Whiteboyz

I saw this movie on HBO during my senior year of high school (2000-2001) and thought it was great, and it had a message. It is definitely a message that needs to be spread. Back in the town I grew up in in Upstate New York, the "whigger" thing (white n 1gger) was really big to the point where I was probably the only kid in my town who still dressed normal and listened to heavy metal and punk instead of rap. It really got to be aggrivating because I couldn't relate to hardly anybody accept my close circle. Then I saw this movie and after the end, I am thinking that all of these kids at my school should take a look at this movie and then take a look at themselves. I loved Danny Hoch's performance by the way. As far as a rating, I give this movie a 7 on my scale of 0 to 10.

I love this movie. It hits the nail on the head portraying suburban white kids trying to be thugs by imitating rappers from MTV. You tend to find more of these kids in backwoods towns and deep in the suburbs than in the inner city and this movie seems more like a non-fiction representation of that ridiculous subculture. They even address the fact that these kids weren't dressing the same years ago or listening to the same music. Basically, acting like these kids is similar to deciding to dress like a cowboy because you start to like country music.

Anyone who doesn't like or appreciate this movie - the joke's on you, thug life with a North Carolina jersey.

Being from Iowa, I am usually offended by stereotypical portrayals of Iowans as dumb farmers, oblivious to the real world. That said, I really liked this movie. Part of it is the fun of seeing familiar places and landmarks (bridges, bars, cop cars, local personalities), but I also was intrigued by the story.

Most reviews I've read about this movie criticize the makers for trying to run on one joke for 90 minutes. Instead, I think the audience laughs because the characters (especially Flip) are trying so pitifully hard. Flip is like any teenager (in Iowa or elsewhere) who's searching for his spot in the world. He doesn't like his life (what teenager does?) and he is drawn to the "idea" of the ghetto he gets from music videos. His fantasies are so opposite from what he knows -wealth, women, recognition. In his fantasy world, everyone fits into the slots he gives them with no questions. The problem is he can't separate his fantasy from reality, and when reality slaps him in the face (Chicago) he is forced to take a look at who he really is - a faulted, bigoted, everyday person.

It's hard to face our faults, and the filmmakers must use an exaggerated character with exaggerated actions in an extreme situation to make this seem less like a cheesy story about some loser wannabes with no clue and more like a paradoxical look at facing ourselves. Without this movie's extreme and often sad backdrop, I would write it off as another "we're more cultured than you, aren't Iowans dumb" story. Instead, I think this is a smart, biting story that challenges us to take a look past what we want everyone else to see and examine who we are underneath, faults and all.

As I read reviews of this movie I just can't keep feeling like most of you just don't get it. I'm reading comments here on IMDb like "white boys trying to act like they are black (c'mon that is terrible)" or "can someone say Wigger...". You are missing the point. This movie is simply one big satire of young white teenagers who grow up in decent or rich environment (or Iowa) idolizing the ghetto life that they see on MTV and trying to mimic it. As a product of a large city public school system in the mid nineties I saw these kinds of kids every day. It's pretty depressing actually. Low self-esteem kids with terrible identity disorders trying so desperately to find themselves. Or not? Maybe most of them just don't know how to act. Whatever it is I'd have to say that this movie was on point with every aspect of this kind of lifestyle. For someone like me, who went to school with kids like this, Whiteboyz is a hilarious movie! Flip dog is just so incredibly lost in his gangster world, working out scenarios with Khalid before his talks to him, rapping in front of the mirror, etc. Khalid even tries to explain this to Flip and Flip is so lost he just doesn't understand what he is telling him. Khalid was probably the most normal kid in the movie. He respected his Mom, he has aspirations to go to college, and wasn't all about getting in trouble. What was the most revealing about what this movie was trying to do was the scene where James comes out of his "gangster" act and starts ranting racial slurs. Did James have multiple personalities? No. How could you miss the point after seeing that? There are plenty of people I'd like to show this movie to but sadly they won't get it. It's definitely one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. It was acted out perfectly and just down right hilarious. Unfortunately, most of the people just don't get it. Recommended as a wake up call to all you gangster white boys out there that grew up in a stable home. Cheers!

I get the feeling that this film might've been advertised as a comedy, but yes, it does border on some serious issues that should be acknowledged.

Still, there are several scenes in WHITEBOYS that had me busting up, most notably Flip's daydreaming sequences, which has him imagining about being accepted by urban thugs just because he's "down" with hip-hop.

Overall,I ended up being impressed by this film. Well acted, well written, and well filmed. I would'nt mind catching it again!