Line #88 Series/DearWhitePeople


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dear_white_people.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350: It's time for a ''real'' wake-up call.]]
3
4	A Creator/{{Netflix}} original adaptation of [[Film/DearWhitePeople the 2014 film]], this online television series follows the same basic plot, with Logan Browning as Sam White and [=DeRon=] Horton as Lionel. Creator/GiancarloEsposito provides narration at the beginning of each episode. The series starts with the {{Blackface}} party, however, then proceeds from there.
5
6	----
7	!Tropes:
8	* AdaptationExpansion: Taking advantage of the shift from a feature length film to a ten episode series, many of the characters from the original film get increased focus and at least one spotlight episode. Notable examples are Coco, whose backstory growing up in Chicago gets expanded upon, and Reggie, who gets his own character arc, as opposed to the film version who was little more than Sam's MalcolmXerox boyfriend.
9	* AdaptationalNiceGuy: Kurt in the film was a JerkAss who frequently expressed racist and homophobic statements with pride. In the series version, while still a huge dick and the originator behind the blackface party, his overt racism and and homophobia is absent and [[EveryoneHasStandards is at least temporarily horrified]] by [[spoiler: the campus police pulling a gun on Reggie at the party]]. He also tries to reach out to Sam to work together on a statement against the incident and in the Season 1 finale, delivers an ArmorPiercingQuestion to her about the effectiveness of her outrage-driven tactics. In Season 2, he's come around to understanding what the black students have gone through.
10	* AdaptationalVillainy: In the film, Troy's father, though a bit of a ControlFreak in making sure his son cultivates a respectable image while ignoring what Troy actually wants, was a ReasonableAuthorityFigure where the students were concerned and sympathetic to Sam's insecurity about her identity. Here, he's a DeanBitterman who's much more antagonistic to Sam and more concerned about appeasing wealthy donors than listening to the students.
11	* AllGaysArePromiscuous: From the party Lionel and Troy attend, this seems to be the case at Winchester except for Lionel. Wesley also seems to be an exception until the Season 2 finale, when he says he’s against monogamy.
12	* ArcWords: For Season 2- “Watch closely."
13	* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Kurt asks Sam in the Season 1 finale how much has she really improved things at Winchester. Already exhausted by her breakup with Gabe and estrangement from Reggie, Sam experiences a minor HeroicBSOD.
14	* AuthorTract: When Reggie, Joelle, Lionel, and their friends rant on ''Film/DjangoUnchained'' and how it portrays black people in stereotypical ways it more or less echoes Justin Simien's own public statements on the film, [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall especially since the camera is angled in such a way so it appears they're talking directly to the viewer.]]
15	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Season 1. Lionel becomes a hero once again for exposing the Hancocks and standing up to Silvio (which earns him a well-planted kiss after the latter is turned on by the former developing a backbone), and Joelle and Reggie eventually becomes a thing, but Troy is arrested after destroying the town hall door in upset over the revelation that he was indeed a puppet to the Hancocks via his father's perfectionistic upbringing and nearly loses his life while resisting before Dean Fairbanks intervenes. Gabe ends his relationship with Sam, who was willing to make things right, but the latter rekindles her friendship with Coco as they bond over ''Defamation''. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Kelsey experiences her first genuine encounter with racism as Sorbet has been dognapped, only being left with a note, "Black girl, white dog, not on my watch",]] and is met with mass dismissal from the other black students.]]
16	* {{Blackface}}: Just as in the film, a party where white students dress up as black people occurs, and sparks the plot.
17	* BlackRepublican:
18	** Rikki Carter is a rising star pundit in the vein of real-life black conservative pundit [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candace_Owens Candace Owens]]. Bonus points for the CastingGag of her being played by Creator/TessaThompson, who played the main character Sam (who has the polar opposite political views) in the film. This is then subverted as Rikki reveals to Sam that she doesn't ''really'' believe in the cause; she's only in it for the money and notoriety.
19	** Silvio, a Latino GayConservative [[spoiler: who turns out to also be an alt-right troll.]]
20	* BottleEpisode: Episode 8 of Season 2 is just Sam and Gabe in the radio booth hashing out their broken relationship via a documentary interview.
21	* BreakThemByTalking: Sam comes ready with a speech to tell off Rikki Carter, but Rikki completely disarms her by telling Sam that her radio “character” is great and her morals only matter as an attention-grabbing and moneymaking device. Sam is left speechless and says afterwards that she may be done with “Dear White People.”
22	* BrickJoke: Clifton is constantly heating up Hot Pockets. In the Season 2 finale, it’s revealed [[spoiler:that Clifton caused the fire of Davis dorm when microwaving a Hot Pocket.]]
23	* BrokenPedestal:
24	** Lionel is devastated when he learns [[spoiler: Silvio is @[=AltIvyW=]]] and even tells him, “You were my mentor.”
25	** Sam is deeply disappointed when she meets with Cynthia Fray, her idol, who is rude and dismissive.
26	** Reggie is devastated when Moses admits he ''did'' have sex with Muffy (though claiming it was consensual).
27	** Iesha Vital is dillusioned by Sam (having been inspired by her prior to coming to Winchester) because she doesn't consider her militant enough and believes she's "compromised" because of her relationship with a white man.
28	* ButNotTooBlack: Narrator (Creator/GiancarloEsposito) states that he was selected for the role due to his being ethnic enough while still being nonthreatening. Coco also complains of being thought poorly about by many black guys due to having dark skin, and claims Sam has "light skinned privilege" because she's mixed race. Sam retorts that no one calls Coco "half breed" or "Zebra". Joelle also deals with being seen as the RomanticRunnerUp in her LoveTriangle with Sam and Reggie, because of being darker-skinned than her.
29	* ButNotTooWhite: A lot of black people dislike Sam because she is mixed race, judging by her comments about being called things like "half breed" or "Zebra". She possibly overcompensates in reaction by being militant about issues which affect black people.
30	* CastingGag: Creator/TessaThompson couldn't return to play Sam as she committed to another project. In the second season, however, she returns, playing a commentator with basically the opposite views from Sam's (naturally, they clash).
31	* CallBack:
32	** In Episode 6 of Season 1, Sam questions Dean Fairbanks if he'd be as indifferent to Troy if he were on the receiving end of police brutality just like Reggie in the previous episode, to which he responds, "He won't, because I raised him." [[spoiler: In the finale during the protest, when Troy snaps at the revelation of the Hancocks (predominantly white endorsers against affirmative action and safe spaces for minorities) bribing AP House to stay quiet while realizing he ''is'' a puppet as Sam and Coco jabbed at and shatters a door window, he is quickly arrested. As he resists, one of the officers proceeds to draw his gun before Dean Fairbanks rushes outside to the scene, tearfully pleading for the officers to not shoot Troy.]]
33	** Kurt confronts Sam about her true effectiveness at the end of Season 1. Rikki confronts Sam about her true motives at the end of Season 2.
34	* CaughtWithYourPantsDown: In the season 2 premiere, Sam masturbates while fantasizing being with Gabe, only to have Joelle walk in on her.
35	* CerebusSyndrome: Episode 5 of Season 1 is when the show takes a darker yet [[TruthInTelevision realistic]] turn where [[spoiler: Reggie is held at gunpoint by campus police after a fight at a party, where ''he's'' considered the instigator and for nothing more than talking back to the officer.]]
36	* CollegeRadio: Sam's show.
37	* ConspiracyTheorist: Quite a few in Season 2:
38	** Al, who is convinced the fire at Davis dorm was set to blame black students.
39	** Trevor, who Joelle calls a “hotep,” which is explained [[https://www.theroot.com/hotep-explained-1790854506 here]].
40	** Lionel, who becomes increasingly fixated on Winchester’s [[SecretCircleOfSecrets secret societies]], complete with a [[StringTheory stringed bulletin board]]. The finale reveals [[spoiler:that he might be ProperlyParanoid.]]
41	* CreateYourOwnVillain: Gabe accuses Sam of being at least partially responsible for escalating racial tensions on campus, leading to the rise of the alt-right at Winchester.
42	* EmergingFromTheShadows: In the season 2 finale, this is how the [[spoiler:narrator introduces himself to Sam and Lionel, implying that he's actually a member of the Order of X.]]
43	* EnsembleCast: While Sam is definitely the face of the series, each of the main characters have [[RotatingProtagonist episodes devoted specifically to them]], and even the side characters have significant CharacterDevelopment.
44	* EverybodyHasLotsOfSex: There is rarely an episode where someone isn’t having sex. Especially Troy.
45	* EveryoneHasStandards: With racial tensions at an all-time high in the second season and now people acting openly racist on campus, Kurt actually sees himself [[TookALevelInKindness mellowing out]] since he doesn't find any humor in Sam getting doxed and threatened. He also starts to somewhat understand racism and what the black students have gone through because of this.
46	* EverythingIsRacist: A central debate of the show. Sam is very extreme in her opinions about institutional racism, which even other Black characters sometimes feel is going too far.
47	* FagHag: The woman in the couple who Lionel goes home with realizes she's this as her partner is really gay. She clearly makes her peace with it, because she's still with him near the end of the season.
48	* FourLinesAllWaiting: The first 5 or so episodes concern the blackface party and the different reactions of the various characters, but eventually the show moves on to other topics while retaining each episode's focus on one character.
49	* GayConservative: [[spoiler:Silvio]] morphs into one, or really even further to the right, in Season 2.
50	* GirlOnGirlIsHot: Subverted. Troy [[ItsAllAboutMe expects both women to be into him]] and is disappointed when they only want to hook up with each other.
51	-->'''Troy''': I was working on that [[ThreeWaySex three way]] for days. Turns out they’re real lesbians who just wanted to buy some weed.
52	-->'''Lionel''': You mean two women into each other for reasons other than a straight man’s benefit? [[SarcasmMode I’m aghast]]!
53	-->'''Troy''': [[ComicallyMissingThePoint I know, right]].
54	* GreekChorus: Rashid, an African exchange student, often comments on the peculiarities of American culture and most poignantly its dual obsession with and terror of addressing race.
55	* HeelFaceTurn:
56	** Kurt was Sam’s main anatagonist in Season 1, but he is replaced in Season 2 with @[=AltIvyW=]. Though his privileged legacy white guy character doesn’t change much, he is genuinely disgusted with the hatefuleness of the Alt Right presence on campus and has developed a much better relationship with the A-P house. [[spoiler: He also works with Coco to stack Rikki Carter’s audience with BSU and CORE members.]]
57	** Dean Fairbanks goes from being a [[CategoryTraitor Uncle Tom-like]] DeanBitterman to being a shoulder for Reggie to lean on, more clearly showing Troy that he truly does have his best interests at heart, and having the campus guard who pulled the gun on Reggie fired.
58	* HelicopterParents: The motive behind Dean Fairbanks' strict parenting - to mold Troy into a model individual so that he won't face the same struggles his father did as a black man.
59	* HigherUnderstandingThroughDrugs: Kurt gives Troy some [[MushroomSamba powerful shrooms]] to help Troy [[VisionQuest gain a better sense of his true comic identity]]. Troy approaches many of his former friends and loves to ask them what they saw in him and is ultimately confronted by Sorbet, Kelsey’s dog, who further confirms that Troy has been [[ReasonYouSuckSpeech phony, self-serving, and scared in all his relationships]]. He ends with a naked SymbolicBaptism in the campus fountain he peed in when he was a drunk freshman.
60	* HollywoodHacking: Mostly averted when Reggie is asked to hack the season 2 {{Troll}}'s account, which seems to be hosted on Twitter or a BrandX equivalent. There's some closeup rapid keyboard typing, but he reasonably explains that he's just writing a script to run a dictionary attack, a simple hacking method that's well within the capabilities of an undergrad CS major. However, there is some ArtisticLicense, as this type of attack would probably cause the target account to get locked almost immediately, rather than after the significant amount of time the show portrays.
61	* HowWeGotHere: The first episode opens with the Blackface party and then shows how it came to this point.
62	* HypocriticalHumor: When Al complains about how Apple uses child slave labor in China to manufacture its phones, his phone starts going off. Guess what phone it is?
63	* IncompatibleOrientation: Brooke comes onto Lionel, even though she knows he's gay, insisting that's "too reductive". Naturally, her attempt fails.
64	* {{Irony}}: Creator/TessaThompson, who played Sam in [[Film/DearWhitePeople the film]], here plays Rikki Carter, a black conservative commentator with basically the opposite politics (quite likely intentional).
65	* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Thane dies when attempting to "fly" out of a window while intoxicated near the end of]] Episode 3, Season 1.
66	* LastMinuteHookup: In the Season 2 finale, Sam and Gabe reunite, Joelle and Reggie finally get together, and Lionel and Wesley have sex for the first time.
67	* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: When Reggie, Joelle, Lionel, and company return from watching a bad movie, they begin ranting about the different ways people of color are typecast and stereotyped in movies while looking directly at the camera.
68	* LemonyNarrator: Giancarlo Esposito serves as one, humorously commenting about the events and issues of the story. [[spoiler:Until the Season 2 finale where [[DelayedNarratorIntroduction ''he's'' the one to meet Sam and Lionel]] when they finally track down the Order of X's secret meeting spot.]]
69	* LimaSyndrome: Al [[ParodiedTrope falls in love with Sorbet, Kelsey's dog]], after kidnapping her. Sorbet escapes the first chance she gets.
70	* LovingAShadow: In the penultimate episode of Season 1, Troy calls out Coco on the fact that [[spoiler: she doesn't even love him, let alone ''like'' him]] - she just loves the idea of him as a model leader.
71	* LoveTriangle: Gabe is falling madly in love with Sam, but the latter later becomes close to Reggie who's been attracted to Sam from [[LoveAtFirstSight the moment he laid on eyes on her.]] Complicating it further is that Reggie himself is the object of an unrequited attraction from Joelle. It turns almost into a LoveDodecahedron when you add in that Sam dated Troy before the start of the series and Coco dates him briefly in season 1 while he's also having an affair with a professor.
72	* ModestyBedsheet: Lampshaded by Troy and justified (in a way) by Sam.
73	-->'''Troy''': Why are you covering like God is watching?
74	-->'''Sam''': Because He is? And it’s awkward with the lights on. With my flaws and all.
75	* TheMusical: Season 4 centers around Winchester's "Varsity Show", which is one. The season itself counts as one, with characters frequently breaking into song to describe their situation and feelings.
76	* NoBisexuals: Neika Hobbs is in a long-term relationship with a woman. She's always called a lesbian, though she also has an affair with Troy. The closest anyone gets to acknowledging that she's actually bisexual is Troy saying that she isn't a lesbian with him.
77	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed:
78	** Dereca = Iyanla Vanzant
79	** Carson Rhodes = Creator/TaNehisiCoates
80	** Rikki Carter = Tomi Lahren + Stacey Dash + Candace Owens
81	** Silvio = "Latino Andy Cohen" [[spoiler: and Milo Yiannopoulos]]
82	** Jerry Skyler = Creator/TylerPerry
83	* NWordPrivileges:
84	** This is the cause of Reggie's fight with a white student, the latter having said the word in repeating the lyrics of a rap song. Sam later also tells Gabe she'll say it, but he can't, though light-heartedly.
85	** Several gay characters are using the f-word and tell Lionel and Troy that this is their n-word.
86	* OncePerEpisode: Each episode ends with the character who had ADayInTheLimelight [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall looking directly into the camera]].
87	* {{Parody}}:
88	** The A-P students’ favorite shows are ''Defamation'', a parody of ''Series/{{Scandal}}'', and ''Prince O’Palities'', a parody of ''Series/{{Empire}}''.
89	** Not to mention the episode centered on Gabe where all his [[FantasySequence fantasy sequences]] are parodies of films like ''Film/DoTheRightThing'', ''Film/Persona1966'', and {{Blaxploitation}} flicks.
90	** The third season has one of ''Series/TheHandmaidsTale'' (with the Handmaids in blue rather than red), which also serves to criticize some aspects, and one of ''Series/QueerEye2018'', with the guys going to plainly racist and homophobic places (one finding sets of ''Klan robes'') and trying to dance around the issue.
91	* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish:
92	** Sam is able to break easily into ''Pastiche'''s Facebook page because their password is ''pastiche''.
93	** Subverted in season two with Reggie trying to hack [=@AltIvyW=]'s Twitter account, requiring him to create a complex dictionary attack program that takes hours to work, then ultimately fails due to the account being protected by two-factor verification.
94	* PoliceBrutality: What sets up the second plot in the climax of Episode 5 of Season 1 - [[spoiler: when Reggie eventually quarrels with a white student over NWordPrivileges at a party, campus police show up with an immediate assumption that Reggie was the instigator and demand identification while virulently dismissing Joelle when she comes to his defense. Reggie's quip "Fuck these pigs" provokes one of the officers to [[DisproportionateRetribution draw his gun on him]],]] conjuring a scene that many people of color [[TruthInTelevision have either experienced and/or unfortunately not survived to tell the aftermath]] while the surrounding students are horrified and pleading with the officer to [[spoiler:withdraw his firearm. Fortunately, though Reggie shakingly complies with fear for his life and does leave with it, he's understandably broken by the confrontation.]]
95	* PutOnTheBus: Nieka Hobbs and Ikumi do not appear in Season 2. However, Ikumi does return in Season 3.
96	* RapeAsBackstory: Brooke reveals that a teacher raped her in the past, which explains why she's so motivated to support Muffy's allegation against Moses.
97	* RomanticFalseLead: Trevor is this for Joelle, who is really into Reggie.
98	* RotatingProtagonist: Each episode is done largely from the POV of one particular character.
99	* SecretCircleOfSecrets: Winchester is apparently rife with secret societies, a common Ivy League trope.
100	* SelfDeprecation:
101	** In the first episode, the narrator says the writers need him to set up the plot because they're too lazy to do it the regular way.
102	** Chapter I of the third season has some humorous comments about the problems with Netflix shows in their third season, which they are in.
103	* ShoutOut: Coco attempts to join the black sorority Alpha Delta Rho, which is the same sorority that Whitley joined in ''Series/ADifferentWorld''.
104	* SimultaneousArcs: This is sometimes done to support the RotatingProtagonist system, often using a noteworthy event or conversation from a previous episode to establish that the next one happens approximately at the same time. Sometimes the arcs are mostly separate, and other times the follow-up may show the direct conclusion of a conversation that was only partly witnessed by the previous episode's point of view. However, by the end of each season the episodes tend to become more linear.
105	** The episodes in about the first half of the first season each show the immediate aftermath of the blackface party from different characters' perspectives.
106	** In season 2, Sam notices [=@AltIvyW's=] post ''immediately'' after a confrontation in A-P house, suggesting he's someone in the room. The next episode, from Lionel's perspective, ends with him noticing the same thing, but this time he's in a position to see ''exactly'' who it is.
107	* StylisticSuck: The ShowWithinAShow that parodies Series/{{Scandal}}, ''Defamation'' is... pretty awful.
108	* TakeThat:
109	** Chapter I of Season 3 features a mild one toward ''Series/TheHandmaidsTale'', noting how what July (the {{expy}} for June) complains of is something many black women already had to bear. Not to mention the fact that the [[Creator/ElisabethMoss lead actress]] is part of a real cult, but doesn't notice the irony. In spite of this, Sam says that she's addicted and has watched the show religiously.
110	** Wesley suggests "taking a page from the ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' handbook", to which Lionel sarcastically asks if that means "killing mutants and losing the RPG elements of the previous games."
111	* TakeThatAudience: Quite a few exchanges, particularly Sam's rants on her "Dear White People" radio show, can and are most probably meant to directly address certain audience members of the series as well as those who [[ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontWatch did not bother watching]] because of the title:
112	--> '''Sam:''' ''Dear white people... wow. Y'all really trying it. I get that being reduced to a race-based generalization is a new and devastating experience for some of you, but here's the difference. My jokes don't incarcerate your youth at alarming rates or make it unsafe for you to walk around your own neighborhoods. But yours do. When you mock or belittle us, you enforce an existing system. Cops everywhere staring down the barrel of a gun at a black man don't see a human being. They see a caricature... a thug... a nigger.''
113	* TeacherStudentRomance: [[spoiler: Troy and Professor Nieka Hobbs]].
114	* TokenMinority: Ikumi, an Asian-American student, joins the A-P crew in the middle of Season 1. Lampshaded by Ikumi, who introduces herself to the group as their “new catch-all Asian friend.” She gets ChuckCunninghamSyndrome in Season 2, though she does return in the third season, albeit in a more minor role.
115	* WalkAndTalk: Lampshaded and discussed by Joelle:
116	-->'''Sam''': Hey, wanna go for a run?
117	-->'''Joelle''': Like white girls in TV shows when they need a visually interesting way to deliver exposition?
118	* WantsAPrizeForBasicDecency: Reggie and Troy react this way when Kurt tells them solemnly how he now understands that by supporting the system he's upholding racism.
119	* WhamShot:
120	** Season 2, the reveal of [=@AltIvyW's=] profile page on [[spoiler:Silvio's]] computer screen.
121	** The ending of the season two finale where [[spoiler:Giancarlo Esposito, [[DelayedNarratorIntroduction the series' narrator]], is the one [[EmergingFromTheShadows to appear]] to Sam and Lionel at the Order of X's]] secret meeting spot.
122	* WeUsedToBeFriends: Episode 4 of Season 1 reveals that Sam and Coco were once friends, since initially rooming together, but had a falling out after racial issues came between them. Later they reconcile somewhat.

Context Series / DearWhitePeople