Great Character: Sam White (“Dear White People”)
The Great Character theme for the month: Rebel. Today: Sam White from Dear White People (2014), written and directed by Justin Simien.
As a biracial gentleman, it has been blatantly clear to me my entire movie-going existence that my distinct mixed race experience must be just some fairytale figment of my imagination to those shining the greenlight in Hollywood. Characters of multiple ethnicities typically find their stories swept under the dirty rug to give the red carpet treatment to the “more relatable” struggles of the interracial couples that give birth to us instead.
Enter the bold, brave, brilliant voice of Justin Simian, an auteur screenwriter/director of African-American descent and gay sexual orientation, inspired by his own outsider college occurrences. With Simian’s slick, super smart 2014 debut being the racial satire Dear White People, we receive a nuanced black and white female protagonist played by a charismatic actress that has the added layer of understanding stemming from actually being of mixed heritage herself. Heavily armed with a movie camera, a radio mic and a public speaking voice, Sam White, superbly played by Tessa Thompson (Selma), puts a modern spin on black activist Angela Davis reimagined in a bohemian chic Denise Huxtable Lisa Bonet fashion sensibility.
SAM WHITE: Dear white people, the minimum requirement of black friends needed to not seem racist has just been raised to two. Sorry, but your weed man, Tyrone, does not count.
Dear White People plot summary from IMDB:
The lives of four black students at an Ivy League college.
Dear White People is named after the college radio show run by Samantha White; used as her personal pulpit to vent her repulsion towards repugnant racial stereotypes. Ms. White manages to stand out with glow-in-the-dark status among the cleverly cultivated quartet of students confronting their separate identity crises.
We have Lionel (Tyler James Williams) searching for same-sex acceptance while dodging his homophobic schoolmates, Coco (Teyonah Parris) the status climber who is really beautiful but has been conditioned to be reluctant to accept her own dark skin and Afrocentric features. Then the foursome ensemble is rounded off with Troy (Brandon P Bell), the upwardly mobile privileged brother ready to trade it all in to write comedy sketches. Sam White must remedy her chessboard life of pro-black leanings and having a white father, white lover and a predominately white college campus.
SAM WHITE: Dear white people, this just in: Dating a black person to piss off your parents is a form of racism.
White’s one-woman rebellion translates into having a successful Dear White People web blog, being co-opted as the spokeswoman for a pro-black collective of fellow tuition payers and victoriously winning the election for head of house for the all black campus house after thinking she wouldn’t.
TROY FAIRBANKS: Do you seriously think you can win?
SAM WHITE: Troy, we live in a world where there’s a Big Momma’s House *3*. I don’t think I have a chance in hell.
She fights the powers that be by turning in a film class project that puts white people in whiteface makeup as a response to the rampant racism in Birth of a Nation.
GABE: So, Sam, how would you feel if someone started a “Dear Black People”?
SAM WHITE: No need. Mass media from Fox News to reality TV on VH1 makes it clear what white people think of us.
White also clashes with a Caucasian Ivy Leaguer named Kurt who has grown weary of her outspoken culture-conscience lens.
Even the faculty, such as the Dean himself (Dennis Haysbert) are forming anti-Sam White opinions, with the impression that she is merely overcompensating for only being half black.
SAM WHITE: Black people can’t be racist. Prejudice, yes, but not racist. Racism describes a system of disadvantage based on race. Black people can’t be racist since we don’t stand to benefit from such a system.
This particular “overacting” analysis of Sam’s identity formation process felt extremely authentic in my eyes. With the marginalized barriers that racial stereotypes impose, those biased boxes become even harder to escape when you have to split your time between seeking liberation from more than one racial cage of preconceived notions.
PROFESSOR BODKIN: Might I also remind you that I read your entire fifteen-page unsolicited treatise on why the Gremlins is actually about suburban white fear of black culture.
SAM WHITE: The Gremlins are loud, talk in slang, are addicted to fried chicken and freak out when you get their hair wet.
I was also impressed with the biracial embarrassment Sam White expresses when she states that her white father used to walk her into elementary school and she had to suffer through the judgmental stares because of their contrasting complexions. I have totally experienced those exact same internal depressing discomforts that fortunately I managed to find freedom from.
SAM WHITE: Dear white people, please stop touching my hair. Does this look like a petting zoo to you?
For all of Sam White’s turned-up spark and audacious bite, she still has a sensitive heart that is being shark-bitten in half at the thought that her father is struggling to live in the hospital. This is that same poppa who’s pale hand made her scream when it held hers in public. Not to mention, a similar white hand of her intimately close friend Gabe that wants to hold her close while she tries to push their relationship into secrecy.
Sam’s struggle to not seem like a traitor to people of color is a real genuine feeling. This elephant in the room turns her life into a circus when she believes that she is becoming a traitor to her own true feelings for plain old good human beings, regardless of their hue.
For her triumphantly intelligent analysis of racial politics, for her firm, unwavering desire to dance to her own beat and for the daunting task of shattering two sets of race-related stigmas to rescue the real woman she is from underneath her color, Sam White is an unbreakable GREAT CHARACTER in the rebel tradition.
A special end note to this week’s Great Character post:
My name is Jason Cuthbert, a GoIntoTheStory.com contributor to GREAT CHARACTERS since June 8th 2012. I’m directing my very first feature length documentary entitled: “COLOURING BOOK: The Mixed Race Documentary” that compares diversity in the United States to Canada, through three generations of my own multicultural family. Academic experts and animated segments will be blended in to enhance the educational value of the core storyline. My team and I are currently raising funds at SeedandSpark.com to finance equipment for “COLOURING BOOK,” as well as future documentaries and scripted narratives. Any support would be incredibly appreciated.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Website Link: http://www.colouringbook.info
Campaign Link: http://www.seedandspark.com/studio/colouring-book-productions
Jason’s Twitter Handle: @A2Jason
Colouring Book Twitter Handle: @ColouringBk
There are at two damn good reasons to throw some support Jason’s way. First, this looks like a fascinating and worthy documentary. Second, a show of gratitude to Jason for his steadfast contributions to this blog and to the life of the online screenwriting community with his insightful weekly Great Character posts.
To contribute to Colouring Book, go here.