Julie de Sherbinin

I laughed. What are we white folk laughing at?? If it gives us a sense that we are “ in the know” on racial issues, that we “get it” (while the ignoramus white folk in the movie are clueless), then we’re missing the point of the film—which depicts us and our culture to a T. But we like that it allows us to act as if we’re part of the solution. This, I think, is the film’s slyness. Just as the popular literature within the film exposes its readers as mindless, perhaps the film exposes its white viewers as happy to congratulate themselves as “getting” an expose of our own blinders and limitations. In this respect it is a great film, but will be praised by many for suspect reasons.