Justin Simien

DVD/Stream of the Week: DEAR WHITE PEOPLE

by

dear white people2

The San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM) opens tomorrow, and this week’s video pick comes from the 2014 festival.  On its surface, the brilliant comedy Dear White People seems to be about racial identity, but – as writer-director Justin Simien points out – it’s really about personal identity (of which race is an important part). Set at a prestigious private college, Dear White People centers on a group of African-American students navigating the predominantly white college environment.

Each of the four primary characters has adopted a persona – choosing how they want others to view them. Middle class Sam is a fierce Black separatist (despite her White Dad and her eyes for that really nice White boy classmate). Coco, having made it to an elite college from the streets, is driven to succeed socially by ingratiating herself with the popular kids. Kyle, the Dean’s son, is the college BMOC, a traditional paragon, but with passions elsewhere. Lionel is floundering; despite being an African-American gay journalist, he doesn’t fit in with the Black kids, the LGBT community or the journalism clique. All four of their self-identities are challenged by campus events.

This very witty movie is flat-out hilarious. The title comes from Sam’s campus radio show, which features advice like “Dear White People, stop dancing!” and “Dear White People, don’t touch our hair; what are we – a petting zoo?”.  While the movie explores serious themes, it does so through raucous character-driven humor. It’s a real treat.

It’s the first feature for writer-director Justin Simien and it’s a stellar debut. Dear White People is on my list of Best Movies of 2014. Dear White People, which has been spun off into a popular Netflix series, is available on DVD from Netflix and Redbox and streaming on Amazon Instant, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, and Google Play.

DEAR WHITE PEOPLE: a brilliant comedy about identity

by

dear white people2
On its surface, the brilliant comedy Dear White People seems to be about racial identity, but – as  writer-director Justin Simien points out – it’s really about personal identity (of which race is an important part).  Set at a prestigious private college, Dear White People centers on a group of African-American students navigating the predominantly white college environment.

Each of the four primary characters has adopted a persona – choosing how they want others to view them.  Middle class Sam is a fierce Black separatist (despite her White Dad and her eyes for that really nice White boy classmate).  Coco, having made it to an elite college from the streets, is driven to succeed socially by ingratiating herself with the popular kids.   Kyle, the Dean’s son, is the college BMOC, a traditional paragon, but with passions elsewhere.   Lionel is floundering; despite being an African-American gay journalist,  he doesn’t fit in with the Black kids, the LGBT community or the journalism clique.  All four of their self-identities are challenged by campus events.

This very witty movie is flat-out hilarious.  The title comes from Sam’s campus radio show, which features advice like “Dear White People, stop dancing!” and Dear White People, don’t touch our hair; what are we – a petting zoo?”.   While the movie explores serious themes, it does so through raucous character-driven humor.  It’s a real treat.

It’s the first feature for writer-director Justin Simien and it’s a stellar debut.  Dear White People is on my list of Best Movies of 2014 – So Far.  I saw it at this year’s San Francisco International Film Festival and have been telling people about it for months.