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drwexFirst up, Dear White People. The initial two seasons were excellent and the third was not bad, despite some unevenness.
Dear White People is a comedy/drama about mostly the Black students at fictional Winchester college, an elite Ivy-league school that has some very 21st-century racism problems. The series is built off a 2014 film of the same name, and has the same writer as well as some actors reprising their roles.
Initially the story centers on Samantha (Sam), a biracial student who is passionate about "the movement" and the need to wake up the campus to its racist problems, to call out white people for their racism, and generally to make change happen. "Dear White People" is the name of her radio show on a campus station. With a format reminiscent of "you might be a redneck" she lectures her audience on 'you might be a racist'.
The show's strength comes as it shifts points of view among the various students in the core group. Each character is given depth and complexity. They start as stereotypes - the shy gay kid just coming out, the computer whiz, the hyper-driven young woman - and build from there into relationships with each other, with other Black and White students, and more. The show is about the complex shifting relationships more than about any one character or situation, though themes of racism and race relations remains focal throughout.
I've read that Netflix has ordered one more season, which I hope they'll use to wrap up some of the storylines. I'm not normally a fan of college dramas but I liked this one and I think it has potential.
Second up, I Am Not OK With This. If you're not into cliffhangers you might want to skip this because the show has apparently been cancelled after one season, which is pretty much entirely set-up. The show is based on the comic of the same name and centers on a young girl who discovers she has... powers. She doesn't want them, doesn't want most of her life, and generally is having a miserable high school existence in a miserable run-down small town.
I tend to like high school dramas even less than I like college dramas but I found myself drawn into the character of Sydney. She's dealing with so much already - the death of her father, her emergent sexuality - that having to deal with powers just feels unfair. She's mostly sympathetic and I ended up rooting for her right up to the end. Unfortunately, that would be something of a spoiler so I won't tell you exactly. I'll just say that I wildly dislike the way the last episode turns out and if they ever do another season they'd have to take it in a very different direction. Maybe give it a try, but brace yourself.
Dear White People is a comedy/drama about mostly the Black students at fictional Winchester college, an elite Ivy-league school that has some very 21st-century racism problems. The series is built off a 2014 film of the same name, and has the same writer as well as some actors reprising their roles.
Initially the story centers on Samantha (Sam), a biracial student who is passionate about "the movement" and the need to wake up the campus to its racist problems, to call out white people for their racism, and generally to make change happen. "Dear White People" is the name of her radio show on a campus station. With a format reminiscent of "you might be a redneck" she lectures her audience on 'you might be a racist'.
The show's strength comes as it shifts points of view among the various students in the core group. Each character is given depth and complexity. They start as stereotypes - the shy gay kid just coming out, the computer whiz, the hyper-driven young woman - and build from there into relationships with each other, with other Black and White students, and more. The show is about the complex shifting relationships more than about any one character or situation, though themes of racism and race relations remains focal throughout.
I've read that Netflix has ordered one more season, which I hope they'll use to wrap up some of the storylines. I'm not normally a fan of college dramas but I liked this one and I think it has potential.
Second up, I Am Not OK With This. If you're not into cliffhangers you might want to skip this because the show has apparently been cancelled after one season, which is pretty much entirely set-up. The show is based on the comic of the same name and centers on a young girl who discovers she has... powers. She doesn't want them, doesn't want most of her life, and generally is having a miserable high school existence in a miserable run-down small town.
I tend to like high school dramas even less than I like college dramas but I found myself drawn into the character of Sydney. She's dealing with so much already - the death of her father, her emergent sexuality - that having to deal with powers just feels unfair. She's mostly sympathetic and I ended up rooting for her right up to the end. Unfortunately, that would be something of a spoiler so I won't tell you exactly. I'll just say that I wildly dislike the way the last episode turns out and if they ever do another season they'd have to take it in a very different direction. Maybe give it a try, but brace yourself.
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Date: 2020-10-21 01:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-10-21 02:36 pm (UTC)And you're right, the show aptly centers multiple complex women and their complex relationships. I particularly like that everyone has a 'type' but isn't a stereotype and they take time in multiple episodes to flesh them out.