It's the perfect time to release a conservative documentary.
Since Dinesh D'Souza's 2016: Obama's America, the left's influence in the genre has waned, and there has been a surge in right-leaning films such as All the Men, Alex's War and Hawksed.
The film provides a vivid example of the ugliness and abuse that displays of virtue can elicit from ordinary people seeking approval.
Now comes Matt Walsh's “Am I Racist?” Will the film achieve the kind of mainstream theatrical success once dominated by overtly liberal fare like “An Inconvenient Truth” and “Bowling for Columbine”?
Are you just preaching to people who already know?
There are two questions I always ask when evaluating a conservative documentary: first, are the filmmakers actually trying to communicate something or are they just using the film to promote their own personal brand, and second, have they made an effort to present a genuinely compelling argument or are they content with outside-the-box preaching?
Like his last documentary, “What Is a Woman?”, Walsh has chosen promising subject matter, and like its predecessor, “Am I a Racist?” finds Walsh wandering blindly through the modern world, pretending to be confused and asking basic questions. He is nothing more than a confused innocent trying earnestly to understand the latest strange concept being mainstreamed by anti-Enlightenment left-wing intellectuals.
“What is a Woman?” was about transgender and gender ideology, while “Am I Racist?” was about DEI policies and anti-racism movements.
Walsh certainly has something to say, even if his message is often drowned out by his characteristically caustic personality. The question remains whether he can persuade people who aren't already weary of the totalitarian view of racial identity that permeates every aspect of American life.
very nice!
For that reason, it is worth noting the film's approach. Christian Toto Walsh, he said, is effectively reinventing the Borat strategy of posing as an ally to incite people to reveal their worst beliefs and prejudices.
The film presents Walsh as an awkward white man tackling the challenges of the 2020 and post-2021 world, embarking on a journey of self-discovery to become a certified DEI expert and interviewing leading progressive voices like Saira Rao and Robin DiAngelo.
For the film to be truly persuasive, it needs to carry the logic of contemporary critical race theory to its inevitable conclusion. It needs to get to the heart of what “anti-racism” means in the modern context and why it's bad in principle: its tendency to answer inequality with illiberal, easily exploitable social engineering, and the way that its relentless targeting of white “privilege” and “superiority” emboldens actual racism. White supremacist groups Use the same argument.
We need to expose the cynical and perpetual fraud of professional anti-racists like Ibram X. Kendi, who claim that “the only remedy for past discrimination is present discrimination; the only remedy for present discrimination is future discrimination.”
Racist Uncle
Walsh comes surprisingly close to achieving this: “Am I Racist?” consists of hidden-camera group sessions in which Walsh is present, asking questions and steering the conversation in whatever direction he desires.
But the film frequently stumbles in its relentless desire to be comedic: Throughout these hidden-camera meetings, Walsh interjects questions that derail the conversation, which is harmful from a journalistic standpoint: He interrupts his opponent when he's making a mistake.
Am I Racist is at its most effective near the end, when Walsh hosts a DEI group discussion. He introduces an elderly man in a wheelchair who he identifies as his uncle who told a racist joke. Walsh berates the old man (actually an actor), and two women in the crowd join in, shouting obscenities at his target and boasting that they have disowned his entire family for being racist. Here, the film provides a vivid example of the ugliness and abuse that virtue displays can elicit from ordinary people seeking approval.
Positive response
Unlike “What Is a Woman?”, “Am I Racist?” is clearly aimed at appealing to the general moviegoing public, and so far it's earned fairly positive reviews, taking in $4.75 million in its opening weekend and coming in fourth at the box office.
Many conservatives have rallied in support of the film, with Lutheran satire producer Hans Fine praising it as “really funny” and “very well made.”
The most notable and surprisingly bipartisan reviews of the film were: YouTuber Jeremy Jansgenerally praised the film, calling it entertaining, thought-provoking, and “enjoyable even if you don't drink alcohol,” but highlighted the disconnect between activists and the desire of ordinary people to not have to think about race at every moment of their lives.
More positive reviews from independent and centrist content creators would help assuage my concerns that “Am I Racist?” might not have much traction beyond conservative media spheres.
As “Lotus Eaters PodcastAs ” points out, the film’s unashamed mockery of DEI—its steadfast refusal to take it seriously or consider it worthy of respectful attention—may be persuasive enough.
Still, the fact that progressives are so effective at asking “Am I a racist?” is a harsh reminder of the vast propaganda machinery they have at their disposal. It will take all the creative and commercial muscle the right has to win over open-minded non-conservatives.
