The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
Back to trending 
Dear White People
Comedy · Drama · 2014
A campus culture war between Blacks and whites at a predominantly white Ivy League college comes to a head when the staff of a satirical magazine stages an offensive Halloween party.
Movie details
Dear White People
“A satire about being a Black face in a white place.”
2014 Comedy · Drama 1h 48m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.1 / 10
Community rating
A campus culture war between Blacks and whites at a predominantly white Ivy League college comes to a head when the staff of a satirical magazine stages an offensive Halloween party.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Dear White People?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
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Fritz the Cat
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A King in New York
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A recently-deposed "Estrovian" monarch seeks shelter in New York City, where he becomes an accidental television celebrity. Later, he's wrongly accused of being a Communist and gets caught up in subsequent HUAC hearings.
Tyler Perry's A Madea Homecoming
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Barney's Version
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The picaresque and touching story of the politically incorrect, fully lived life of the impulsive, irascible and fearlessly blunt Barney Panofsky.
American Fiction
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A novelist fed up with the establishment profiting from "Black" entertainment uses a pen name to write a book that propels him into the heart of hypocrisy and the madness he claims to disdain.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Justin Simien
Written by
Justin Simien
Tyler James Williams
Lionel Higgins
Tessa Thompson
Samantha White
Kyle Gallner
Kurt Fletcher
Teyonah Parris
Colandrea 'Coco' Conners
Brandon P Bell
Troy Fairbanks
Brittany Curran
Sophie Fletcher
Justin Dobies
Gabe
Court is in session
Put Dear White People on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.