(Review assumes you know premise - this is a filmed dinner party - or have watched this doc).
Saira Rao is a bully. Her aggression is repellent, suffocating and risibly self righteous; yet, she's ostensibly offering important enlightenment for ignorant humanity. Nope.
She visibly gets off on hurting and humiliating people. And, apparently, white women are paying to be her target because she promises to *checks notes* "smash your white fragility"? Seriously?
The objectives envisioned by Rao and her co-creator, Regina Jackson, of "Race2Dinner" are unattainable, largely due to their being so vague. One objective appears to be to "talk to people".... I think...but, Rao detests anyone else talking. She'd prefer, as with a communist re-education camp, to stuff her opinions down your throat and have you parrot them back. No fuss, no muss, here's your script; so, conversion, not conversation.
Their utopian vision is used as a cudgel to beat women they obviously, what...hate? Envy? Want to exploit? The zeal to kick these ladies' asses is so palpable, what good is supposed to come of this? Rao just bullies, Regina just complains, everyone else is shut down, disrespected and humiliated. The dinner guests are fire-hosed with blame, but aren't allowed a word of defence. How can this farce help with healing wounds or serious problems like voting rights and police brutality?
I guarantee, most of the dinner guests will be "having conversations" about how obtuse and repugnant the hosts were, and that's it! I know, I know, the participants aren't allowed any human reaction because it's not about them. But, obliterating their humanity makes this formula so inherently dysfunctional that it's ultimately useless.
In one of the most surreal segments, Rao shames the participants for feeling emotion over stories of racial injustice and tells them they can't have such reactions in the future. If I'd been in attendance, that would've been my "eff you very much, I don't have time for this gong show....um, can I get this to go?" moment.
Rao and Jackson don't want a world where our shared humanity is encouraged and cherished; they want a world of revenge and verbal face punching. They're too angry, censoring and (after reading more on Race2Dinner) avaricious to really want healing change, maybe cha-ching change - are they aiming for a reality show?
Of the eight women who participated, only three agreed to a follow up interview. The three who responded just virtue-signalled themselves into a meaningless caricature. What does that tell you? FAIL!
If one really wants to change hearts and minds, kindness and respect always win the day. But, Rao and Jackson are getting something out of feeding the fires of hate and anger, and that's on them. Again, their calculation might be the mercenary "enragement leads to engagement", or, they're just bullies. Because what they're doing isn't helping and I can't believe they don't know it.
I pray their scheme doesn't last. These shallow, self-interested posers can't be forgotten soon enough.
