# 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:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Darth\_Hamsandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4bbf92/32.png) [@Darth\_Hamsandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Hamsandwich)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/41 "2020-03-30T20:20:54Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > I’m also a fan of his movies, but I have to agree. While there are people of color in his movies and he does seem to be trying, his overall point of view comes from a very specific white perspective, where the boarding school kids of Rushmore are kind of the default and other people are interesting for how they deviate from that norm. Really? Again, I have to refer to _Tenenbaums_ but Glover didn’t seem to deviate from the well-mannered, straight laced, eccentric mannerisms of the whites in that movie. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/42 "2020-03-30T20:37:10Z")
The other non-white character in The Royal Tenenbaums was Pagoda, played by Kumar Pallana, and clearly Indian. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/43 "2020-03-30T20:48:03Z")
Anderson has been accused of cultural appropriation and of ‘tokenism’, but that’s a far cry from his movies being “aggressively white.” I just don’t see how he fits this particular label. He may be fascinated with “exoticizing” and I can see how he’s sort of a throwback to the “orientalist” genre, but even if that’s something you object to, it’s still a very different scenario than being “the whitest movie[s] ever.” ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/44 "2020-03-30T21:06:53Z")
One more oddity with The Royal Tenenbaums; Ben Stiller’s character looks, frankly, very Jewish and so do his sons (and they’re named Ari and Uzi while his late wife was Rachael) while the rest of the family doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/45 "2020-03-30T21:28:55Z")
Well, his father’s half-Hebrew but his kids were raised Mick Catholic. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/46 "2020-03-30T21:57:36Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I mean, she’s right on the poster. Seems as though someone could find whiter than that. Depending on how the Twitter bird flies you can find people unironically arguing that Asian and Hispanics are “White” and only Africans and possibly Indians are “People of color”. Arguing about diversity on Twitter (or on the internet in general) is always a lost-cause because there’s always the type of person who argues that the NBA is the most “diverse” sports league because it’s 75% African-American and you can’t get more diverse than that. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/47 "2020-03-30T22:57:34Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > It’s rated 4.9 on IMDB, so it probably isn’t very good. With only 173 votes, and sadly half of those are probably people who worked on the film and their friends and family. Here’s a review with a trailer that confirms everyone’s suspicions. > **[WHAT LOVE LOOKS LIKE: Love & Other Ughs - Film Inquiry](https://www.filminquiry.com/what-love-looks-like-2020-review/)** > > What Love Looks Like brings very little to the table in terms of originality or likeability. You've seen it all before, done better, and in more captivating ways and with better acting. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/48 "2020-03-30T23:20:41Z")
> [@installLSC](#): > > Any [Merchant/Ivory film](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_Ivory_Productions) that isn’t set in India. Along similar lines, I thought of suggesting David Lean’s **Dr. Zhivago** but I then realized the lead was played by Omar Sharif who was Egyptian. Instead, I’ll substitute **Ryan’s Daughter** which now seems pretty white even though at the time the film was set, the Irish, while obviously looking white, were not considered truly “white” by the British. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/49 "2020-03-30T23:24:41Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Even the African Americans in _Birth of a Nation_ were white. _Birth of a Nation_ was the first film that popped into my head when I saw this thread. But my next thought was, based on what I know of the plot there have to be some black characters. But would any African American actors agree to be part of such a blatantly racist film? And would someone who would produce such a film actually hire them? Yeah, it makes complete sense that they would use white actors in blackface. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/50 "2020-03-31T00:42:08Z")
> [@Darth\_Hamsandwich](#): > > Really? Again, I have to refer to _Tenenbaums_ but Glover didn’t seem to deviate from the well-mannered, straight laced, eccentric mannerisms of the whites in that movie. So he acted like a white person who happened to be black? ---
**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 31, 2020, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/51 "2020-03-31T01:04:22Z")
Darth\_Hamsandwich asked what happens when Wes Anderson sends out a casting call. I suspect that he doesn’t send out casting calls at all. At this point, he has a group of actors that he uses for his movies. He just calls them and asks them to appear in his next movie. Most of the time they will. The small parts may get filled by casting calls, but he doesn’t do that casting. Somebody else in his crew does that. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/52 "2020-03-31T02:13:39Z")
I don’t know quite why but I feel the ‘whitest’ stories are the ‘master needs a governess to look after the household’ type. Mary Poppins, Sound of Music, The Nanny, Nanny and the Professor, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The Pygmalion/My Fair Lady stories are similar but in this case you can’t find the magic woman so you need to make one. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/53 "2020-03-31T02:27:43Z")
forgot, in the first group - The King and I, Anna and the King etc. They may have non-white people in them, but they still feel white. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/54 "2020-03-31T10:45:32Z")
[Disney’s “Tom and Huck”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_and_Huck) Set, it appears, on Disneyland’s “Tom Sawyer Island” (which I think has been altered and renamed). I’ve lived almost my whole life in white parts of America and Australia, and even I thought it felt odd to have a movie “based on Tom Sawyer” with no black characters or extras. ---
**Author:** ![Brayne\_Ded](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Brayne\_Ded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brayne_Ded)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/55 "2020-04-02T10:04:53Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > _Twelve Angry Men_Whitest movie of all time? How about _Mary Poppins_ or _The Sound of Music_? Exactly how many schwarzers would you find in prewar Austria anyway? But yes, the _Sound of Music_ is so wholesome, you feel it must be organic, wholemeal, gluten-free and lactose-free. Not like, say, _Ben Hur, Lawrence of Arabia_ or _Khartoum_, each of which had a whitey playing an Arab. ---
**Author:** ![BeagleJesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5daacb/32.png) [@BeagleJesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeagleJesus)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/56 "2020-04-02T12:09:26Z")
Re: Wes Anderson Movies I don’t think _anyone_ in a Wes Anderson movie acts like a normal person be they black, white, indian or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/57 "2020-04-02T16:52:11Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > > [@Wendell Wagner](#): > > > > 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. > > It’s rated 4.9 on IMDB, so it probably isn’t very good. A sharp indictment on love! ☹ (You know “What love looks like” -\> “It doesn’t look good”… It was funny in my head!) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571/58 "2020-04-02T17:15:21Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > forgot, in the first group - The King and I, Anna and the King etc. They may have non-white people in them, but they still feel white. But consider the opposite: imagine someone brings you a script where the hero is white and his love interest is white and their boss is white and the bad guys are white and the innocents who die are white and the innocents who get rescued are white, and so you gently suggest that the writer add a speaking part for a black man. [_“Say, Jim! WOOOOO!!! That’s a BAAAD out-FIT! WOO!”_](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=USi7DS9vUKk) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whitest-movie-ever/850571.md?page=2)