Justin Simien, director of the film “Dear White People,” visited campus for a screening of his film and a Q&A with the audience on Thursday.
The title, “Dear White People,” presents a recurring theme throughout the story, which centers around a student-run radio station at the fictional Winchester University.
“I think the title means different things the deeper you go into the movie. At first, you’re thinking ‘oh, is this movie addressing white people?’ Then, I think quickly, you find out no. This title is just the beginning of a controversy on this campus, and that’s what you discover,” Simien said in an interview with The Phillipian.
“[The title] also happens to be a little provocative, and gets people talking, and gets people into a theater ready to think and ready to engage…you don’t come to a movie called ‘Dear White People’ just to kick back and relax and enjoy the show,” Simien continued.
Simien said that he wants viewers of the movie to not only think about what it means to become a character in a situation, but also to discuss identity.
“If you leave the film just talking about race issues, I think I’ve succeeded because I’m dealing with identity, but I’m dealing with it from a black point of view. Black points of views are pretty rare in our culture. If you leave with any of that, then I feel like the movie did what it came here to do,” Simien said.
After growing up in Houston, TX, Simien studied film at Chapman University. Simien said that his experience at college was one of his influences for “Dear White People.”
“I’ve always been a black person in places where I was the only black person. Or been a black person around other black people, but not feeling ‘black enough.’ So, that’s just been my black experience … the movie’s informed by my life experiences, really. I started writing it in college…because I think schools are really interesting microcosms of what’s really going on in the rest of the country,” Simien said.
While at Andover, Simien also visited the Office for Community and Multicultural Development.
“I think it’s remarkable that you even have an infrastructure in place to deal with [issues of identity] because so many schools don’t really have that, that need it… I was really encouraged by the kinds of conversations I was having. I mean you kids are really, really smart, and your brains are really, really engaged in the issues of your time, and you have a special, unique little bubble here. It was cool to just see that,” Simien said.
Simien also discussed the lack of diversity in entertainment as a whole. Simien said that because of this, minorities can feel excluded by the media.
“People of color, if you’re gay, or if you’re a woman, or if you’re any sort of smaller group, you’re always watching stuff that doesn’t have your specific experience in it,” Simien said.
“Dear White People” was released in theaters last October. Simien won the Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Talent at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, and was also named to Variety’s “10 Directors to Watch” list in 2013.
