Stars: 4/5
Chelsea Handler’s new Netflix documentary, “Hello, Privilege. It’s Me, Chelsea” exposes white privilege, but it is just another raindrop in the ocean of modern day racism and prejudice.
I’ll give her some credit—she is a white person, who openly admits to being where she is at as a result of white privilege, and she’s getting curious. That’s at least half a step further than most famous white people that have profited off the entertainment industry.
The comedian, most known for her “Uganda Be Kidding Me” book scandal, has found herself in many controversial situations throughout her career. However, the only one she really seems to acknowledge in her documentary is her poor choice in book naming.
The documentary features many celebrities such as Kevin Hart, Tiffany Haddish, and the infamous Jelly Roll. Handler’s comedic approach took a seat for this documentary, casting it in a deeper light.
The main difference between this film and many other racially enlightening documentaries is Handlers approach to addressing white privilege. About twenty minutes into the film the mood shifts from focusing on black people’s perspective on white privilege to understanding that this is a white person’s problem.
“We need to stop asking black people to solve white people’s problems because they’re tired of being asked about white people problems.” Handler said.
The documentary ranges from fed up black activists to obnoxiously oblivious conservatives. White privilege is unwrapped and exposed from several different perspectives. Particularly, my favorite part of the film was Handler’s expose at Oktoberfest where she interviewed a handful of white people that either dismissed or depreciated white privilege.
Handler emphasizes that although it is a touchy subject, white privilege is something that needs to be addressed and talked about within the white community. It is often a messy subject that many people would rather not discuss, however, diving into the messy is only the first step in the right direction.
White privilege is so prevalent that it is hard to acknowledge if you are benefiting from it every day. Handler’s mission is to bring more light to a subject that has been masked for over 400 years. “Hello Privilege. It’s Me, Chelsea.” is a great documentary for modern day generations. Although it lacks depth in explaining the history and context behind generational white privilege, it does touch on some of the most important modern day aspects.
The takeaway—this is a great documentary to get the ball rolling within the white community. Whether you are fighting white privilege or still blind to the truth, this would be a good wake up call. It is a great documentary that highlights the gap between those understand the racial divide and those who still can only see through filtered lenses.