07-04-2018, 11:02 PM
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.
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.
White Girl Connoisseur