“Dear White People” To Debut On Netflix; Trailer Sparks Reaction, Call For Boycott

The first trailer for the television adaptation of “Dear White People” dropped yesterday, and it generated a lot of feeling for the satire comedy.

In the trailer, a diverse group of students share and even rail against the roles they were put in, especially against the fictional, largely white Winchester University and their “post-racial” world, The Verge said.

Series creator Justin Simien explained during a panel at New York how important is it for him to flesh out the characters in the movie. He added, “These characters belonged on TV… It almost killed me, in the best way.”

The Independent said that although the show’s goal could have been bridging the racial divide, and satirizing races at both ends of the debates, the trailer, much like the original film, garnered a lot of reaction. Reactions ranged from people claiming it racist against white people to people supposedly cancelling their subscriptions due to the TV adaptation.

Simien has since responded to the reactions and said, "When the first trailer for the film dropped, I'll admit the deluge of claims that I was a reverse racist and a 'piece of [expletive] monkey that should shut up and go back to Africa' really hurt," Simien wrote. "But now, I feel strangely encouraged. To see the sheer threat that people feel over a date announcement video featuring a woman of color (politely) asking not to be mocked makes it so clear why I made this show."

“Dear White People” premieres on April 28 on Netflix. Netflix ordered the usual 10 episodes for Season 1.