Even the name of the new film Dear White People suggests a race relations comedy like few others.
The indie film, which built buzz after its festival circuit run, heads to theaters nationwide this fall. The new trailer for the film teases envelope-shredding content. Yet the clip below hardly yanks us from our comfort zones.
Dear White People looks like a slam against Hollywood stereotypes more than anything else. The actual film, though, targets academia and according to one critic “micro aggressions.”
This snippet does boast one killer gag–that the sci-fi classic Gremlins is a statement against black people, which one of the film’s more impassioned characters explains to her professor.
Will Dear White People spark authentic debate and conversation about race, something perpetually promised but rarely delivered in our culture? We can hope.
The film hits select theaters on Oct. 17.