Dear White People - urging viewers to stay woke
The newest original series to Netflix Dear White People is based on the 2014 film of the same name. While some may assume the show is trying to piggyback off its successful and well-reviewed predecessor, the real truth is that the show improves on its original subject material in every possible way.
Set among the backdrop of a fictional Ivy League college known as Winchester University, the leaders of satirical campus magazine “Pastiche” throw a blackface party to protest a new campus radio show, called Dear White People held by Samantha White (Logan Browning) the president of the Black Student Union. Shortly after the party is broken up by campus police after a coalition of black students ends the party, the head of Pastiche reveals he cancelled the party but the invites were sent anyway. The college scrambles to repair the damages dealt by the party, but the racial tensions among black and white students at Winchester is incredibly high and through the eyes of several black students we see how they try and demand reparations for this heinous act.
Dear White People has garnered a lot of controversy due to its title and subject material. People have deleted Netflix subscriptions over this shows discussions of racism simply because they think it’s some sort of white people witch hunt. Let me be clear. We all have something to learn from this show. Whether it’s privilege across racial distinctions, the complexities of interracial dating, the struggles of burgeoning homosexuality, and even policing speech on college campuses. If anything the show is a cultural touchstone simply because it gives people easy access on how to stay woke. The show’s focus on a multitude of perspectives by having each episode detail a different student makes it an excellent take on many different issues plaguing the racially tense campus after its issues with the party.
The only reason these themes are pulled off so well is due to the excellent characters and casting here. Every single main cast member gives homerun performances. Browning’s Samantha is a proud and boisterous woman, her emphatic speech targeting the racism at her school ignites a fiery passion in all who meet her and, quite certainly, the audience. There’s also a vulnerability to her though. She speaks and plans but she feels the stress of balancing a complex social and romantic life with her life as a revolutionary. It’s rare we see leaders like Sam be so vulnerable in the way the show portrays her. Lionel, played by DeRon Horton, is a nerdier and quiet presence amongst his more outspoken peers, his moments of courage play out in a really powerful and moving way and his demure personality makes him really loveable and genuine. It’s no wonder he makes fast friends with everyone who meets him. Marque Richardson is the standout member of the cast though. Reprising his role as Reggie Green from the film, Richardson takes the complexity and emotional depth of his character to new heights. Initially coming off as somewhat one note character, the fifth episode of the series gives Reggie the spotlight and we see him become an almost reluctant face of revolution. He becomes a tortured soul. A young man at the end of his rope who begins to wonder if all of his fighting for survival has actually done him any good. This episode and these moments with Reggie become the most powerful of the series grasping people to this complex narrative that isn’t afraid to show the terrifying world that black people live in every day.
Among all this Dear White People is also incredibly funny. Sharp social commentary against Quentin Tarantino’s use of racial slurs not only land with a decisive mic drop, but also feature incredible jokes that land with the perfect tinge of humor to very serious topics. Add to this the incredible “Scandal” parody that the black students of Winchester proudly hate watch, and the consistently exaggerated imagination scenes that parody classic film scenes from a noire-style before switching to hyper-realized, black and white, Godard parodies.
Dear White People is a perfectly realized show about the black university experience. Its commentary is sharp, its humor guffaw inducing, and the characters are infectiously loveable. Featuring a soundtrack peppered with Run the Jewels, A Tribe Called Quest, Future, Joubert Singers, Childish Gambino, and The Softones, the newest Netflix show is hard to not please. It’s hard not to recommend a show that is so aware of our political climate and is at the same time hilarious and has a fast-paced an interesting plot. Watch Dear White People now.