Dear White People is quite an interesting movie if not a great one. It’s essentially an exploration of race relations at a fictionalized elite Ivy League school — a composite I think of Ivy and near-Ivy — with its 2-3% African American student population. Though some of the students at the center of the film — both white and black — are “legacy,” most aren’t. Virtually all seem bright and fairly well off economically. Among those at the center are the son of the Dean (black) and the son and daughter of the President (white).
The film is a far more subtle study of racial attitudes than I’d anticipated, ranging from the most obvious and stereotyped to far more varied and layered both between and within white and black groups. Gay and straight, male and female, economic differentiations all make their way in also.
Some of the film is over the top, but in general it leaves a lot to consider and makes an appropriate mockery of post-racial.
Some of the Special Feature add-ons — a parody of State Farm’s ads for racism insurance, a series of racist short takes, etc. — are also fun. Worth the time.