Film Reviews & Movie Analysis

Dear White People,
You may think that just because you watched the 2014 movie, and first volume of the Netflix original spin-off series, that you’ve done your civic duty.
You haven’t.
This series reflects the ongoing social issues of race in western society and there’s no pressing pause on that.

I won’t talk too much about volume one, but I will 100% advise to watch that before embarking on volume two, as it follows straight on and is constantly referenced.

The basis of this show is to drag racial awareness and ignorance out of the shadows and basically yell it into the ears of those who choose to listen and those that don’t. Though this is the underlying point of the show – there is still a lot of depth and growth with the individual character each chapter/episode explores.

In all honesty I’m not much of a binge watcher, but I pretty much devoured all ten episodes over the course of two days. Each episode flowed well from one to the next and there was never really a chance to get bored as each chapter brought you a new perspective.

Although stories wove around one another, with seven characters to discover there were some moments where traction was lost or ended abruptly. Such as with the discovery of the troll and Sam’s relationship with her parents there was little closure. When it was time to move on, the next characters issue had little to do with their predecessors.

Encompassing a history lesson of sorts of Winchester through the ages, was a nice addition to the season. It provided a fun backstory and was used as a device to subtly build up on a secondary storyline which came together really well.

Have I mentioned this show is incredibly aesthetically pleasing? Weather you just love good television, or you’re into cinematography, direction or set decorating, there’s a lot to be admired and learnt.

In many ways seemingly the same as series one, series two both adds to and escalates events that have come to feel familiar.

I liked that they brought in Tessa Thompson (Thor: Ragnarok, Veronica Mars) and Tyler James Williams (Everybody Hates Chris, Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders) who played Sam and Lionel respectively in the original Dear White People Movie.

It could be said the choice to cast them was a more on-the-nose glimpse into a potential future for the current Sam and Lionel – but existential reasons aside, it was a good homage.

The series ended with a nice segue into a potential (and hopeful) third volume. Whether or not there is an end in sight, creator Justin Simien has yet to say. However much like how, for example The Simpsons has managed to keep its momentum by playing off of real life – Dear White People holds up the lens in the same way, and as such has no shortage of real life scenarios to ‘fictionalise’.