‘Provoking conversation’: a sit down with Justin Simien

“Dear White People” has been both a feature film and a popular streaming series on Netflix. The movie willbe screened on campus as part of the Black History Month celebrations.

The Cross-Cultural Center is hosting a screening of Chapman film production alumni Justin Simien’s film “Dear White People” Feb. 19, at 7:30 p.m. as a part of the Black History Month series of events to spotlight black artists.

Ever since “Dear White People” debuted at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, it has been considered a film of immense significance for not only Chapman University, Simien’s time at which the film and its television adaptation are loosely based off of, but for college campuses across the country.

The Panther spoke to Simien about the subject of the film, the upcoming screening, how his time at Chapman played into its formation and the film’s impact.

Justin Simien, Chapman alumnus and creator of “Dear White People,” spoke to The Panther ahead of his film’s screening as a part of Black History month.

Q: What do you hope students who attend the screening take away from the film?

A: I hope they see themselves in the characters. That was sort of one of the major intentions behind the film; to put black characters on screen that were absent from other black movies or black TV shows and to reveal a humanity within them that allows black people who are going through similar experiences to see themselves in these characters and understand what the costs (of these experiences are) and what society demands from black people and their communities.

Q: How do you think that that intention kind of transitions into the setting of the film being centralized around a college environment?

A: College is an interesting sort of mythological setting in movies. With school in general, you can create a microcosm of the world, the country, or society at large because everyone knows the basic rules of school. Everyone understands the hierarchy; you don’t really have to explain it. I think that’s why so many wonderful films that are really about life are set at school… they’re really aiming for a conversation about the world at large.

Q: It’s commonly said on campus that you based the concept for “Dear White People” on your time at Chapman. What about your experiences at the school played into not only the creation of the film’s setting but for the concept as a whole?

A: One of the formative moments (for the concept at Chapman) was in the Black Student Union when I was having a conversation with one of my black friends about how it felt so necessary to our survival to seek out the other black people, because in the small black community that I was a part of at Chapman, there was the sense that we could be more of ourselves (when we were around each other). We didn’t have to explain ourselves or demystify anything for anybody. I felt like that was something I hadn’t really seen before (in the media). There have been lots of black films, but usually, at least in 2014, most of the movies about being black involved characters that were black in all-black environments, and that’s not where we saw ourselves.

Q: The character of Sam is of mixed race and often feels ostracized even from the black community for not fully being able to embody the black experience. How do you think filmmakers or students on campus of mixed race can serve as an ambassador for diversity, without taking power away from the voice of minority groups?

A: Part of the tension of all of the characters in the movie and in the life experiences of people with mixed races is the conflict that you feel between your identity and yourself. Who you really are and all of the things that you might be if it weren’t for society putting its pressures on you and the role that you have to play in certain spaces in order to be seen. You have to play along for (whoever you’re with) and that kind of doublethink is really personified in Sam because there are parts of herself that she can’t fully embody depending on who she’s around. I think that the movie isn’t really prescriptive, it’s more diagnostic. Ideally, the movie provokes conversation and connection and an exchange of ideas that maybe can lead to a solution to that problem.

Q: There was a recent racist and homophobic outburst by a Chapman student on campus. How do you think that adds to the importance of screening the film on campus when events like that are still happening not only at Chapman, but on college campuses across the country?

A: I think events like that have a silencing effect and movies like this help people (to break that silence.) I remember in college and in other experiences where I’ve been subjected to a person’s negative worldview and that makes me feel less safe to be myself, to express myself and say the things that are true for me in those spaces. It makes me afraid. I think that movies like “Dear White People” are somewhat of an anecdote to that (fear), because we have a lot of things in the movie that, frankly, were really not supposed to be in the same space, especially in 2014. You have young black people who are not falling prey to the typical stereotypes; they’re talking about things that usually were not talked about. They’re dealing with things that people usually don’t deal with out in public. The name of the movie is “Dear White People,” which is still triggering to white people despite there not really being any violent or negative context within those three words.

I think it’s the concept of a black person addressing a white person that is so threatening to some, so I think that suggests that they should be addressed freely because I think black people feel addressed by mainstream culture constantly. I think screenings like this create new safe spaces and hopefully give people the audacity to be themselves and say what they’re really feeling.

Q: Do you think the school has changed or gotten better for minority students since you graduated in 2005? If so, how do you think you have contributed to that positive change through you being an alumni, your movie and your TV show?

A: It feels as if there is a cultural shift happening on campus. The concerns of black students at Chapman, while maybe not initially acknowledged or officially acknowledged, (played a big role) in removing the poster for “Birth of a Nation” and that’s the kind of thing that I could never imagine happening when I was there. I’m sure, like all things, it’s probably a couple of steps forward and a couple of steps back, but I think the embrace that I felt from the school for this movie was really meaningful for me because, in some ways, I’m airing dirty laundry about what I experienced while at Chapman. That would tell me, if I were a black student (at Chapman) today, that maybe my voice does have room here to flourish. Maybe I can say something even bigger than what I said with “Dear White People” in 2014 and that it’d work out OK for me. That’s the impact I hope I’m making.

Q: Is there anything you’d like to add?

A: I’m really honored that there’s a showing of the movie and that it’s continuing to resonate with people. They are where it was sort of born. I’m just really honored.