Dear White People - Intent vs. Action
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- Опубліковано 14 жов 2024
- Dear White People
Netflix
Video Essay
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So, I watched Dear White People in like 2 days. I knew the title was just basically clickbait, and everyone online said it was quite good, so I thought eh, why not.
It turned out to be a lot better than I was anticipating, but not perfect.
At any rate, I thought the most interesting part of the whole show was how well balanced it was. The "antagonists" weren't just straight white-supremacist stereotypes, Sam wasn't some all knowing flawless hero. Everyone was on a pretty even playing field.
A nice change from the internet, where things are... different haha.
I also liked how the show really dove into the idea of intent vs. action. I know pretty much every movie and TV show is about this is some way, but the whole point of the show, at least in my eyes, was about intentions and how they can be good, but you can still do bad things.
But, like I said, there were a few parts that made no sense. That guy dies, and none of the main characters care at all. His death is the butt of a joke? Seriously?
Anyway, I made this video BEFORE the Johnny Depp one. I'm working on something that, if it works out, could be pretty cool. It might totally fail, though.
I tried to go back and touch up some of my old graphics/effects since I can do so much better now. Hope you don't mind.
Either way, I'm off to finished Mother 3.
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"We judge others by their actions and ourselves by our intentions."
A really great quote that ties in with this video. Can't remember who said this though.
After +1 year, here's the answer to your question. It's made by Stephen M.R. Covey. In The Speed of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything
judge both
Stop blowing my mind with your knowledge.
fk you, small minded little bitch
Mr. Zeek fuck me you went straight to 11 didn't you.😂
Ikr
Mr. Zeek did he call you?😕
I think if they chose a better title for the show and the trailers weren't so based on shock factor, it would have gotten better reviews and more audience.
I y a n a same, I almost didn't watch it. Glad I did though
True
I y a n a wasn't it based on a movie
Rosa Yeah but shitting on White People is how you're supposed to get the poc support when the topic is race
nick the nack, am I going to watch a show that targets a specific race? "Dear White People", would a "Dear Black People" be acceptable to you or society? The funny thing about this is that, people with white skin aren't the only ones capable of pissing on blacks. Asians and Hispanics do it to.
So what I'm referring to is the title. I couldn't give two shits about the context, because the title being accepted into mainstream media is enough to say "I'm not going to watch it". Don't give me the "go in with an open mind" prep talk either, the title is enough to say that race is definitely an agenda here.
As someone who hasn't actually seen this show, my answer is that actions (aka results) and intentions both matter. I would say actions are weighted heavier, because those have more tangible real world consequences. But you can't discount the intent behind the actions.
Bad example: In college, I dislocated my knee and had to be driven everywhere. I was stuck in a straight leg brace for weeks and needed help getting in and out of the car via someone holding my foot as I scooched along the backseat. My boyfriend intended to help me by holding my foot and pushing or pulling as I got in or out. However, his pushing and pulling caused pain in my knee every time he tried, so my brother would take over and help me because when he did it, he didn't pull or push, just held my foot, and I didn't get hurt.
So, boyfriend's intent was to help me, but the action resulted in me being in pain. With this context of intent, the fact that he was causing me pain was just annoying and frustrating. If his intent was to actually cause pain, I'd obviously be pissed. Either way, the result is that I refused to let him help me scooch in and out of the car after the first few tries, but the intent there influenced my feelings on the matter.
So, as I said before, actions matter more, but intention matters too.
In my opinion she makes the situation infinitely worse and is not at all justified in her actions. She's effectively punishing people for seeing the error in their idea for such a party.
Captain Canada But did they see any error in their idea, or did they not go through with it simply because of the threat of the backlash presented by anyone who saw such racism on campus?
They didn't see their error. They simply didn't do it because the dean would have punished them. They never actually learned what they were doing was wrong. Which is why Sam leaked the invite.
It's a good multi layered story
SirVolcy
They did see an error in the idea, mainly that the dean would punish them.
Jutland Angel
but not the fact that it's blatantly racist. If you have to face academic punishment in order to not be racist, you're just gonna behave in the meantime and keep the same disgusting beliefs after leaving the premises.
SirVolcy
Still saw an error. Also if people get punished for wrong think, most people would be in prison for murder.
Intentions may be good for a bad action, but it doesn't excuse the bad actuon, that philosophy has been used to disregard countless historical atrocities throughout human history. Context and consequences are important so there are times were good intentions may simply warrent a "Your heart was in the right place but don't do it again" but it still all comes down to one simple rule. You are what you do. Your actions define who you are. You don't get to paint negative actions any colour you like (in this case in the name of social justice) and then become absolved of all responsibility. I wish more people understood this.
Now, another aspect of this is unintended consequences. Maybe something got out of hand but the defendent can claim they only predicted for x to happen. As another user noted, this all depends on how forseeable the negative consequences are. But even if they were completely unexpected consequences, its still important to take responsibility and, if not face punishment, at least admit the original action was wrong even though you didn't intend for it to get out of hand.
Nickelicious late comment but an example is the different ways you can get charged with Murder depending on malice of forethought.
Nice video. The trailer didn't do justice to the show at all
MudanTV I think they did it intentionally to create an audience, get people talking about the show. So people start an uproar and more people will watch the show because they're expecting a cringe fest. Realising it's actually a well thought out movie/show.
i think people still should have did research before reacting to the trailer. the trailer was snippets from the movie the series takes from. and was mostly likely purposefully edgy.
i hadnt realized so many people hadnt seen the original movie. especially content creators who pride themselves in being rational, nuanced, beacons of common sense disappointed me when they went on tirades about it without looking into anything.
there's nothing really wrong with the show as far as having an agenda or anything. Its a satire on race relations and uses a college campus setting as a microcosm.
nothing ground breaking, but its good for what it was trying to do. its satirical, and self deprecating in areas, and I feel like if people are still offended by it thats just people's personal itch these days of jumping to conclusions about anything that attempts to talk about race because of the current social climate we're in.
people did the same thing with Get Out...assuming it was, i dunno, gonna be some like black lives matter victim porn flick or something. and it actually wasnt. it was well crafted and was inspired by a number of other clsssic psychological thrillers. people are too quick to come to conclusions sometimes.
hennie Kru ugh don't compare Get Out to this garbage. just because it's about racism
***** theres nothing really that bad about it, and im comparing the reactions not the pieces of cinema.
even in that there is something to compare: both recent, was scrutinized and turned out to be something other than what it was criticized for, and have satires about race.
I think the reason the trailer got the flack it did is that in context with the BLM/SJW/feminist stuff being so touchy in general combined with how we've seen a seemingly bottomless pit of people espousing the same points that were in the trailer while being completely serious. Not knowing about the movie, I didn't know the source was satire of the concepts.
spoiler the answer is No. The road to hell is paved in good intentions
FlyingSpiderBaby but if I die tonight at least I can say I did what I wanted to do.
If you want it you already got it if you thought it -It better be what you want
Actually, the road to hell is paved with flagstone as good intentions make for poor building material.
*with* good intentions
FlyingSpiderBaby i was just thinking that.
Very underrated youtuber
Bwahahaha sarcasm!!!! ur funny Dan
Well.....
@@rosekristal.f3927 lol
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
HH Rexient exactly!
Waifu Laifu it doesn't have to be interpreted literally.
Wow ur so clever
Yes and no. It kinda goes along with whether or not the ends justify the means. Which I don't believe they do. The means are just as important if not more so.
That should have been the title for the show
Shit you're gonna blow up trust me
That's what Shi'a said.
look at him now
I honestly think that Netflix made that terrible, clickbait trailer so that the people who have the whole "I'm so offended, let me start a riot" mentality would watch it and realize how childish they were being.
Or eliminate the people who had a closed off mind from watching the series, remember people, first impressions aren't everything
+.midival_Minstrel I find it hilarious that all these people screaming racism haven't even watched the show yet, what idiots.
Snagalishus Man
The show is shit
.midival_Minstrel To be fair that trailer was pretty bad. I don't really blame people for not bothering with the show. In fact most people whom I know never even saw the show.
Snagalishus Man I didn’t watch it because the trailer looked like shit :/
The theme of actions vs intentions was answered about 1000 years ago by Bernard of Clairvaux; "the road to hell is paved with good intentions". The only thing I'll add is: intentions are almost pointless to consider because people lie to and about themselves all the time (I like J.P. Morgan's quote about there being two reasons why a man does anything: "a good one and the real one"). This means nobody thinks they're the "bad guy" or that they have ill intentions; even guys like Al Capone and Stalin could justify their actions to themselves,.
The students show up to the party and they don’t get turned away at all. They even start acting like they hosted the party and everything was intentional. If they really saw an error in throwing the party besides getting in trouble they would have said “go home, there’s no party tonight”.
(The Party is the center of the movie. The series is what happens after the fact. Then we find out it was Sam the whole time. )
True but she still caused it. She made it happen, that's quintessentially "race baiting 101". I guess you can say because the white people would do such a thing is problematic and she was simply bringing an issue to light but you cant have an argument to prove a point and pull the trigger too without any regard, that's what villans do. He is just round it all up with the facts in place.
@ceeboyforlife4538 the thing is, she didn't create the idea nor planned it. She just send the invite and she did it because they weren't going to send it because of the dean.
Sending it to see if people would actually go to it is not wrong
I love how you analyze this without being bias.
This was full of bias...
I guess the question is how foreseeable was the harm that occurred.
I believe that just because one has good intentions does not excuse them from bad behavior. Consider this scenario: someone robs a bank because they want to donate all that money towards charity. Yes, the intentions were good but their actions are illegal and it does not properly reflect their intentions to do good.
I'm really sorry but I do not know what you mean by "smoky", so I'll assume you mean "child" but please correct me if I am wrong. Your question serves as a very difficult one to answer. This person is stuck in a dilemma: either they let their child starve, or steal food because they are unemployed and poor. Both choices are wrong, whether that be morally or lawfully. In this case, this problem goes a step further and even to this day, no one figured out the best way to help these people, aka. the homeless. Even though this person comes out of good intention, stealing food is still considered legally wrong.
Hillary Chua You seem to have declared a morally ambiguous action as evil without any actual thought. Why is theft worse than the good that comes from donating to a charity that will prevent hundreds from starving?
Because theft does not come with good intentions, it never will. The money one is stealing from is not their's to give, and by doing so they're stealing from hundreds and ruining a company. Even if the money goes towards charity, hundreds of others will suffer too. I am not claiming that this "morally ambiguous action" is evil. There are good thoughts and intentions, but it is not done correctly.
Hillary Chua But theft did come with good intentions. Is it not more evil to allow thousands to die because they don't have access to a meal or steal (for the sake of argument) from well-off people who won't miss it or, at the very least, will be fine without it.
Now, of course, if the thief had there own money to donate instead of others, that would reduce suffering and is hence a better option.
The theft may have come with good intentions, but it is still WRONG. It is absolutely foolish to suggest that the well-off people will be fine or won't "miss" the money simply because they're "well-off". They earned their money, and therefore it is their right to spend the money they earned. You CANNOT just steal from somebody, and give it out for the sake of goodness. It's like someone taking all YOUR money, and giving it to charity. Did you allow that? Would you be mad if someone took your money without consent or agreement to give towards charity? While it is good to help our community and donate to charities as much as possible, it is not a permanent solution and that's the point I'm trying to make. The government needs to take care of their people. In order to eliminate homelessness, the government must take action and the citizens must push for it. Stealing from a bank to donate is not any better.
Personally, I think you always need to think about the possible consequences first. Just because something sounds like a good idea in your head, doesn't mean it will work out that way in real life. I know it sounds harsh.
So if i understood this right, this whole shows plot is kick-started by someone being offended by a thought crime?
Kind of, but her point was that people actually went to the party.
Birki gts Never saw the series, but kind of? From what I hear, the people who planned it never learn their lesson (across the entire series mind you) so her intent was to teach them it's harmful. Not the same as those leftists who think simply holding different opinions is evil because all their own subjective moral standards are the best thing ever, no this is more nuanced than that and something a less mature "me" may have theoretically supported.
gLItcHyGeAR "different" opinion...hmm wonder what you mean by that.
maybe some of them didn't know what the party was about and they just wanted to go to a party?
He means people cal you the next hitler if you don't agree with them on anythings, for instance, consider phym and xe as pronouns.
If you want a good example of a show making fun of white people without being offensive, watch the boondocks
The MLK episode is one of my favorites. And the anime kickball match against China.
This comment is probably very confusing to anyone that didn't watch the show.
Tangy ™ tbh it also makes fun of stuff black people say or do so its all even in a South Park kinda level where everyone is equally disrespected
Tangy ™ not its not its equal in the disrespect wtf is wrong with y'all south park,family guys,cleveland show were fucking disrespectful
Tangy ™ The show is about how black people r getting critsized for there skin color and the racism they face. Check ur facts.
Winter Praetor Lol, South Park is meant to be disrespectful, but on a plane where everyone is equally disrespected.
Channel: Small
Quality Of Videos: Hollywood Level
Fucking Love Your Channel!
Well......
@@rosekristal.f3927 Damn I remember when this guy had 10k subs
Just one nit pick: The dean was the one who prohibited the party not the pastiche guys. They [pastiche] had not made a decision to cancel the event.
It is an interesting question, especially when applied to characters that take vengeful actions (which are nominally bad) for the nominally right reason(s).
This is super interesting. I legit thought this show was gonna be like lecture style or like a documentary where black people just basically say how awful white people are, but from the synopsis did an actually decent job of presenting a complex societal situation showing both sides.
you’re saying it like it would be sooo terrible if somebody said something bad about poor white people 😣🥺🥺
@@tico5058 of course you’re not, bc you probably have nothing to say.
Sam also cheated on Gabe with 'good intentions' I.e making the other guy feel less depressed.
It's not depicted as good thing, maybe morals don't see as good thing
"Intentions do not justify your actions".
This saying answers your question.
also who the fuck has a blackface party in 2016 or 17 or whatever
Go ahead and look it up, the last one that sparked actual outrage was in 2016. But many southern college student proclaim that the parties are common occurrences to this day.
Gilbert M "If someone openly mocking and ridiculing your culture and people's history upsets you than you are the problem"
And the worst reasoning of the year award goes to...
Darth Lmr521 Yes. Yes you are.
Darth Lmr521 Just dress in the clothing. Don’t try to pull off a different race. I’m not even a liberal, but just try not to do that. I’m not going to call you racist for that though, since you didn’t have any ill intentions with it.
Darth Lmr521 But if someone were to do that it would be offensive, skin color isn't an accessory you can just put on.
There are little girls that dressed up as white Disney princesses but they didnt paint their skin a lighter color.
If you dressed up as...say the Black Panther and wear ONLY the costume and mask. I won't bash on you. I know who you're cosplaying as and I won't hate you for it. Hell I would side with you if people tried to make you to take it off just because you're not black. But if you paint yourself black, then you suck.
I was trying to give examples and had a point but I lost it. I'm tired of this crap.
I'd say her intention was still pretty bad, as she intended to throw the newspaper under the bus for something they didn't do.
Yes,but the point is,that kind of party idea shouldn't be on the table. Plus,the reason for them not doing it is just to not get in trouble,not because they realized it was wrong.
Isaac Foote ok....so talk to them. Not ruin their lives.
@@flameron1 their white, it wouldn't ruin their lives.
@@fruitbythefoote finally a white person that gets it. Though her tactic was reckless.
i cannot think of a situation where not doing a bad thing is a negative
I really, truly love you Alex. I love your sarcasm, and more importantly, I love that you know when not to use it. Your depth of thought in this video and in "Is beauty a talent?" is wonderful, something the likes of which I have never seen before.
You're amazing.
Samantha White is responsible for the party just as responsible as the people that went to the party
I am the type of person that mainly cares about the person’s intentions
Shay45 She wants something to complain about because she is so drama hungry, at least, that’s my take on the character.
Absolutely not. She could have called them out by talking about the party, holding a conference or meeting or something, whatever else. But instead, she committed a crime by hacking into the computers and sending the invitations. Sure, the invitations wouldn’t have been there in the first place if they were smart and didn’t plan the party, but she had no right to break the law, send out personal information (yes, at that point it would have been a personal document) and cause the party. She could have left it alone, but she didn’t.
Personally, I couldn’t care less. Damage is damage. I only care if the good guys survive longer than the bad ones.
A bunch of white kids showed up to a blackface party.
While wearing blackface.
Sam's actions were wrong but she's hardly the cause of racial unrest on campus. The white people were just comfortable with the racism present on campus while the black students weren't so Sam exposed it.
JC T You don't know me so refrain from calling me out of my name. As I said there is a difference between a fleeting thought and a premeditated action that you changed your mind about at the last second. You didn't answer my question - if you knew that I not only thought about trafficking children, but came up with a plan, chose a target, had everything ready, and at the last minute I decided "okay maybe this isn't a great idea I might go to jail" are you still going to ask me to babysit? You won't be the least bit worried that the desire might return and the next time I won't decide against it? Because that's what would've happened if Sam didn't do what she did. The party never would've happened sure, but the black students would've been left to wonder who would've gone to it, which one of their classmates thinks that behavior is acceptable. Because the kid who would come to a blackface party is the same kid who would make fun of your hair behind your back, who would grumble about having to work with you on a lab project, who after graduating and in a position of authority would overlook your application for a job even though you are overqualified. The white people who engage is subtle racism are the same white people who would engage in more blatant racism if given the chance and believing they could get away with it. The very reason they canceled the party was because they didn't think they could get away with it, not because they had a sudden epiphany that racism was bad. It wasn't a "race war" it was an experiment to see how people would behave if they didn't think they'd get caught, and what someone is willing to do under the cover of anonymity (like say, on the internet) tells you a lot about who they are as a person. But I know I'm probably wasting my time explaining this because you're an all-knowing white man and you know more about being black than I do.
That was deep. Let me watch the series and see if I come to the same conclusion as you.
Intent is irrelevant I believe. When your story flashes across the news acres the country, the watchers and reporters only care about action and it's consequences. And racist people would use what Sam did as leverage to further their own racism. Action is more important. In my opinionl.
Zac Daniel Right. Too often certain types of people, both on the right and left, try to excuse their bad action on the basis of good intent without realizing that such a thing is ultimately hollow and meaningless. And while I'm a tad more exposed to the negativity coming from the Left, being a gamer and coming from a right wing family and all, it's no less prevalent in the Right... it's a serious issue in our society right now, which (to the addition of a bunch of other social issues we're facing) can best be described as a textbook case of selfishness and vanity on all counts.
Action is more important for sure, but that doesn't mean intent has to be totally ignored. While for individual actions, intent may appear irrelevant, if you take the lifetime sum of a person's actions, the difference intent can make becomes more clear. Let's say that two people do the same bad thing, but one did not realise the harm they were causing, while the other one did so intentionally. Then, these people see the consequences of their actions. The first one, having not intended for this to happen would be horrified and realise that they should not do this again. Meanwhile the other one is unfazed because they did exactly as they intended. So that person is much more likely to do it again, then the first one. So if you think about actions as cumulative over a person's lifetime, then intent does make a difference in the amount of harm a person will end up causing. This is not to say of course that good intentions absolve a person of responsibility, just to point out that it is possible to agree that intent matters AND that actions matter more.
This channel is so fucking good. I love the educated, open to debate feel and that you don't just lazily ridicule shit. Channels like this make me feel like I'm not wasting my time on youtube & may actually be learning lmao
Before Sam there was a racist undercurrent, but the administration had plausible deniability. Sam had to remove that deniability for any change to even become possible. It's a much more complex moral issue than you have described.
Thank you
You do realize what she did made her a criminal right? She should be serving something like 6 years minimum for what she did.
hopelessearth Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King were criminals too. So were abolitionists who conducted the Underground Railroad. Legality does not equal morality.
Exactly. Racism isn't necessarily huge displays of bigotry and intolerance like KKK or apartheid. It's present every day in the form of microaggressions and ignorance.
Microagression is the most retarded idea ever since the beggining of times.
Good intentions? You give these characters way too much credit.
Liam Dell she is the on screen adaptation of confliction/hypocrisy
thank you, the fuck. the white characters in the show really dont all have good intentions
Frfr
Sometimes bringing awareness makes people uncomfortable, and that can easily slide into anger or resentment. Everything I can think of that is good now had to get worse before it got better. Dr. King didn't give one speech, and bam, President Obama. His fight for true equality lead to more violence for a while, and only later did things begin to get better. Same can be said for just about anything. So, I personally don't see how her (yes, ok, somewhat illegal) action of sending the invitation did anything more than bring out into the open some pretty fucking up, dark ideas being hidden in the heads of those white kids. And, if I remember correctly, they didn't cancel their own party because they suddenly got woke AF. They cancelled it because they knew it could spell trouble for them.
More people should watch Dear White People, it's such a good commentary on beliefs and viewpoints nowadays.
s borden u should really watch it it's not racist to White people as I thought it would be it's actually interesting
On SB
Did you even listen to the video?
Love dear white people, but I never finished it bc of all the sex scenes and they were getting too loud
I can't believe you're so bitter I can never sit through a show that uses much of any sex scenes. I find it stupid and pointless, especially when the sex scenes go over FIVE or even TEN minutes in length... basically trying to be porn at that point.
The rode to hell is paved with good intentions. And as far as the N word is it’s in if you want people saying it then don’t put in lyrics I’m Afro Caribbean first generation American and I just don’t like double standards like that, crying over that word and wasting even more energy over it takes away from even more serious issues.
Toomuchtime
I know right? If it is such a bad word, why does anybody say it? If it's such a bad word, why make it, why give it meaning in the first place? Why not take that meaning away and stop acknowledging/using the word?
toomuchtime I'm sure that you're actually white.
That word was created as an insult from the white masters towards the black slaves. We took that word and power behind that word and made it our own. And make no mistake, the intent behind that racial slur is power. When we say it to one another, there is no ill intent behind it. There is not 200+ years of abuse and oppression behind it. There is no being viewed as property behind it. There aren't years of segregation and Jim Crow laws behind that. There isn't being hosed down and attacked by dogs behind that. There's no being lynched simply for existing behind it. There is not police brutality behind it. And before anyone tries to tell me that I don't know what I'm talking about or to get over it, most of us still have parents and grandparents that remember those days.That's why white people can't say it. Also, it is not a double standard. It is a complicated issued that will take time to make better. Also also, It's not just that word in America. There are other slurs that various cultures and ethnicities have embraced that would still be considered slurs coming from someone outside of that culture.
It's still a dumb reason for you to use the word at all. If it's that bad (despite just being a word that only gets power from the people who get offended by it), why is it still used, if you take it out of songs, movies, etc. then it wouldn't by white people (which is still dumb, considering every race has people who say it) because then there wouldn't be a reason to use it.
See, I think that some of the only people that think it's dumb are the people being told that they can't say it. And you haven't addressed the other racial slurs. You sound like you're just mad that we don't want predominantly white people using that word. Most of us don't have a problem with other minorities using the word because at some point they have been discriminated against as well. Maybe not to the same degree but it's happened. Also, are you trying to say that we should take away a part of our culture and history because you're not happy? And before you say anything about the confederate flag and the confederate monuments, please remember that we took a word meant to belittle us and dehumanize us and made it something special to us. We are not celebrating the fact that this word exists. We haven't built a monument to this word. We didn't use this word to stick burning crosses in yards of white families. And, we didn't create it or the stigma behind it. At the end of the day, it is a racial slur. It's that simple.
You are literally the first white person that made a good point on the school, and actually, watch it without judging. This is refreshing. Looks like I got a new favorite youtuber.
How to sum up this video: The path to hell is paved with good intentions
As a black person, I would like to say I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this video! You did an amazing analysis of what the show was actually about without getting too much into the actual "politics" so to speak. I love you for this. I love you for actually watching the entire series to gather your information and not just condemning it after only watching the first episode. Like I said, I love you for analyzing the show, (which is what you're Chanel is about), and not just giving a fleeting reaction to it. I've already watched a few of your videos, and I'm going to binge the the rest of them. You're amazing. Keep doing what you're doing!
Here we have; a serious guy who slowly over time got affected so much by life in general, that he gained the best possible sense of humor.
My mother is black and my dad is white so my skin color is light but I have African American features and people always ask me “what are you?” And touch my curly hair and I’ve never got offended by it, i’ve never even considered that it could be offensive, maybe slightly intrusive at times but not nearly offensive enough to get angry over it so the whole insensitive white people thing the show likes to claim is dumb, the problem is the black people in the show being overly offended
Or...lets say that NOT everyone lives your life.
You don't find it offensive that someone touches your hair because all your lofemyouve dealt with it..cause we told people that's ok.
But..was it the POINT that people touched your hair..or WHY?
Do they just want to feel it or do they look at you like some wild exotic animal that is lucky to be walking amongst humans?
My mixed son had to deal with that. Every life isn't yours.
Every one missing the point. Are they being overly sensitive or tired of the SAME mentality that your great grandpa had being portrayed in what's supposed to be the more intelligent era?
Are they tired of trying to get people to understand the plight when they should be intelligent enough to understand?
And those things you say aren't worth a thought are some of the things that can get even you killed.
You're a mixed kid. Take a trip to Florida, s.c., n.c. And after dark just drive the streets. Those are places I've lived and my son had to deal with.
Should it be that way? No.
Can we stop it? Yes
How? By calling people out on their b.s. and standing up against it as a unit.
Cut off the idea that it's o.k. and st least some people will get it while others at leadt chill out and people who aren't as lucky as you to live in one place all their lives that's lucky accepting, also can say the same as you. That everything is fine and people are overreacting
Agon Leed I appreciate the reply, that’s an interesting perspective, I guess I’ve always been turned off to this black lives matter propaganda stuff (correct me if that’s not what it is) because when I see black people protesting race relations most of them seem to have a bias against whites. Could you go more in depth on the part where you said I could get killed? You never clarified why. I have a hard to believing it’s simply because of my race and has nothing to do with culture
This show had more depth than I thought. Perhaps I leapt too soon. I semi retired from bashing white people so I was wary of watching this, but this video may have proven the show isn't what it seemed.
Took the words out of my mouth. Seriously, he now wants to start hating white people again?! wtf?
Josiah Nicol I meant about the show. I see how that could be confusing. Sorry if you were offended.
oh....i apologize for my comment sir.
Egie Asemota it's all good. Just a reminder of how hurtful my old rhetoric was
Stanley Terrell Anderson II "bashing white people" you know, we already have a word for that. Let's call a spade a spade - you were racist. I am not throwing shade, but don't euphemise racism.
To sum up the video... Don't go look for problem's where there aren't any to begin with.
It was a little preachy but still had substance. Did a great job of showing the good and the bad from both sides and their personal convictions. There really wasn’t a “bad guy” just a story about different groups and what they’re going through
Finally someone who gets my frustrations about this show.
your videos are so well made, the editing and graphics you put up suit the music and tone of whatever you're speaking about. the only criticism i have is that sometimes you become too rhetorical and redundant. other than that, i'm loving your content and the topics you cover, excited to see more
i like how you handle this show, i was alittle worried
This show was so amazing and the movie was great too, but I'm glad they decided on making a show because I find that it really gave ample time to explore each and every character's arc in the show. Other than that, great video :D I've been binging your videos all day
I love this theme. It points out that no matter the intent, from no matter what side, the marginalized community always ends up w the consequence, the responsibility, and the trauma. And sam, despite her flaws, is basically victim blamed at the end (she’s not responsible for racist white behavior even if she instigated it). The show is exaggerated, but it points out so many real points and issues in different backgrounds/opinions within the black community. The show is more nuanced than it gets credit for.
Your editing is so fucking cool, and you put so much effort into what you do. You're incredibly original and have a crazy bright future. Keep doing you bro!
it's like what they said "the road to hell is paved with good intentions." the phase suits was you said at the beginning well.
the clear effort, glossy professionalism, style, and everything in this video is amazing yet doesn't distract from the information
Now I’m curious to watch the show. I originally thought it was about some black college students shaming white people for their ignorance.
Reminds me of the story of Jonah. He never intended for the people of Nineva to listen to him and actually repent, but once they did and God forgave them, jonah hated them more
Now that I finally know what the series is about, I realize this show might as well be called "Dear Black People".
It would actually make more sense to call it that, but noooo, that's raaaciiiiiist!
Arvid W The difference is that black people are already well aware of these facts, and white people are still largely unaware of them. It's called dear white people to draw attention from the white populace to this issue. Also, in the US, it's impossible for black people to be racist, because they are the minority. They can be prejudiced, same as anyone, but racism is institutionalized. The majority, in the case of the US white people, need to be more understanding and respectful of minorities living in the country. Without respect to minorities, and changing behaviors because of it, racism will still exist. It's not the job of the minority to stop racism, but if the majority is not doing enough, the minority need to raise their voices to make the issue known. Sorry for the rant, but I felt you weren't understanding or aware of the issue as a whole.
The dear White people comes from a phrase that Samantha says in the show, in fact the trailer presented the situation from her point of view.
The reason the show is called that, is because she is the main protagonist (even though the show doesnt say if she is right or not) and Netflix wanted to create some polemic around the topic to gain some free publicity (ironically (considering the point of the series), failing in their intentions and trigering a lot of people)
I just think maybe next time people should wait to see something before geting trigered and calling it "SJW propaganda", there is nothing wrong with the title of the series once you realise where it comes from.
It actually would not make sense to call it dear black people
TRIGGER ALERT! activate defcon 1 through 4!
anal no I won't contribute to their ratings, but thanks for the suggestion Sir
You're editing gets me every time I watch a video lol love it so much! Very unique and aesthetically pleasing!
All I have to say is imagine if there was a show called “dear black people”. Imagine how much the media would explode with anger over that
MrButtsworth yes exactly what I'm trying to say
But the media exploded when this first came out well even before it was aired people where going nuts i saw it all over social media for months after the name was annonced so no you dont get to say why are people ok with this when there not lol
when i wrote "the media" I was refering to the main stream media which is dominated by liberals. Sure I dont know a single person that liked it. My point really is that the outrage for a similar show but with the races reversed would be attacked viciously by the msm
Lol and good reason dont you think it would be hypocrtcal (dont think i spelled that right) if white people made a tv show telling black people to stop being racist haha not that they cant be but it doesnt happen enough that there should be a show haha
so you are telling me that black people are usually not racist, and much less racist than whites? Lmao if that were true this show wouldnt exist
I've watched a few of your videos, and I gotta say, you're very talented. I'm gonna binge watch all your videos, man.
Just to answer the opening question: No and yes. Intent doesn't matter, just the result.
why are your video essays so good and well edited im so confused
Nice portray of the substance, I'll watch it with more attention.
Intentions are irrelevant, actions matter. Intentions don't result in people dying/getting arrested. Weighing the outcome of your actions is important. If i decided to put peanut butter in someone's toothpaste tube and they die of an allergic reaction does it matter that i was only intending to play a joke? or does the outcome matter more? This is why the classification "manslaughter" exists.
My real question: WHY TF would they produce such a misleading trailer ?
I just stumbled across your channel about an hour ago. I'm several videos in and I'm loving what I've seen so far. Needless to say, I've subscribed and I can't wait to dive into the rest of your videos.
So this is what happened to jade after the bratz split up to go to college. 😂
Um she was actually Sasha
This reminds me of a time in which there was a girl, in a teen's website, mind you, about 13 years old, who didn't understand why ALM was made specifically to attack BLM, so she said that she supported it,, and that led to her being verbally abused literally by anyone and everyone who told their friend's friend's about it.
"It's clear that no one at Winchester harbors any ill will towards black people" Then a TV show about it is required because...
TheReprobate because it's an extremely polarizing issue and this show does a pretty good job of encapsulating all the different viewpoints.
Gilbert M oh....no.
It shines a light on how micro aggression can affect people and tries to make people think of what they are saying and how it affects people regardless of intention whilst simultaneously make people on the other side of the coin think whether or not an issue they see is an issue that needs to be blown out of the water and think about if it's actually going to do good to fight that battle.
For example, Sam is justified in calling out people for their micro aggression but in the case of the party, fought an unnecessary battle against something was a non issue because the original throwers of the party saw fault in it before throwing it
I loved this show! It was great very thought provoking and balanced. It shows all sides and how COMPLEX human society is. I get more annoyed when people oversimplify how complex things are. This show makes you think. A lot. Also great thought provoking take on this show. Nice video.
so Sam is the antagonist.
Dean Domino Not only do I doubt you've watched the show enough to have a valid opinion on the matter, I also doubt that you have a sound understanding of what the difference between an antagonist and protagonist is.
There is no antagonist in the series
She can’t be the antagonist if she’s the main character, but she is the ‘bad guy’ I guess you could say. Or at least the one causing all of the issues.
After watching the series, I kinda get a Shakespearean tragedy vibe from it.
Sam is motivations are understandable and she lives in a genuinely bad environment, but her fatal flaw is her hypocrisy and pride. She had a strong sense of justice, but it was so one sided that it led to her doing very illegal things and causing a ton of commotion. In the end, she lost her boyfriend, ruined several people's lives, and accomplished very little in the grand scheme of racial politics.
My only complaint with the show, with this angle in mind, is that Troy doesn't get shot and killed, just arrested. If he had died, not only would Sam have been responsible for someone's death, it would have entirely avoidable since she was given massive amounts of warning before hand to not go through with the protest.
but Troy is also a flawed character, and it's better that he evolves in season 2, rather than being killed and his character growth stopped in its tracks. Also, an actual death would be very jarring for the type of show that it is.
Wow. Someone who actually watched this show before making a video about it. Great job actually discussing what's really there underneath the title that makes so many people not even want to consider trying this show out.
The trailer spoiled the reception for this show. I think this show could have been called "Dear Black People" because it's more about black characters reflecting on themselves.
The writers of this show could have picked bigger problems facing black colleges students than microaggressions.
I thinkmit was fine. Cause big problems change to microaggressions.
It showed what makes these larger problems. If people could understand that, then the rest could fix itself.
Have to s tsrt at the root of the problem. The best therapists will tell everyone that.
It's in every relationship advice
Every family matter
Our nation is one big family.
One entity
We need to remember how things started, understand how we got here, see the little things that build to greater things..amd solve it t hst way
Very tastefully written... Kudos Alex 👌🏻
I never understood why black people have a problem with being compared with black celebrities. I'm a Greek, and I've been compared to numerous white celebrities, depending on the age I was at, as I was growing up, some were accurate, some were way off the mark. Why is that offensive to black people, and if so, should they be compared to white or Asian celebrities to feel better? And about the hair. I get it can be annoying, but some black people to it to other races as well, I remember my last roommate who was a black kid, and he kept commenting on how my hair was very soft while touching them out of nowhere. It was a little annoying at times, but I never really had a problem with it. I don't really get that victimhood complex, especially in America, black people here don't give too shits about all these "microaggressions".
If you actually look like someone, and that someone is a celebrity, why would you be offended? Why does the amount of melanin our skin cells have matter?
scross I’m white and have been compared to celebrities or cartoon characters before but not once has any of them had anything in common with me. I’m pretty sure that’s the same for most people.
Facts. I'm black and tired of all the "microaggressions" shit. Call out the ignorance to the person and then move on with your life lmaooo
it's not just a comparison. the underlying message is "i don't know enough about you as a human and i don't have to, because you remind me of a random person on tv!" which can be offensive when you consider that blacks and whites have lived together in this country for centuries.
To me even if you don't mind someone touching your hair without permission that doesn't make it okay to do it to the next person. Everyone isn't the same at all. Your allowed your opinion but please realize it isn't the only opinion that is allowed. Opinions aren't facts. Also it might be difficult to truly understand something if you haven't lived it. I don't know what it's like to be Greek just as much as you don't know what it's like to be me.
Your videos are better than the amount of attention they garner. Honestly, it confuses me a little. Keep up the good work, I am sure the other part will fall into place sooner rather than later.
The title is a turnoff, but the actual show isn't any better. Token minority characters and blatant homophobia/biphobia in a show intended to be against discrimination are not things I find enjoyable.
I'm in the group of people that original had little to care for Dear White People simply because of how Netflix handled the marketing for the series and I have to say that it worked harshly against the actual product.
You have a program that forces the audience to reflect on the entire situation from both points of few during a period of time where racial issues on campus grounds, let alone the whole country, were extremely tense to the point that people were full out attacking one another both verbally and physically, and asks us where the means justify the ends.
It was and still is a very important message and it kills me that it was treated as a jab to the gut for white people rather than something everyone needed to watch in a important part of modern American history
The speech “black people cant be racist” just eliminate all desire to watch The show. Regardless of what you think of it, it’s a excuse for unjust hatred for a group of individuals. The prejudice of racism without calling it so is a dangerous and harmful message. A black and white message in a world of color
I have and always will hold and stand by my belief that as long as people are different there will be “mistreatment” for lack of a better word and all we can do is not take part in it
The show was amazing, and so is this channel
@B M The show literally says that both sides are wrong... it just shows it through black lense.
I believe the subject to be more complex, the definition of action, and how intention gets away in little ways is also part of the debate.
The appearance of trump and the rise of racist groups tells us something relevant, that even though a lot of people thought race was not a problem anymore, it still is, even if there was only intention and no action for a long time, when the conditions were met, all the intention turned to action. In that way I think her actions gain new purpose, because shining lights on the intentions beneath the actions is the only way to truly know what lies under our masks of "social correctness" and actually face our problems within
But many of us in the black community feel that having all of these issues in a public light, even if it might cause discord, serves to identify conflict and hopefully a dialogue. Mary Parker Follett believed that conflict is advantageous because it leads towards resolution. If we turn a blind eye to all these social issues, we never acknowledge the existence of a problem, we never engage in dialogue, therefore never find a solution. Worst case scenario, a deep hate might start to swell against white people, and we would like to avoid that. We ask only to be treated as equal. To be treated with respect, fairness, justice and equity. That is why we air out all this issues. Even if there is a deep resentment due to centuries of slavery, sistematic oppression, persecution, execution, racism, injustice...we still want to live in harmony between communities, yet this will be impossible if we do not claim respect, claim equality, claim economic independence and that takes work and dialogue. Great video! Love from Panama!
Being interested in someone's differences does not mean you're not being treated like an equal. I've had black kids with no prior contact to white people go and touch my arm because they wanted to see if my skin felt different from theirs.
I did not go and cry about them supposedly looking down on me for being different.
If someone feels offended every time another person shows interest in their skin color, they SHOULD talk about it. But they should talk about it with a psychologist, not with innocent peers who meant them no harm and just wanted to have a normal conversation.
Do you see blondes complaining every time someone makes a "stupid blonde" joke? The answer is no.
ActiveAnimals yeah, I think you're confused. The issue is not people realizing that you're black, no one has any issue with that. In fact it's the exact opposite. People act like my blackness is some kind of secret, whenever they have to acknowledge it, they look at me as if I'm supposed to be insulted or something. Acting color-blind is not that much better than being outwardly racist. Blackness isn't something you should ignore or get over, because there's nothing wrong with being black in the first place
Inami B. I think what you're talking about is caused by there being different opinions on the matter from different black people (obviously!). So because some blacks are prone to overreacting, it makes white people scared of mentioning anything color-related, since they can never be sure whether the person they're talking to is one of those or not.
So the rational black people suffer the consequences of the irrational people's actions.
I used to live in South Africa for a while, and people were so scared of being considered racist. I remember one example in the newspaper where an eyewitness described a criminal's clothing, but failed to mention the skin color. (When the clothing can obviously be changed easily, but the skin color can't.)
Inami B. So true. I always say that if someone needs to ignore my skin colour like it's some kind of defect in order to simply treat me as their equal, there's probably more bigotry lurking beneath the surface.
ActiveAnimals I would say that much of the time, racism goes underreported because they don't want to be seen as "playing the race card."
Always cool to see a new take on such an old issue. Basically two camps of...
"it's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game" VS "the ends justify the means".
I liked this show because they didn't try to make the characters likable. It's so much more complex than the Netflix trailer made it out to be. They effectively showed the different ways that different black people confront and cope with covert and overt racism. For example, you have your black people that are like Coco who try to assimilate to white culture by changing their appearance via perm, wigs, clothing, etc, and how they act, so that they can fit in with white people. You have your black people that are like Reggie who are unapologetically black and refuse to change or reject their blackness to please white people. I didn't like Sam because I think she's self righteous and a bitch, but I totally see where she's coming from with her image of "Ms. Blacker-than-thou" since she's biracial with a white dad and a black mom. As a biracial person, speaking from personal experience, how you are perceived racially and how you are expected to act changes depending on the people in the room. If you are in a group of white people, despite how light skinned or passing you are, you are the black person in the group. If you are in a group of black people, you are the white person in the group. It's hard to please both parts within your heritage. If you appear to be outspoken on issues of racial injustice and comfortable with you blackness, you are seen as "too black" by white people. If you don't come off as "black enough," then black people see as "too white." Sam is stuck in a position where she wants to show her black peers that she is black enough, but she's too embarrassed to do things that people would associate as white such as dating a white guy or listen to Taylor Swift. Though it's called "Dear White People" because of her radio show, it's ironically named because the show focuses on black students, their feelings, their experiences with racism, and their day to day encounters with white people who on the most part don't intend to be racist, but end up coming off as racist. The white people in show serve as supporting characters really. That's just my opinion on the show, but I really feel that everyone should watch it.
I really liked the show. While this video is rather basic, for a five minute video it goes over the main themes about as well and in as much depth as a five minute video could.
Great job, Alex!
god damn your videos are good
INAUDIBLE SCREECHING *God
You know I approached this Vid essay with trepidation, as a black woman watching white people react to 'Dear White People', it's really frustrating and I was like "Damn I like Alex, I don't want to dislike this dude, what foolish thing is he gonna say" but I have to say I'm impressed, I have my own thoughts about 'Dear White People' mainly how it's centered around Blackness, how our lives, our thoughts at times, our politics are meshed and twisted into one another in a way that's different from white people. I'm impressed because I didn't think about the show in the way of intent v. action, you articulated something I didn't even consider the show was...showing, you did it in a way that's respectful and not at all accusatory, and perhaps with greater understanding that I wasn't expecting. You went beyond my expectation, to be fair my expectations can be way low, but I don't dislike you and I can still enjoy your shows so thank you.
Why can't we just do what MLK Jr suggested, live in a world were color means nothing?
@Xiaomu K I don't understand your point. How is, "Treat each other with as equals," the same as "Give up your future to other people?"
Apparently no one got the gist. One has to think thoroughly about outcomes whether the intentions were bad or good because what can go wrong will go wrong. Having good intentions latched on to bad actions or thoroughly thought out actions (that's the first point with the first scene) will cause bad or unexpected outcomes.
ehhhhhh this video is a perspective from a veteran in the white community, so I understand if this is how you feel but it's more than intent and consequences when race involved.
I'm watching this just after finishing season two and I think your point of "racial tension wouldn't have been as high if Sam hadn't sent the invitation" was doubled down on in that season.
I hated this show, actually thanks for the video so I didn't have to sit through the terrible acting + it was so cringy but I thought the issues were thought provoking and ahead of the curve criticizing social justice.
Aaron Daebak You're biased as shit if you're honestly pushing that this show had bad actors.
yo wtf this show did not have bad actors.
I thought the acting was good but the filmography and script didn’t do the actors justice
Renee Maggard I felt like the scripts sole purpose was character development
its fascinating the differences between this show and the people who made it.
We've seen the people who made it are exactly what the shows characters are at a first glance.
Whereas the show, possibly unintentionally, is an example of what you mentioned here.
you forgot to link the Definition for people who demonstrate shit like this in real life on a constant........ there is a TV show based around this its called the boondocks.
Oh PS. your all equally worthless until you pop your heads out your asses and stop letting your self's and wanting to be offended over anything you don't under stand. to be honest 30 years ago none of your shit would have been tolerated by the public at large you would have been called a comie or worse and then your getting set to the feds to be interrogated for spreading communist shit.
As for Race? well if your still hung up on that then your fucking stupid and need to move on with your life and get your head out your ass and look to the present not the past. last time I checked the one race and demographic that get 127% more shit then the rest dose not say shit and when they do they are accused of all manner of injustices. so let me be clear if you truly care and you truly know then reach across the line of people that are bitching and give them all a hard slap back to reality, FFS its like watching kids freak out cuz 2 were screaming in the corner over who gets to look at the fucking picture on the wall................ the short is I don't have to acknowledge your stupidity or craziness any more I can just be me and when you invade my life and assault me I'm just going to put you down like a wild critter or like the commie trash you are.
People that are trying to live life don't have time to bitch about everything that get shoved in their brainless minds by the school.
Being black myself I think that the fact they have the sense to not go through with the party is a step away from racism but I believe that when you provoke the situation to remedy a problem that was slowly fading was not a good way to go at it, but like what happened with the guy asking reggie is that the fact that they want to be aware of it when they do wrong is the better way to deal with it. By educating, not making people feel bad. But that’s just the opinion of a thirteen year old.
do you still get sentenced to prison if you killed someone in a car crash?
even religion says that intention means nothing without action. so no, good intentions are not enough to do whatever you want with “a pure heart” and then not take responsibility or care at all when others are affected negatively by it.
the fact that you tried to equate the racist views these white student had to a black student who did what she could do to bring awareness to an issue is flawed and disgusting. she did nothing wrong. because there were no “bad consequences” to her actions. bad to whom? to the white ppl on campus? but they deserved it bc they were racist and never learned from it.
you cannot put the utter disrespect these white ppl have towards black ppl on the same level as the black protagonist who is actually just showing everyone that they are in fact racist, even if they do not think so or dont act out on it ALL THE TIME. i didnt really like the video bc of this, even though i think the question about intent vs action is a good one but you didnt really get the depth and nuance of the show and of what it says about racism nowadays. kinda disappointed with this one.
Kinda disappointed with your comment. Missed the whole point of the video.
Julietta_DarkQueen not really. in what way did i miss what exactly?