Heading into the beginning of awards season, October has a lot of great indies to offer.3. “Dear White People” Oct 17 (Film Page)
Director: Justin Simien
Cast: Tyler James Williams, Tessa Thompson, Teyonah Parris, Brandon Bell
Distributor: Lionsgate and Roadside
Criticwire Grade: B+
Why is it a “Must See”? A bonafide satire of the Obama age, writer-director Justin Simien’s persistently funny “Dear White People” perceptively skewers virtually every facet of racial confusion in modern American society. While black comedians like Dave Chapelle and Chris Rock have provided searing insight into the absurdities of lingering racial tensions, Simien consolidates much about the paradoxes explored in those acts and many others into a wildly enjoyable and scathing farce. By exploring the heated debates between white and black students at an upscale college, Simmien both mocks and provokes the nature of our seemingly progressive times by illuminating misguided assumptions and fears embedded in forward-thinking discourse. But Simien’s relentless screenplay is never too self-serious or didactic, instead pairing culturally-savvy brains with a goofy grin.
