Dear White People – Volume 2: Chapter VIII

By: Malasha Parker

We begin by seeing Gabe (John Patrick Amedori) in the library as the narrator (Giancarlo Esposito) describes his reasoning for choosing to study film at Winchester University. He then goes in to say that in 1928 Winchester began a course on the photoplay that documented its true history. The films go through a series of different scenes showing quotes and people involved in underground secrets at Winchester. They even show the mysterious “X” symbols that have been seen in previous episodes.

The camera comes back to the present and Troy (Brandon Bell) is meeting Gabe to do his part in the documentary. He starts to talk about his experience with how he deals with what’s been going on in the news and on campus. Kelsey (Nia Jervier), Reggie (Marque Richardson) and Coco (Antoinette Robertson) also talk about some of their experiences. Kelsey says how she feels she’ll never get to see herself properly represented in American culture because she’s a Trini girl who is also a lesbian. Coco discusses her feelings on one of her white friends suggesting how great it would be to have Michelle Obama and Kamala Harris on a presidential ticket together. She says she wouldn’t want that for them because she doesn’t want “to wake up every day to see how much this country despises us.”

Gabe goes to the studio space where the campus radio shows are recorded. As he nervously moves around, Lionel (DeRon Horton) and Wesley (Rudy Martinez) walk in asking about something that Gabe has no clue about. When Sam (Logan Browning) enters to inform them that what they’re there to meet for is every other week they leave. Sam gets her key back that Gabe has had since they were dating and they go into the soundbooth to record for his documentary. After Gabe struggles to make his way into the room, the two discuss whether SAm should be recording it for later use on Dear White People. Gabe sees it as offensive, but Sam disagrees.

Gabe turns on the camera and begins to talk just as Sam starts her intro for Dear White People— creating an awkward pause between the two. They both stop and give their own intros: one for the documentary and one for Dear White People. Sam makes a comment about the title of Gabe’s documentary– Am I racist? She starts her show by asking him, “Are you aware of your white savior complex?” Gabe doesn’t want to answer the question because he doesn’t like the premise. He sees the problems with his getting rewarded for being a white guy and doing all the same things that black people do. Sam makes it known that people will listen to what he has to say and not what she has to say even though it’s basically Dear White People from a the mouth of a white man. He says that he will reference Dear White People in his doc, but Sam says it’s just as bad, if not worse, to do that. Gabe says that she doesn’t think that a progressive message about race can be heard from a white person. She thinks he’s capitalizing off of her and her friends. He points out that they’re arguing the same issues, but Sam is annoyed at the fact that that hearing the issues from his point of view is better received than hearing it from her. She even makes the comparison of Gabe being Elvis and she’s Chuck Berry. She asks if some decide to enable it and some don’t– “Which one are you?” He asks if silence is a way to enable it and she says that there are ways to speak out without it screaming “look at me.” He quickly says, “Are there? Because if so, they seem to have eluded you, no?” This leaves Sam stunned to silence.

Gabe continues to ask questions, which leads Sam to accuse him of only do the documentary to get back at her. He shuts off his camera off and then she says that he’s mad. He tells her to cut the recording off and when she refuses he outs her love for Reba McEntire so then she decides to cut the recording off. He says that they said they wouldn’t make it personal and she says that he was the only one who wasn’t supposed to be making it personal. She mentions that the only reason she wanted to do the documentary was to confront him about it. He acknowledges that he knew that, but he still wanted to interview her. They agree to keep the personal out of it and then continue their back and forth on video and recording.

Gabe then asks her about the “controversial” account lead by Silvio (D.J. Blickenstaff). He mentioned that after her was outed he became more popular on campus. The article that he wrote for Medium after the incident was picked up by bigger outlets, like Rikki Carter (Tessa Thompson). Silvio says he made an evolution and many people have wondered if Sam bared some responsibility for his rise. She takes it as Gabe blaming her for Silvio’s fame and when he asks what she has to say for it she replies with, “Are we really going with blame the victim?” He says that the way she reacted is the Batman analogy– You start dressing up like a bat and suddenly more people arise to combat you by dressing up as the penguins, clowns, etc. Sam rebukes that by saying that he would be considered the Batman because he’s playing the role of the savior for people that he sees as beneath him but he’s just making things worse.  He asks how and she says that by pointing out that “Silvio is what happens when you challenge an unjust status quo.” The only people benefiting are the ones who are threatened by those who want to change it. She says that it was a positive thing to have Silvio out in the open because now they can see who their enemy is so Gabe then asks if she’s happy that her show opened up those wounds. Sam immediately cuts off the recording and says that he knows she isn’t responsible for Silvio, but when he doesn’t reply and averts his eyes, she realizes that he doesn’t believe that. He asks her to trust that he isn’t trying to trick her and she turns the recording back on with an tearful eye roll.

With Sam’s stoic face looking back at him, Gabe continues by asking her how it all makes her feel. She replies that it’s just all a part of being on the internet. She deflects by talking about the oppressed so when he asks her the question again, she terfully replies with a simple, “It hurts.” He says that is all he wanted to hear, but she says that the trolls want it to hurt and that is why they’re doing it. She asks who is he to tell her how she should feel. He questions that maybe if she didn’t only show them the “invincible badass” that maybe their reactions to what they’re doing would be different because it isn’t her being honest. She replies that she hears Gabe reprimanding her about how she should process her experience because maybe her anger is honest. Sam then accuses him of only thinking that everything is her fault because he’s hurt. He replies that maybe some of it is her fault. He mentions her sending the out the invite to the blackface party and she explodes by replying, “From the guy who called the cops!” He then storms out the room.

Sam walks into the kitchen followed by Gabe, who tells her that she can’t just walk out on the conversation just because she doesn’t like where she’s going. She says that is exactly what she did by breaking up with her on the night of the protest and then making a scene of it in front of an audience. He yells that she slept with Reggie and never apologized for it. Sam claims that she did, but he says more clearly that she did not. She gets caught up and then inquires, “Why should I have to?” He says if it was anyone else they would say that you would, but she won’t apologize because it would make her wrong. Sam talks down to him by saying that he’s only hanging out with her friends even though he’s a grad student. Their back and forth gets even more heated when she starts badgering him with questions about how all of the things he’s doing makes him feel “big.” He answers them all with no and calls her a narcissist. She reiterates that she can make her own decisions and present herself in the world the way that she wants, no matter what her friends see. He claims that she only pushes everyone away to stay mad at the world forever and Sam says that he’ll only be dating a black girl in the future to atone for his white guilt. He doesn’t deny the white guilt, but that doesn’t make him back down from her. He tells her that everyone is constantly tip-toeing around her because of how she responds to every situation to make it seem like she has to carry every issue on her back. He tells her that her white guilt is the only reason she does Dear White People-– “You overcompensate for the part of you that you hate.” Without a response, she walks up the steps and out the door. Only seconds later, she returns to tell him that she’s only seen as a black woman regardless of her being biracial. Sam tells him to do more and that nobody is forcing him to feel white guilt. He tells her that she isn’t doing anything different and that she’s just getting trolled.

Sam guffaws at that and walks of holding back tears. She begins to walk towards bi explaining an email that she got seemingly telling her that she lost a family member. She thought that the email was from someone saying that her father had died. However, the email was sent to her parents. It claimed that she had been in an accident and that it was her fault. There was nothing that she could do about it. She then tells Gabe that he is the system with the way that he is going about his documentary. She asks if he knows what epigenetics is and then explains it to him by her understanding of how Joelle (Ashley Blaine Featherson) told her. After she finishes he tries to Google it, which offends Sam. He chuckles and then decides he wants to leave. Before he can make it out, she admits that he was right about some things. They sit down to finish her part in the doc. Every time she tries to fully answer the question, he continuously interrupts her to talk about personal issues. He apologizes for not being there for her and they both admit that they miss each other. They kiss, but their session is cut short when Joelle walks in. She tells her that she has to go home with a cracked voice and the two immediately leave. Gabe sits back down and continuously watches the clip of them saying they miss each other with a sigh.