{"id":1957,"date":"2015-09-18T19:30:55","date_gmt":"2015-09-18T23:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=1957"},"modified":"2026-10-03T17:52:54","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T21:52:54","slug":"dear-white-people-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=1957","title":{"rendered":"Dear White People-2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear White People-2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

Director Justin Simien<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starring Tessa Thompson<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scott’s Review #274<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"70298948\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Reviewed September 18, 2015<\/p>\n

Grade: B+<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dear White People (2014) is a highly creative, independent satire that begs to be watched for its message about racism today, homophobia, and class distinctions.<\/p>\n

Set at an Ivy League college and written tongue-in-cheek, but also with a direct message from newly discovered director Justin Simien, it is a meaningful gem that challenges audiences to think, be entertained, and occasionally chuckle at the wit and comical lines.<\/p>\n

Set in the present day- assuming 2013 or 2014- and well beyond the Civil Rights era, the film features a hip, sharp look and a myriad of characters, all with differing perspectives, all Caucasian or black in racial identity.<\/p>\n

All the characters attend the affluent, sophisticated Winchester University, a mostly white, conservative school with a small community of black students who curiously all seem to live in the same dorm house.<\/p>\n

The Dean is a Black man (played by Dennis Haysbert).<\/p>\n

Sam White (Tessa Thompson) is a rebellious female student of mixed race who runs a radio show entitled “Dear White People”, which challenges the current state of racism in America, specifically at Winchester University.<\/p>\n

Supporting characters include Lionel Higgins, a gay, bookish student with an enormous afro, excluded from almost all the sub-groups. Lionel is intrigued by Sam’s radio show.<\/p>\n

Other characters include Coco- an attractive black girl with typically “white” mannerisms and friends, who try to fit in with the white culture. Troy, a very handsome black student (who tries to act “white”), dates a white girl (who tries to act “black”).<\/p>\n

Finally, the film features Kirk, a white student whose father is the school president, who values an old-style way of thinking.<\/p>\n

Shockingly, Kirk hosts a blackface party, which sparks major controversy at the school and drives much of the film’s drama.<\/p>\n

The main theme is race, but different characters have different viewpoints on it, and the film explores all of them, which makes it unique and interesting.<\/p>\n

Sam, for example, is a true advocate for racial equality and constantly challenges white people’s motivations and actions, blatantly so.<\/p>\n

Coco, on the other hand, is resistant to being stereotyped as a woman of color and, in one scene, is incorrectly assumed to be from the hood by a reality television producer she is auditioning for.<\/p>\n

She is envious of white people and the advantages they have, even going so far as to have straight hair and blue contact lenses.<\/p>\n

Then we have Lionel, who is both gay and black, and considered an outcast. He fits in with no group and, curiously, seems okay being his own person.<\/p>\n

What is unique and compelling about Dear White People is that it brings up a controversial issue, mixes it with satire, humorously, but presents compelling arguments against stereotypes, also bringing those stereotypes center stage, which most films avoid like the plague.<\/p>\n

One black character is frustrated that, in their mind, most black people are content watching dumb black comedies, thereby supporting a negative racial stereotype.<\/p>\n

One interesting aspect regarding the score is the use of lily-white classic film music- such as Barry Lyndon (1975)- the most lily-white of lily-white films (British and Irish).<\/p>\n

Famous film director Quentin Tarantino is called out as being a racist director.<\/p>\n

What wonderful irony!<\/p>\n

Dear White People (2014) is a witty, intelligent slice of inventive filmmaking worth seeing, if only for its controversial subject of inequality and racism, which is too often forgotten.<\/p>\n

An indie treat for those inclined to think a little.<\/p>\n

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: 1 win-<\/strong>Best First Screenplay (won)<\/strong>, Best First Feature<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear White People-2014 Director Justin Simien Starring Tessa Thompson Scott’s Review #274 Reviewed September 18, 2015 Grade: B+ Dear White People (2014) is a highly creative, independent satire that begs to be watched for its message about racism today, homophobia, and class distinctions. Set at an Ivy League college and written tongue-in-cheek, but also with … Continue reading Dear White People-2014<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,49,179,192,41,211,207,11823],"tags":[2290,4539,8401,4541,6824,4540],"class_list":["post-1957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2014-films","category-comedies","category-darkcomedies","category-dramas","category-indiefilms","category-indie-dramas","category-satires","category-social-issues","tag-dennis-haysbert","tag-justin-simien","tag-kyle-gallner","tag-tessa-thompson","tag-teyonah-parris","tag-tyler-james-williams"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1957"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1957\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24711,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1957\/revisions\/24711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}