NETFLIX: The Rachael Divide (Dolzeal)

[Shotgun Styles]

Man. This story is way more complex than I anticipated. It seems a cut and dry story of appropriation. But when you look into her family history, man, things get real murky. Some points I'd like to make:

1) Ultimately, while she's offended a ton of people, she hasn't really hurt anyone.

2) She seems to be an attentive and loving parent.

3) She rescued several family members from a very abusive home.

4) She's a quite talented artist. In another era, when that had value, she could have done quite well for herself.

Having said all that: Rachael Dolzeal appears to be a run of the mill case of an abused kid who developed a lifelong victim complex. Her parents broke her. They tried to do the same to her siblings. They are the only real villains in this story. She also seems to have developed the defense mechanism of pathological lying. She can't seem to distinguish between what is real, and what isn't. And the people around her, who have seen how kind she can be, enable her because they see her as flawed but fundamentally good.

The other thing is, it's clear from her reactions to Black women's outrage that she fundamentally does not understand the Black experience the way she thinks she does. You can't grow up as a blonde white girl, with all the goodies that come with that, then turn around and call yourself Black at 30 having skipped all the shitty parts. Growing up as a Black woman in America is a painful experience, and it's why so many of them are embittered by the time they hit their mid 20s. Rachael experienced none of that.

I recommend this flick. It's a fascinating look at how we treat each other as people, and what society will tolerate and what it won't.

[vesuvius]

Imma pass.

[blacksquatchman]

I dunno if I have the patience to watch that shit. I probably would get pissed off and want to punch anything in sight.

[blackalpha]

I saw part of documentary. I felt bad for her son who said he wanted a normal life. She lost her job I understand her wanting to tell her story and get paid, but at what costs?

[Shotgun Styles]

Yeah, it's hard to take in and process.

But if you can set your baggage down at the door, and come at it with an open mind, there's some interesting stuff there. Race is a social construct, and the discussion about how it applies to who and why is worth having.

But I totally get someone wanting to rage quit in the middle of this thing. She's a difficult woman to sympathize with in large part because of her solipsistic attitude. The little bit of success she did have, before being outed, made her more than a little entitled. That, more than anything else, is what makes people want to punch her in the face.

[SWAGGART]

I've been noticing it since it dropped, but it's one of those thing that I have to get into the mood to watch. Seems like it will piss you off. Interesting review. I might finally watch it.

[whiteisright4bbc]

Yeah, I can't even watch Fear the Walking Dead without getting pissed off. There's no chance of me watching this all the way through.

[Shotgun Styles]

What pisses you off about Fear?

I didn't like them making the Brotha gay, but my larger problem is that I hate everyone on the show and want the Zombies to win. What's your issue?

[whiteisright4bbc]

^ The writing, mainly, but yeah, there's so many unlikable characters, but again, that goes back to the writing, IMO. You can write likable characters, the writers are just failing. But besides that, I was re-watching the second half of season two again and *SPOILERS SOMEWHAT I GUESS EVEN THOUGH HAS NO BEARING ON THE STORY WHATSOEVER* Nick (the drug addict) was walking with a herd of walkers, then a group that shot at him earlier rolled up in a jeep, got out and started shooting at the walkers (one of them with a handgun) until they slowly walked up to them and killed them. Just utterly boggled my mind. The driver drove off while they died so it wasn't a car issue and they were out in the open anyway so could of just ran off. Just terrible writing all the way around.

[Shotgun Styles]

Yeah, there are some silly moments in Fear. Walking as them too, but the story and characters are so compelling, I'm more willing to forgive.