# The whitest movie ever? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 29, 2020, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571 "2020-03-29T09:22:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/1 "2020-03-29T09:22:57Z")
I just saw [the poster](https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic1.squarespace.com%2Fstatic%2F57b29c442994cab73855c706%2F57b2a021be659468fb69bc8e%2F5e27c728218a5a442730da83%2F1579669011606%2FWhat%2BLove%2BLooks%2BLike.jpg%3Fformat%3D1500w&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.getonmydamnlevel.com%2Fblog%2F2020%2F1%2F21%2Fmovie-review-what-love-looks-like-2020&docid=fA-QyWZPMNG7WM&tbnid=wOCGj4hJ51AodM%3A&vet=1&source=sh%2Fx%2Fim) for a movie titled _What Love Looks Like_. Holy crap! I had to google to find out that it wasn’t made by the Hallmark Channel or Evangelical Christians. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/2 "2020-03-29T12:25:45Z")
Well, I got curious, so I went to the movie’s imdb page and looked down the cast list for nonwhite faces. I see: Lori Talley … (Mom in Park) Luis Antonius Canete … (Metrolink Boyfriend) Cedric Stephens … (Apartment Resident) Calvin Peters … (Waiter) So diversity is alive and well in Hollywood. My dad used to comment occasionally on movies he’d seen in the 1950s where a street scene with hundreds of extras ostensibly in New York City had all-white crowds. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/3 "2020-03-29T12:31:19Z")
Huh, let me be the judge of th…alright, I get it. Thanks for the morning laugh **Darren Garrison**. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/4 "2020-03-29T12:41:18Z")
You missed Stephan Peters as Customer, but you point still holds. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/5 "2020-03-29T13:41:03Z")
> [@tim-n-va](#): > > You missed Stephan Peters as Customer, but you point still holds. Stop detail-shaming me! ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/6 "2020-03-29T13:48:19Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Well, I got curious, so I went to the movie’s imdb page and looked down the cast list for nonwhite faces. I see: > > Lori Talley … (Mom in Park) > Luis Antonius Canete … (Metrolink Boyfriend) > Cedric Stephens … (Apartment Resident) > Calvin Peters … (Waiter) > > So diversity is alive and well in Hollywood. My dad used to comment occasionally on movies he’d seen in the 1950s where a street scene with hundreds of extras ostensibly in New York City had all-white crowds. The third billed, Tevy Poe, is Asian. I’m not sure if you can blame “Hollywood.” This looks like a small independent film by Alex Magaña who directed and produced it. Yeah I have no idea who that is either. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/7 "2020-03-29T13:57:40Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > The third billed, Tevy Poe, is Asian. I mean, she’s right on the poster. Seems as though someone could find whiter than that. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/8 "2020-03-29T13:58:51Z")
I don’t know why, but 12 Angry Men strikes me as such, specifically the one with Henry Fonda. I actually love the teleplay and the movie, but it would not surprise me if I read that people think the movie is white-idealistic in some aspects. Could be just me, though, I have no idea. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/9 "2020-03-29T14:24:09Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I don’t know why, but 12 Angry Men strikes me as such, specifically the one with Henry Fonda. I actually love the teleplay and the movie, but it would not surprise me if I read that people think the movie is white-idealistic in some aspects. > > Could be just me, though, I have no idea. I recall the accused being the first generation of an immigrant of Italian extraction living in a slum. Yeah, he’s ‘white’ to us, but for the time perhaps the play was commenting about 11 white mens cavalier disregard for someone different. In that case, all the white faces were intentional. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/10 "2020-03-29T14:30:14Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I don’t know why, but 12 Angry Men strikes me as such, specifically the one with Henry Fonda. I actually love the teleplay and the movie, but it would not surprise me if I read that people think the movie is white-idealistic in some aspects. > > Could be just me, though, I have no idea. Wasn’t the defendant in the trial non-white? Even if there were only white guys onscreen, racism was still an issue. So yes, there was a bit of white idealism there, but It’s still not as “white” as a movie where non-white people don’t even exist, like, say, _White Christmas_. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/11 "2020-03-29T15:05:19Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > I recall the accused being the first generation of an immigrant of Italian extraction living in a slum. Yeah, he’s ‘white’ to us, but for the time perhaps the play was commenting about 11 white mens cavalier disregard for someone different. In that case, all the white faces were intentional. > [@Alessan](#): > > Wasn’t the defendant in the trial non-white? Even if there were only white guys onscreen, racism was still an issue. So yes, there was a bit of white idealism there, but It’s still not as “white” as a movie where non-white people don’t even exist, like, say, _White Christmas_. Oh, yes, it is the “non-whiteness” of the defendant that to me, makes this idealistic to white people. A bunch of white people(I think perhaps one of them is not supposed to be white?) all come around and vote not-guilty just based on the evidence. It’s kind of an idealistic version of our judicial system. Note: Or not! I’m just speculating! ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/12 "2020-03-29T15:16:42Z")
The reviews on the IMDb describe _What Love Looks Like_ as being an independent film. So while it may not be Hallmark Channel movie, it looks like it’s intended for the same audience. This looks like it’s made by someone who wanted to do an independent film that couldn’t get money from any obvious source like the Hallmark Channel, nor could they get it shown at any film festival. It’s hard to tell if it’s any good given that apparently none of us have seen it. If you have seen it, let us know. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/13 "2020-03-29T15:49:35Z")
I don’t remember any non-white people in “Groundhog Day” despite the fairly large cast. The whole movie hass a very “white” feel as well. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/14 "2020-03-29T16:08:10Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I don’t remember any non-white people in “Groundhog Day” despite the fairly large cast. The whole movie hass a very “white” feel as well. To be fair, [The Borough of Punxsutawney is 98.8% White](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punxsutawney,_Pennsylvania#Demographics). Possibly more so when the movie was made. Going to see a groundhog on Groundhog day seems like a very white thing to do on top of that. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/15 "2020-03-29T16:13:37Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I just saw [the poster](https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic1.squarespace.com%2Fstatic%2F57b29c442994cab73855c706%2F57b2a021be659468fb69bc8e%2F5e27c728218a5a442730da83%2F1579669011606%2FWhat%2BLove%2BLooks%2BLike.jpg%3Fformat%3D1500w&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.getonmydamnlevel.com%2Fblog%2F2020%2F1%2F21%2Fmovie-review-what-love-looks-like-2020&docid=fA-QyWZPMNG7WM&tbnid=wOCGj4hJ51AodM%3A&vet=1&source=sh%2Fx%2Fim) for a movie titled _What Love Looks Like_. Holy crap! I had to google to find out that it wasn’t made by the Hallmark Channel or Evangelical Christians. It’s not often you can tell people are terrible actors just from the poster, but here we go. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/16 "2020-03-29T16:48:01Z")
The movie version of _12 Angry Men_ might have been all white, but I’m not so sure about the original play. Didn’t one of the other jurors say something about growing up in the same environment as the defendant? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/17 "2020-03-29T16:50:56Z")
Alex Magaña is a music video director and head of his own production company. I’ve never heard of him or any of his films. I’ve never heard of any of the actors in this film. He has five films listed on RottenTomatoes. They have a collective total of one review. It’s for _What Love Looks Like_ and it’s negative. The film is available on Amazon Prime, true. They’re obviously scraping the bottom of the barrel for product to throw at the audience and pretend that they’re competitive with Netflix. Though I’ll bet that Netflix’s bottom of the barrel looks no better. I don’t think this cast says anything at all about Hollywood. Or Amazon Prime either. Schlock has always existed and always will. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/18 "2020-03-29T17:37:19Z")
It’s not a movie, but someone’s going to have to mention [Midsomer Murders](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midsomer_Murders#Controversy), so it might as well be me. > [@](#): > > In March 2011, the series’ producer, Brian True-May, was suspended by All3Media after telling the TV listings magazine Radio Times that the programme did not have any non-white characters because the series was a “bastion of Englishness.” When challenged about the term “Englishness” and whether that would exclude ethnic minorities, True-May responded: “Well, it should do, and maybe I’m not politically correct.” He later went on to say that he wanted to make a programme “that appeals to a certain audience, which seems to succeed.” j ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/19 "2020-03-29T17:42:00Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The movie version of _12 Angry Men_ might have been all white, but I’m not so sure about the original play. Didn’t one of the other jurors say something about growing up in the same environment as the defendant? _Twelve Angry Men_ was originally written as a television production. The original version featured Robert Cummings as the holdout juror, and the all-white cast debated the fate of a Puerto Rican teenager. Whitest movie of all time? How about _Mary Poppins_ or _The Sound of Music_? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/20 "2020-03-29T17:47:43Z")
Alex Magaña has a number of credits on the IMDb. It looks like he directed three shorts (which are apparently music videos) and three TV series (although they only appeared online). Since then he has directed five movies that have been released so far and one that is in pre-production. There doesn’t appear to be any consistency about the subjects of anything he has done so far. I don’t understand how he has been able to do these films given that none of them seems to have made very much: > **[Alex Magaña - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3927153/)** > > Alex Magaña. Director: Narco Valley. Alex Magaña is known for Narco Valley (2018), What Love Looks Like (2020) and 29 to Life (2018). > **[An Interview With Alex Magaña (Director Of Slapped! The Movie, 29 To Life,...](https://wherever-i-look.com/articles/interviews/an-interview-with-alex-magana-director-of-slapped-the-movie-29-to-life-narco-valley-and-more)** > > An Interview With Alex Magaña, the man behind ACM Productions (24 To Life, Narco Valley), and one half of the team behind Slapped! The Movie. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/KGAKzZO9wFg/hqdefault.jpg "Alex Magaña Interview (Director of Slapped! The Movie, 29 To Life, Narco Valley and more)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGAKzZO9wFg) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571.md?page=2)