to the title alone. I hope it makes as many white people angry and uncomfortable as possible.
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Oct 6, 2014 14:32
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raditts posted:I hope it makes as many white people angry and uncomfortable as possible. I think it looks kinda lame to be honest, I loved the first concept trailer, but from what ive seen so far it looks weak and toothless, but I'll watch it anyway
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Oct 6, 2014 14:40
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Bamboozled is one of my favorite movies ever, but as far as social satires go, I'm really not feeling this one.
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Oct 6, 2014 16:24
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exquisite tea posted:Bamboozled is one of my favorite movies ever, but as far as social satires go, I'm really not feeling this one. It looks a little more School Daze than Bamboozled, honestly.
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Oct 6, 2014 23:46
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exquisite tea posted:Bamboozled is one of my favorite movies ever, but as far as social satires go, I'm really not feeling this one. I didn't really like Bamboozled. I haven't seen it in years but what sticks with me is how all over the map it was tonally.
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Oct 7, 2014 06:42
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raditts posted:I didn't really like Bamboozled. I haven't seen it in years but what sticks with me is how all over the map it was tonally. Bamboozled would have been a better film in the hands of any number of other film makers. Spike's done some great stuff, but he just tends to go for so many different threads in his films, and they are so freaking inconsistent in whether they pay off or not. His lack of focus is so annoying sometimes.
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Oct 7, 2014 07:27
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This movie and this thread are monumentally topical.
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Oct 7, 2014 09:47
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Bamboozled is a movie that I find aesthetically/cinematically displeasing on a number of levels, and it's so didactic that I feel a natural compulsion to reject it, but I can't because it is absolutely gutting and trenchant.
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Oct 7, 2014 12:55
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raditts posted:I didn't really like Bamboozled. I haven't seen it in years but what sticks with me is how all over the map it was tonally. Ironically that's kind of what I like most about Bamboozled, you can rewatch the entire thing and cringe at a scene that was funny to you the first time, and vice versa. I do agree that it's really flawed, though. The subplot with Mos Def really didn't work for me and the movie as a whole could have been about 30 minutes shorter. Every line of dialogue from DWP I've seen has that bloggery "it's time to seriously talk about.." headline quality that I really can't stand. exquisite tea fucked around with this message at 13:35 on Oct 7, 2014 |
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Oct 7, 2014 13:33
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DangerDummy! posted:Bamboozled would have been a better film in the hands of any number of other film makers. Spike's done some great stuff, but he just tends to go for so many different threads in his films, and they are so freaking inconsistent in whether they pay off or not. His lack of focus is so annoying sometimes. Who on earth could you see even approaching Bamboozled? The only other director who seems like they'd be nuts enough give it a shot is Lee Daniels.
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Oct 7, 2014 14:47
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The trailer makes it look like she's being serious when she says "black people can't be racist".
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Oct 8, 2014 03:24
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precision posted:The trailer makes it look like she's being serious when she says "black people can't be racist". Technically they can't, at least not in today's world in America. They can be prejudice, but, like she says in the clip, racism is prejudice on an institutionalized level and since black people don't control the institutions they don't current have the ability to be racist. That isn't to say black people wouldn't be capable of racism given the chance it's just currently they do not have the chance. It's a semantical argument that kind of ignores how the word has evolved to mean something more general but it's technically correct. Putting all that aside, Samantha White is not a Mary Sue in the movie and not all her opinions are ones the movie needs you to agree with.
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Oct 8, 2014 04:13
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precision posted:The trailer makes it look like she's being serious when she says "black people can't be racist". But again, in social theory, there is much debate about what the word racism actually means.
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Oct 8, 2014 06:12
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axleblaze posted:Technically they can't, at least not in today's world in America. They can be prejudice, but, like she says in the clip, racism is prejudice on an institutionalized level and since black people don't control the institutions they don't current have the ability to be racist. That isn't to say black people wouldn't be capable of racism given the chance it's just currently they do not have the chance. It's a semantical argument that kind of ignores how the word has evolved to mean something more general but it's technically correct. It's only true if racism is (literally) black and white. There are many accounts of race riots between black people and other minorities for many of the same reasons as poor whites rioted (labor, etc).
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Oct 8, 2014 12:49
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The problem is there is a clear tendency for people of colour to face significantly worse outcomes in society due to historical circumstance and ongoing prejudice at the highest levels of power on down. So if you don't clearly demarcate between racism as an oppressive system and the day to day prejudices everyone holds in one form or another you get the dominant group, white people, treating an rear end in a top hat who happens to be black being mean to them as an issue of equal or greater importance than people of colour being much less likely to get a job interview if they have an "ethnic" name. Plus you increasingly have white supremacists labelling criticism of institutionalised inequality as "anti-white" racism.
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Oct 8, 2014 14:13
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I'm almost certain that that same character will end up being confronted with her own prejudices and racism, a la School Daze. It is a trailer, and trailers don't usually present the arc of a character first, just who they are before the arc occurs. axleblaze posted:It's a semantical argument that kind of ignores how the word has evolved to mean something more general but it's technically correct. The second point is more important since it is just a movie we're talking about and not a fully formed person making an explicit statement of beliefs, but I'm going to argue that semantic revisionism is not "technically correct." Even within the realm of social theory, the argument for defining racism systemically seems to be entirely motivated by political pretense and not by social or historical accuracy. Defining racism as exclusively systemic is a fallacy of definition.
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Oct 8, 2014 14:39
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Not all black people look the same, but the cast of this movie sure as hell does.
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Oct 8, 2014 17:21
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Aggressive pricing posted:Not all black people look the same, but the cast of this movie sure as hell does. In what way?
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Oct 8, 2014 17:28
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HUNDU THE BEAST GOD posted:In what way? Look at that poster, there are actual siblings that don't look as much like each other as those four. I just hope it was intentional.
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Oct 8, 2014 17:33
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Aggressive pricing, does basic facial anatomy trip you out? 'Cause that's literally the only thing any of those faces have in common.
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Oct 8, 2014 17:38
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K. Waste posted:Aggressive pricing, does basic facial anatomy trip you out? 'Cause that's literally the only thing any of those faces have in common. Really? Give Troy an afro and glasses, tilt his head the other way. Straighten Samatha's hair, make her up like Coco, and give her the same pose. The differences in the appearences of those actors are incredibly superficial.
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Oct 8, 2014 17:41
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Aggressive pricing posted:Not all black people look the same, but the cast of this movie sure as hell does. ...what?
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Oct 8, 2014 17:42
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axleblaze posted:...what? Think about all the variety that exists under the banner 'black people', how much do you see in that poster? e: it's weird because of the teaser trailer, why make a point about black people being mistaken for each other, then use actors who, with a little work, could easily be mistaken for each other?
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Oct 8, 2014 17:45
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axleblaze posted:...what? Wait, no, I wanna get to the bottom of this. Aggressive pricing posted:Really? Give Troy an afro and glasses, tilt his head the other way. Straighten Samatha's hair, make her up like Coco, and give her the same pose. You mean aside from the the sizes and shapes of their noses, lips, length and thickness of their eyebrows, forehead size relative to their hairlines, and narrowness of their eyes? You also spelled appearances wrong. Aggressive pricing posted:Think about all the variety that exists under the banner 'black people', how much do you see in that poster? Axleblaze, I know this is kinda your thread, but it would be like Christmas to me if we got him to explain some more.
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Oct 8, 2014 17:47
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Aggressive pricing posted:Think about all the variety that exists under the banner 'black people', how much do you see in that poster? ...what? K. Waste posted:Axleblaze, I know this is kinda your thread, but it would be like Christmas to me if we got him to explain some more. Go nuts.
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Oct 8, 2014 17:56
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axleblaze posted:Technically they can't, at least not in today's world in America. They can be prejudice, but, like she says in the clip, racism is prejudice on an institutionalized level and since black people don't control the institutions they don't current have the ability to be racist. That isn't to say black people wouldn't be capable of racism given the chance it's just currently they do not have the chance. It's a semantical argument that kind of ignores how the word has evolved to mean something more general but it's technically correct. Nah, it's a redefinition by sociology majors of a very commonly understood word in order to more easily vilify their opponents.
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Oct 8, 2014 17:57
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I don't know, just seems like the casting director was looking for some specific face types, it's hard to see that as a coincidence. It could be the movie is making a point about how presentation can have as much an effect as race and the choices people make about themselves are at least as important as someone's colour. e: hard to say without having seen the movie
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Oct 8, 2014 18:00
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How about we don't acknowledge him because he's, with almost 100% certainty, trolling?
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Oct 8, 2014 18:02
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It's a well known fact that a lot of goons have trouble distinguishing faces of different people. This has been brought up many times haha
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Oct 8, 2014 18:04
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rakovsky maybe posted:Nah, it's a redefinition by sociology majors of a very commonly understood word in order to more easily vilify their opponents. LEt me put this another way, the important thing in the movie is that the character believes this. Whether you think it's BS or not doesn't really matter. It's more of a thing that helps us know what kind of worldview she has. It can also be seen as the opposite side of the coin as the "racism is over because Obama" view that also comes up in the movie.
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Oct 8, 2014 18:05
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Zzulu posted:It's a well known fact that a lot of goons have trouble distinguishing faces of different people. This has been brought up many times haha Or maybe goons suck at telling how photography tricks like lighting, pose, accessories, and makeup can alter the perception of a face.
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Oct 8, 2014 18:07
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