Connors 1

Tristan Connors
Dr. Erin Dietel-McLaughlin
Writing and Rhetoric 13300
11 October 2015
Rhetorical Analysis of Dear White People
A problem which has seemed to be prevalent throughout many centuries has been racism
and the way some people treat others with a different skin color. It could be traced to ancient
civilizations, such as the Romans and Chinese, and is now a subject which sometimes causes
great controversy even today after the Civil Rights movement. Some people, though, live still
believing that the problems that racism causes have been solved, that it is not present anymore in
society. One movie which focuses on raising some awareness on the prevalence of racism (even
today) is Dear White People, which concentrates specifically on how racism is present on the
college campus. In the setting of a seemingly prosperous (Ivy-like) university, it draws from
some past experiences in terms of racism and almost compares them to some of the places one
can find racism in today. The movie Dear White People utilizes different rhetorical devices and
character development over the course of the story to show the prevalence of racism in the 21st
Century and to bring to light modern forms racism now takes.
An approach the director takes to convey his purpose (to show how racism is still
prevalent today) is through cinematography, specifically camera angle and visuals. One can
describe camera angle as the placement of the camera in a scene, what it is observing, and what
perspective it is inviting the audience to see through. One way in which the camera angle is used
to convey the prevalence of racism in the 21st Century is in the case of Lionel Higgins.

Connors 2
Throughout the movie the cameras position shows different groups of people, ranging from the
beginning when it shows the different majors and houses to the end, showing division between
President Fletcher and Dean Fairbanks (who now serve as metaphors for their respective races).
The first time the viewer sees Lionel, he is one person standing in front of a gigantic building,
which he is purposely locked out of. Right away the camera angle demonstrates the idea of a
very small black man (Lionel) against a very large majority (which could be metaphorically
interpreted as the people who still suffer from the consequences of racism against the large
majority of Americans who today believe that racism is no longer a problem). Right away it
conveys the presence of a very large, almost overwhelming problem. The next instance camera is
used effectively to this manner is in the scene introducing Colandrea Coco Conners, when she
is talking to Helmut West about her aspirations of being on reality television. The camera is set
up at the end of the table, looking in on the conversation as if the audience is part of the
discussion, but still separated from it. Whats even more interesting is the television in the
background which is playing one of Cocos videos involving her critical opinions of the housing
situations in Winchester University, which she feels are heavily (and unfairly) based on race.
This television is literally the voice speaking out about the injustice that comes with racism.
What is even more interesting about the camera placement in this instance is the way in which it
shows the voice which is willing to speak out against this injustice getting almost snuffed out by
(Helmuts) support for the stereotypical views of a persons race, with the conversation between
Coco and the producer literally in front of the television in relation to the camera.
The scenes with Lionel in them are some prominent, particular examples of where
camera angle is used to convey a sense of racism as well. First major scene involves Lionel
arriving for his first encounter with the writers/editors of the large school paper. The camera is

Connors 3
positioned inside the room where the two writers are sitting, looking out at Lionel as he looks
uncomfortably in as the more experienced writers give him a surprised look, as if they were a
little unsettled to see him there. This perspective the camera takes with Lionel is done various
times to show how there is still tension between races in modern times. The next major instance
of this as it relates to Lionel is more interesting, though. The scene involves a group of Kurts
friends sitting at a table talking about the party that they will throw in the near future. What
makes this scene even more fascinating is the way the camera makes the scene slightly more
suspenseful, and definitely more symbolic. It uses a technique called the moving frame, which
is used as a way of adding both suspense and symbolism to the scene. Lancioni describes a
moving frame as being able to expand the frame of the original photograph, thus giving it
symbolic importance far beyond the specific scene photographed. This slow moving frame also
serves to give viewers time to contemplate the image and to question its significance. The more
time viewers spend moving through the illusionary depths of the image, the more significance
that image takes on (Lancioni 110). The technique described by Lancioni is subtly used in this
scene to convey the significance which stereotyping and racial discrimination still hold today. In
the movie, the camera is positioned inside Kurts group as they contemplate what they will do in
the future. In the background, though, there is a person sitting by the window, alone. As the
camera slowly begins to focus on this person, it is revealed to be Lionel, the outcast. It conveys
the sense of helplessness and insecurity which he has, always on the outside looking in,
seemingly never able to change peoples views of him (not counting the final few scenes, of
course). The audience is invited to feel sympathy for this poor, left out man who cannot find a
way to fit into society in any way. This is also very metaphorical in meaning (which can be
confirmed by Lancionis statement that slow camera movement helps to add symbolism to a

Connors 4
photograph or scene). Lionel represents that group of misfits and outcasts in society today, and
with the racial theme behind the movie, it makes sense that this group of social misfits would
be the people living under racial discrimination. That means that this scene would again portray
the minority classes being ostracized by the white, wealthy class which holds control over much
of the United States today (as symbolized by Kurt and his group of friends).
Another way in which Dear White People conveyed the theme of the prevalence of
racism in the 21st Century was through visuals; that is, the movie shows this theme through the
use of color schemes and photographs/frames. The two most prominent examples of this in the
movie are in the beginning and end. The movie starts off with some very colorful backgrounds,
switching between colors like red, yellow, blue, and green. Once this opening sequence is over,
though, the colors seem to disappear. Now, it shows the main characters of the movie watching
the television, but the backgrounds are either dark or light (standing for their respective races;
dark backgrounds were behind characters like Sam, Troy, and Coco, while light backgrounds
were behind Kurt and President Fletcher). Before any of the characters had even interacted there
was a sense of separation between racial groups. Then the movie showed frames of some people,
specifically people from the business school, the media school, the house with all the sports
people, Kurts house full of rather trashy-looking white men, and lastly the house where the
school puts most of the black people, Armstrong-Parker. It could be argued that this sequence of
framing the different groups is just an attempt to show separation in general, that the director
wouldnt show stereotypes of the business and media schools if the major theme of the movie
was racial tension. Although the frames do show a sense of the overall separation of groups that
occurs in college, they really serve as a way to magnify the racial tension within this specific
campus, as the humorous cliques in the frames are juxtaposed with the almost normal people in

Connors 5
the last two frames (Kurts house and Armstrong-Parker). The first few highlight some
stereotypes that would be comical for a movie to show, but the last two are not as amusing as
they are unsettling, showing two very different groups in the white people flipping off the
camera to the black people giving this almost intimidating stare at the audience. And from that
point the movie begins to go more in depth about the contrast between the last two groups of
people, almost as if those two juxtaposed frames were the thesis of the movie, while whatever
came before was an introduction about college, and the cliques and groups that form within it.
Similarly, just as the movie ends, more frames are showed, but this time they were of real
blackface parties at some prestigious schools. It is almost as if the director had taken his thesis
about the separation of races that exists today on college campuses and applied it to the world
with very real, almost unnerving images which inspire a disgusting recognition from the
audience. The images are dependent on the larger cultural meaning they provoke and the social,
political, and cultural contexts in which they are viewed, as mentioned by Sturken and
Cartwright (25). These images convey the unsettling truth that racism is still a problem today,
and that there are plenty of ways it exists without many people being aware that it does
(especially on a renowned college such as Dartmouth, one of the few in the images).
The other popular manner in which the director shows the prevalence of racism was
through character development (or lack thereof), specifically in the character of Coco Conners
and Troy Fairbanks. Right away Coco comes off as this extremely confident girl who knows
where she wants to be and is very aware of her identity, that she doesnt associate with the
stereotypes associated with black people. But then, right from her first encounter with Helmut
West, her identity (as the viewer sees it) begins to deteriorate to the point that she doesnt really
know who she is, and her insecurity comes out. The development of this character shows the

Connors 6
struggle for some people to find their identity, but metaphorically Coco represents black people
who had struggled fighting for a place in society, especially in America. Just like her, they have
gotten to the point where they could get into elite colleges and universities, but now once again
they see that there are various stereotypes and forms of racism which must be fought in order to
actually achieve a place in college society that doesnt involve the black stereotype.
Throughout the plot of Dear White People, the director used various aspects of
moviemaking, from character development to camera angle, to show how modern racism is
present, especially on college campuses. Even more so, he shows that not many people are aware
of such problems which could affect the lives of many people if left unchecked. Due to that, he
brings to light these injustices which he feels must be solved, but he doesnt necessarily present a
way to solve them. Showing people the overarching problems could inspire action from the
people, which could lead to change in the way that racism and stereotyping is dealt with on the
college campus. Maybe there is no direct way to solve this problem right now, but raising
awareness of it is the first step, which was masterfully taken by the director.

Connors 7
Works Cited
Lancioni, Judith. The Rhetoric of Frame Revisional Archival Photographs in The Civil War.
Visual Rhetoric: A Reader in Communication and American Culture. SAGE Publications
Inc, 2008. Print.
Sturken, Marita, and Cartwright, Lisa. Image, Power, and Politics. Practices of Looking: An
Introduction to Visual Culture. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2001. 25. Print.