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Dr. Mclaughlin

Multimedia Writing and Rhetoric

12 October 2015

Stereotyping Is a No No

Popular culture in the 21st century creates an image of what people think people of a

certain race should look and act like. In some cases, this idea can cause very inappropriate

behavior. Many colleges around the United States have started to have parties that are black

people themed. This entails dressing up like a stereotypical black person by wearing, for

example, bandanas, a basketball jersey, and baggy pants. Some people who have attended these

parties have also painted their faces brown to dress up. Dear White People uses rhetorical

techniques as a response to these parties that have been popping up across America. This fits

what James A. Henick says is the reason one uses rhetoric. He states that a “rhetorical discourse

typically is a response to either a situation or to a previous rhetorical statement” which explains

why Justin Semien, the director, has made the film: to raise awareness of the problems on

campuses nationwide (Henick 11).

In order to understand how a “typical” black person is depicted in popular culture, one

can look during the party hosted by Garmin-Club House. This serves as the comparison of how

people think blacks should act and how they really are. It uses rhetorical techniques to develop

the four main characters to show that each person has their own identity and does not have to

follow what pop culture makes them out to be.

The first character that is introduced into the film is Lionel Higgins. When the audience

first sees him, they automatically see that he is an outcast of the university. He has a enormous

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afro and seems to be lost walking around the campus. He has his own unique identity because of

his sense of insecurity and lack of direction in life. One can see this in the scene when he is first

introduced. There is a caption on the screen that says, “Lionel Higgins, Major: Philosophy

Undecided”. This crossing out of the major shows Lionel’s uncertainty of the future and also that

he does not fit in anywhere. This adds to what the audience thinks about Lionel because it gives

the audience perspective about who he really is, a person who is lost and lonely.

In addition to his uncertainty of what he wants to do in the future, Lionel is also an

outcast among the white people and black people on campus. One instance that the film creates

this divide among Lionel and the other groups on campus is during the scene in the dining area

of the Armstrong-Parker House. The camera switches from showing Kurt Fletcher’s group, Troy

Fairbank’s group, and Sam White’s group. These are the three main groups of the film that later

have a big clash. After showing the main groups on campus, the camera then shows Lionel

eating and listening to everyone’s conversation at another table alone. Showing him eating alone

and away from the groups, further develops that he does not fit in any of the groups. This makes

Lionel even more unique among the people on campus and to the viewer, showing that there is

not one image that one has to follow.

One other major part of Lionel’s character that makes him different from the other people

on campus and also from what today’s pop culture depicts of a black male is that he is gay.

Throughout the movie, Lionel makes subtle remarks about being gay and towards the end

embraces his true self by going out with one of the editors in the paper who is also gay. The

audience senses a certain tension between them during the course of the film until the climax

when they kiss in the editor’s office. After this kiss, it seems as if Lionel becomes comfortable

with his true self and is confident of who he really is. This is unlike what popular culture usually

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depicts of a black male. Further demonstrating to the viewer that everyone is unique and has

their own personality.

The next character that is introduced into the film is Samantha White. The audience finds

out important information about who Sam is as a person the first time the audience sees her. She

is seen in the radio booth hosting her radio show “Dear White People”. Here she says, “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.” This first impression

shows the viewer that she is not scared of voicing her opinions about what she believes in. She

also shows this when she talks to Gabe, a teacher’s assistant in her film class, about how the

movie Gremlins is used to represent black people. Viewers watching this scene can see that she

is very comfortable voicing her opinions about what she believes in. One can find an example of

how she is comfortable in sharing what she believes in during the confrontation of Kurt Fletcher

in the Armstrong-Parker house dining hall. No one had the courage to speak their mind and to

kick Kurt and his friends out of the hall, but Sam knew what she wanted and went for it. This

confrontation truly shows the audience Sam’s character.

During the majority of the film, Sam is the one who tries to call attention to the racism

that is on the Winchester University Campus. She is the vocal leader of the movement to

randomize housing on campus, thus eliminating the clear division of races among the houses.

She starts planning the rally that will help to spread the cause that she is fighting for after she

amazingly wins the Armstrong-Parker House election.

Although she is the leader of the movement on the Winchester Campus, she does it

differently as the movie goes on. For example, at the beginning of the film, she is depicted as the

person who is directly leading the movement on campus by planning and leading the rally. But

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as the film continues, her philosophy begins to change. She starts to think that she does not have

to be directly at the front fighting for her cause. She steps back and allows the events to unfold

by themselves. One may think that she is weak for stepping back when events are becoming

more serious, but by stepping back and truly finding what she wants to do, Sam creates the film

that ultimately brings the problem of racism to the forefront of everyone who watched TV. This

subtle change in character from Sam shows the audience that a person is complicated and one’s

personality cannot be simplified to one image created by popular culture.

The third character that is created to show the audience how one cannot place a

stereotypical picture on everyone of a certain race is Colandrea Conners. She is depicted in the

movie as the black girl who wants to be white. For example, at the beginning of the film, she is

shown talking to Helmut West, a TV show producer, about how she did not get into Tisch but

instead was placed into Armstrong-Parker. Typically, on the Winchester campus, the “rich white

kids” are placed into Tisch and the black people are placed into Armstroing-Parker. She is also

seen saying how “there is nothing hood” about her when she tells him where she is from. Her

complete denial of being “hood” demonstrates to the audience her real personality and how she

is doing all that she can to try to fit in with the white community in Winchester.

Coco is the polar opposite of Sam in the way that Sam is embracing her black culture

while Coco is doing her best to try to get away from it. The viewer can see this immediately

when she is introduced. Just as Lionel was introduced, there was a caption on the screen when

the film first shows Coco that says “Colandrea Coco Conners”. This crossing out of Colandrea

can be interpreted as Coco trying to get away from her black identity because Colandrea can be

considered a “black name”. One can also argue that she just wants to be called Coco because it is

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shorter than Colandrea. It seems plausible, but seeing how she is avoiding her black identity

throughout the film, the filmmakers put it in there to further develop Coco’s character.

By creating such a unique character in Coco Conners, it further emphasizes the fact that

everyone is a completely different person. The way she dresses, speaks and acts make her

different from both Lionel and Sam. What makes an even more noticeable difference between

the three characters is what their ultimate goal is. The audience discovers what Lionel’s goal is

later on in the film which is to try to get rid of the racism that is present on the Winchester

campus. Joining forces with Lionel at the end of the film, Sam’s goal is very similar to Lionel’s.

She also wants to rid the campus of the prejudice that black students face on campus. Coco, on

the other hand, only wants to become famous. The audience can see this on the multiple

occasions when she speaks to Helmut about why she was not picked to be on the reality TV

show. One can also see this when she gets annoyed after seeing the low number of views on her

YouTube videos. All of these instances point to the fact that the only thing that Coco wants is to

become famous. Thus, making her even more different to the other characters which show that

there is not one model that a certain race has to follow.

The fourth and final character that is used in the film to create a wide display of different

people of a certain race is Troy Fairbanks. He is the black male who is put together and knows

exactly what he wants. He was the President of Armstrong-Parker the year before, but was

beaten by Sam in this year’s election. He represents the black male with power in the film. There

is a scene in the film that clearly demonstrates this using camera angles. This scene is when Troy

and Sofia is in his room and Sofia wants to have sex. In this scene, the camera switches from

being in Troy’s point of view to Sofia’s and vice versa. When the camera is in Troy’s point of

view it shows that Troy is looking down on Sofia which can be analyzed as him dominating the

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situation. Sofia’s view is of her looking up to Troy. This can mean that she is always looking up

to him and following him wherever he goes. In this scene, one can very easily tell that Troy has

the power in the relationship based on the camera angles used in the shot. He is always looking

down on her, thus having control of her. In this scene, the director uses the idea that “through

looking we negotiate social relationships and meaning” as stated in The Practices of Looking

(Cartwright 10). It tries to convey to the audience through the camera angles the relationship of

Troy and Sofia. This sense of power sets Troy apart from the other three characters and makes

him different from how popular culture depicts a “typical” black male.

By using characterization and visual techniques, the director of Dear White People, Justin

Simien, creates four unique characters that emphasize the multitude of traits that come with

being a person of a certain race. These innumerable combination of traits demonstrate to the

audience that there should not be a certain way a person has to behave just because he/she is of a

certain race. Each person has his/her own identity and that there is not a way to characterize

someone just because of their skin color. It raises awareness on how popular culture can create

an image of a person who one has never even talked to before. Dear White People does a

wonderful job to address this problem in an entertaining and creative way.

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Works Cited

Herrick, James A. The History and Theory of Rhetoric: An Introduction. Boston: Allyn and

Beacon, 2001. Print.

Sturken, Marita, and Lisa Cartwright. Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture.

Oxford: Oxford UP, 2001. Print.

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