'Dear White People' Netflix series trailer sparks boycott
Watch the teaser trailer for the Netflix series "Dear White People," based on the 2014 film of the same name. The 10-part premieres April 28, 2017. Credit: Netflix via YouTube
The 2014 dramedy "Dear White People" may have been beloved by both critics and audiences, but it seems not everyone is thrilled about a forthcoming Netflix series adaptation of the film.
On Wednesday, the streaming service dropped a 30-second tease and launch date announcement (April 28) for the series, which, like the hit movie is about racial tensions at a fictional Ivy League university. The gist of the teaser: Blackface is not OK.
Not only has the preview racked more than 3 million views on YouTube in its first few days, but it has amassed nearly 10 times as many thumbs-down votes as thumbs-up: more than 328,000 disses compared to 37,000 likes as of Saturday morning.
Some Netflix users are apparently so outraged they are canceling subscriptions and calling for a boycott of the site, saying "Dear White People" is race-baiting and calls for "white genocide."
"New upcoming show called Dear White People on Netflix is just another idiotic show trying to push white guilt. Don't be brainwashed!" Twitter user @GMconservative wrote on the social-media site Wednesday shortly after the trailer dropped on Netflix's YouTube channel.
Filmmaker Justin Simien, who created the 2014 film and is directing the series adaptation, has responded to that tweet — writing, "It's actually a love letter to my white boyfriend [😬] " — and the boycott as a whole. According to Simien, the criticism made Wednesday's preview the most-viewed teaser-announcement ever for a new Netflix series.
