There are few things I enjoy making fun of more than Karens, so I'm not gonna lie; the idea of a movie eviscerating the overly entitled women who always want to speak to a manager sounds pretty awesome.
In an era where they'll make a movie about literally anything remotely trending (see Unfriended and The Emoji Movie), this totally makes sense. But before you have your stylist freshen up your poofy, tapered, platinum-blonde look for an evening at the movies, here are some things you should know:
- So far, the conversation about the movie seems to be centered around 'helping to make change' more than 'lets just make fun of these people.' Entertainment can be a means to influence positive change, but let's face it; Hollywood has pretty much passed up Pureflix when it comes to letting their preachiness upstage a good story. Considering the director says this will examine how micro aggressions lead to violence, it's safe to expect quite a bit of preaching.
- Karen's last name is White, and the story focuses around the main character attempting to boot a black family from her neighborhood. I'm no Karenologist (I majored in it freshman year, before switching to a more lucrative gender studies degree), but, again, I feel like this is going in an overly 'SJW' direction. Is racism an issue? Yes. Are some Karens racist? Definitely. Might a film like this be a good platform to explore this topic? Totally. But... are they going to explore the topic with an honest, fair, and open-minded approach without using identity politics and stereotypes? Unlikely. Especially when you figure in...
- The black family are outspoken BLM supporters. Black lives absolutely matter. But Black Lives Matter is an openly anti-American, anti-family organization that has very little to do with improving the lives of black Americans. Do you think that bit of nuance will be explored in the movie? Heck no. But, you know. I'm okay with turning my brain off for a bit and enjoying a hilarious comedy, as long as it doesn't take itself too seriously-- oh, wait...
- The movie is being billed as a "suspense thriller," not a comedy. Welp.
Okay, I could be wrong. Perhaps the movie described as "a story about a racist, entitled white woman in the South who terrorizes her new African-American neighbors" will turn out to be awesome. And if it isn't... you can always walk out of the theater and ask to speak to a manager.