MovieChat Forums > Leave the World Behind (2023) Discussion > Anyone else feel that the daughter chara...

Anyone else feel that the daughter character was a racist and the mother character was rather sensible?

posted a year ago by DancingintheDark (1614)
16 replies | jump to latest

I felt that the daughter was racist towards white people and the mother character was pragmatic, sensible and justified in being skeptical of a random couple showing up after dark. This was the only aspect of the film I did not appreciate, the director trying to sell the mother character as a racist and the daughter being a justifiable little bitch due to all of the oppression she must have endured in her life.

[–] Mikester (141) a year ago

When i watched the movie i did not think the mother was racist. And i thought the daughter was portrayed as a little racist. I did not feel the director tried to sell anything, i think he did a great job painting realistic people (Not perfect. On the whole rational. And not making superstupid decisions like so often in movies)

[–] DancingintheDark (1614) a year ago

I appreciate your take, thanks for sharing your thoughts on the matter.

[–] Mikester (141) a year ago

Appreciate you for writing that, hope you have good days

[–] Geiri (862) a year ago

Yes, she was being racist. But she was young and grew up in a society of double standards. In the US it's more socially acceptable for black people to be racist towards whites than the other way around.

[–] Threadkiller (3075) a year ago

This is a common opinion from casual anti-black racist types who willingly choose to ignore the context of black Americans being systemically terrorized by white supremacist culture for the entirety of the country's history. She's a character who understands this reality as a black American which is why she said if the world falls apart that trust shouldn't be given out easily (in general) but especially to white people(unfortunately). It's not difficult to see it as understandable from her perspective if you're not an anti-black racist & are actually able empathize with the black American experience. It's also important to note that she never suggests that all white people are bad or that none of them can be trusted.

Julia Robert's character was very realistically portrayed as someone who is hardly some mouth frothing racist, but still harbors some casual, semi-unconscious anti-black racial tendencies. She had every right to be cautious & question the man and his daughter but her bias is clearly shown by her condescending tone of disbelief when asking "This is 'YOUR' house?" (which is noticed by the daughter) & insistence that they must be the hired help.

Those of you who fully empathize with & see nothing wrong with the initial attitude of Julia Roberts' character yet are quick to be dismissive & accusatory towards the black daughter, rather ironically validate her paranoia about trusting people. I believe the film sets this up intentionally which is pretty clever.

[–] vilafire (655) 9 months ago

That’s a lot of work to say “no you’re wrong” while demonstrating the OP was right….

[–] mayaTitan (37) 7 months ago

The only kind of reality the daughter understands is growing up rich and partying and "finding herself". And the mother didn't utter a single racial comment yet she's more racist?

"It's also important to note that she never suggests that all white people are bad or that none of them can be trusted."
She literally said "you cant trust white people, especially in these situations"

[–] Threadkiller (3075) 7 months ago

If you care to read my previous reply entirely, I already explained the nuance between attitudes of Julia Roberts' character & the daughter that directly addresses your query.

"She literally said "you cant trust white people, especially in these situations"

Actually the exact quote is "If the world falls apart, trust should not be doled out EASILY to ANYONE, especially white people."

[–] MichaelJPollock (731) 3 months ago

Interesting thoughts here, friend. Not sure I agree with everything though.

"...black Americans being systemically terrorized by white supremacist culture for the entirety of the country's history."
> Would you include the parts of American history when 365 000 men, the majority of them white, died in a fight to end slavery, or when a black man was twice elected president of the United States?

"the black American experience."
> Would you say that, for example, Georges Floyd, Trayvon Martin and Condoleezza Rice, Neil deGrasse Tyson or Barack Obama, have all had the same 'black American experience', or different ones?

[–] MovieManCin2 (26342) a year ago

I agree.

🤨

[–] vilafire (655) 9 months ago

That definitely was groan worthy. Hollywood wants to cram as much racism in as possible but in this case the “Karen” was rightly concerned and the Ruth character was a dumb obnoxious bitch.

[–] Kowalski (75537) 9 months ago

🙄

[–] mineofilms (37) 7 months ago

I felt they both were racist. Doesn't matter whom did it first and/or more intently. Both were judging each other on cliché racist tropes based on nothing but skin color. I do not think it really matters who was at fault at first. They both openly did this in the film. Was it a natural reaction? IDK. That to me is very subjective.

[–] The_Rev (315) 3 months ago

I feel like everyone has some bit of innate racism, which for MOST people manifests as a preference for people to associate with like-raced people. FOR MOST PEOPLE, it doesn't manifest as anger and hate, but just a general sense of mistrust. It's basically the same as the difference between "stranger" and "friend"...
I'm not justifying racism, mind you, I'm simply saying that it's natural for people to gravitate towards people of similar races, and gravitate away from differing races. That's not hate, mind you. It's just a natural phenomenon. If their thoughts of other races are simply "they're different, I don't feel connected to them," then they aren't actively hating other races, which is more akin to racism.

[–] 000 (471) 2 months ago

i think they were trying to paint julia roberts as a tad racist
"i dont want.... strangers in the house"
everyone was waiting for her to say "black people"

the daughter seemed to react like "u just sayin dat cuz we black!" without actually sayin it

[–] jk90us (7205) 3 days ago

Totally agree.