"Dear White People" Calls out Modern Black-Face Parties Thrown by White College Students

            "Dear White People" breaks away from the negative Black youth stereotype cultivated by Hollywood over the years. Every individual storyline is incredibly well crafted. The three dimensionality of each character leaps off screen. The exchange of dialogue expressing heavily opposing viewpoints is delivered, written, and portrayed on screen eloquently. The social commentary is worthy of being praised. This film is a powerful contemporary satire, and if it spurred outrage in people because of the title, or the portrayal of white people inflicting daily micro-aggressions on minorities, well, maybe that was the point? Do yourself a favor and watch this modern classic!    

            This successful independent film, that happened to be funded entirely by fans, delivered strong performances, criticizing modern “black faces.” This story narrates the racial tension building up between Black and White students in a predominantly white Ivy League University. Each character has an interesting backstory, one self-deprecating, another of a mixed race questioning her race identity, or a young writer who doesn’t fit any of the stereotypes his counterparts expect of him. “Dear White People” questions why every character in a Tyler Perry movie that’s college-educated is inherently evil, or consists of black women suffering the entire time.   

            The micro-aggressions depicted in the film like, confusing two people just because they’re of the same race, or asking someone who looks ethnically ambiguous what they are, are such an eye opener. 

            Here we are, in 2017, and people are still throwing parties with racist themes like, University Of Florida’s 2012 Blackface party, or Arizona State University’s 2013 MLK Black Party. “Those invitations, whoever sent them, should have been met with derision and outrage, instead, a hundred people- your students arrived with posters, decorations, and costumes they had prepared for such event… showing us exactly where we’re at.” I’ve seen this movie so many times, yet I’m always finding new underlined meaning behind each dialogue exchange. If this comedy makes you feel anything, speak up! In order for us to grow and move on from such an antiquated mentality, we have to take different people’s perspective into count. So, please watch this movie, you won’t be sorry!

           

"Do the Right Thing" Depicts Racism between Minorities and Civil Unrest Caused by Police Brutality

             The film does a great job at depicting gentrification, racism between minorities, and civil unrest caused by police brutality. Spike Lee sewed together many relevant social issues throughout the story. The film follows different people of the same community though the hottest day of the year, but tensions rise when a local customer confront a pizzeria owner about the absence of black people on his wall of fame, soon the entire community is in for an ugly awakening. There’s an amazing compilation of scenes where people of different races verbalize popular racial stereotypes.

 

Lee provided an interesting twist on how films touch on racism. While some directors depicted racism in the traditional stories set in the civil rights era, Spike Lee showed how people tend to group themselves according to race, resulting in conflict between them as residents living on the same block.

            The movie kept pushing the buttons, this time, through gentrification. The story shows people of different races moving into a “bad” neighborhood, opening businesses in the area, and pushing the old residents out through economic means. Although the film emphasized how people tend to group each other according to race, by the end of the day, those who did not win the natural lottery are all vulnerable to the same problems in society. “Do the right thing” ended the film with a clear example of one of the biggest flaws in our society, police brutality. After an altercation escalates and the police are called, the situation, ironically, only goes from bad to worse. More than 20 years later, and innocent people are still muttering the words, “I can’t breathe,” as their last. Be-it for a lack of training in the police force, or racist people becoming cops to have authority over others, there is a trend of minorities being murdered by policemen. 

The film all in all offers an abundant amount of relevant hot topics. Congratulations to the cast, every actor delivered their lines perfectly, and the chemistry between them was incredible. If you enjoy seeing hot topics through a different perspective and like a well developed story, check out this film!!! And remember, "do the right thing!"