I got a friend who’s MAGA and I’ve been talking to her about her politics for a bit and she’s willing to hear me out on my concerns. It’s also black history month, and she knows nothing about black history.
I wanna watch a movie with her or a documentary that dives into modern-day racism without explicitly putting down MAGA/conservatives. My goal is not to insult her or make her feel bad, it’s to educate her, hence why I’m asking.
(Please let me know if something I’ve said is problematic or offensive in some kinda way? Sometimes I word things badly or I will ask things that arent okay and I dont realize it until I hit post, lemme know so I can correct myself for the future thankyuuuu ;w;)
Before you try to educate someone else, I suggest you educate yourself first (because this is a really hairy terrain to navigate).
https://youarenotsosmart.com/2022/06/27/yanss-236-how-minds-change/
Oooo yummy links
“Jesus Camp” is just a dive into evangelical child indoctrination camps, in the George W Bush era. One scene has this prayer circle of children praying to a cardboard cutout of W.
It’s arguably not constructive, but I’d say it’s more a mirror to reflect towards a MAGA viewer “Look - this is you now.”
The preacher in that doc, screaming about the gays? Got caught smoking meth in a cheap motel room with a couple of gay prostitutes.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that…
That looks like a good one too
I would highly recommend Blue Bayou, it’s about a Korean-American man in Louisiana raised by adoptive parents, but never got the proper paperwork to be considered a citizen. Amazing film, had me tearing up.
It’s not quite the movie/documentary you are looking for, but I have seen https://leavingmaga.org/ spread around.
If Beale Street Could Talk
Make sure she is actually interested in watching or learning more. It can come off as very preachy and grandiose what you’re doing.
Mmmm true… How do I not sound preachy?
Honestly? I would back out of this entirely and just enjoy the friendship. Personally, I would feel manipulated regardless, I dont like the idea of friends with an agenda for me. What I believe is my business.
If she starts it? Sure, that’s a different matter. That’s how you avoid sounding preachy. By not preaching.
I mean… I just worry for her dude… Her dad already gog laid off just 2 nights after they were talking to me about how “Trump was gonna make more jobs n fix all the layoffs” or whatever tf. and the company her dad works for LOBBIED WITH TRUMP to get him elected.
Shes super sheltered and just knows absolutely nothing about black history which I feel is a problem. At the very least I just her educated about black issues n shit cus her and her mom mentioned some shit about being “Colorblind” and just- as a darkie myself im just not about that 😭
It is up to them to learn from their mistakes. That’s how learning works.
Hey man, after watching on the documentaries with her. She took it well up until it started mentioning stuff about trump and then she got frustrated.
I think I’m gonna listen to your advice, I said this in another thread but its just not my place to try and get her to “change her mind” I’m like- no better than the nutjob conservatives that will fight tooth and nail just to get someone to think the way they do.
She did enjoy the documentary up until the end, and at this point I just… feel bad.
I apologized to her after the vid, she had made a comment during our discussion that “I only watched this with you cus I wanted you to feel comfy and cus it was Black history month, but I feel like you lead me into this wanting to talk about Trump again” and that’s when i realized I’m crossing a line I shouldn’t. That comment made me realize that I was being a bit of a bitch… Even if I was coming from a place of good intentions.
I have a tendency to get like this, I’ll get frustrated or upset when I cant change someone’s mind on something, I’ll become obsessed with trying to prove my point until nothing else seems to matter anymore… I gotta stop that, its just not a good trait to have. Like sure its nice to talk about stuff and get my point across but at some point I gotta let it go and accept her as she is. I gotta start accepting people as they are, I had the same issue with my mom (she’s not MAGA whatsoever, just stubborn lol) and learn to live with that.
Like those MAGA priests? /s
American History X might be a good movie.
unlikely if you cant target the root of the problems, they would just call things woke. your basically saying changing thier mind without offending them, they are easily offended.
if shes willing to look at MLK, m. and the civil rights movement.
Nahh she isnt the type to yell “WOKE” at stuff. Thank god. She’s just SEVERELY in the dark about shit.
She knows nothing about black history month, celebrities like Beyonce, Dolly Parton or Kanye; I thought she was fucking with me when she said “Isnt West a direction?” when I mentioned his name.
The only things she knows about are Politics and Roleplay (We roleplay gay shit on discord and that’s how we met lmfao)
So “woke stuff” doesnt phase her cus we roleplay “woke” stuff all the time with Monster boys on discord 🤣🤣 Her family is also aware and is super chill about it.
I cannot imagine having a maga friend at this point. I could not look at them without thinking how insane they are.
Honestly, I don’t have such a movie to suggest, I don’t think such a movie can exist, due to the Backfire Effect. Changing people’s minds takes time, and the impetus to change has to come from within. The handful of times that I’ve managed to do it involved sharing an idea or observation that doesn’t immediately trigger their defenses, but metaphorically is like dropping a grain of sand in the gears of their mind, and then letting it do the work of grinding away at the teeth, until one day their old thought process breaks down. It can take months.
That one on Youtube about the dad. I can’t think of the name. Racism will only if they have a personal connection with a minority (intimacy, blood relations, friends, community, etc.).
The Brainwashing Of My Dad?
Yeah, that’s a good one.
The problem is the recipient has to be receptive to their bias and intolerance. And most either aren’t or actively revel in it.
OP mentioned his friend is willing to be receptive so that’s why I mentioned that one. And thanks for the name.
I’ll ask my wife, because she’s been consuming a lot of racism lately. (Lots of civil war era books, with a strong focus on the injustices against black people.)
Off the top of my head there’s of course, Roots.
We also watched the Free State of Jones. It’s based on a true story that puts you in the shoes of a Rebel soldier who goes AWOL, and befriends a group of runaway slaves.
Since you know your friend better than any of us, you might want to watch any suggestions alone, and possibly even search online for an in depth analysis of it before presenting it to your friend. That way you can be prepared to intelligently discuss any topics that might come up.
EDIT: My wife reminded me of American History X, which is more anti KKK than pro-black, but it’s also much more modern and VERY graphic.
Good luck!
The first thing that comes to mind is that documentary that I think was on Netflix about the 13th amendment. It’s just called “13th”.
Not a movie but a youtube playlist: The Alt-Right Playbook
This is not the answer you’re looking for, but I remember watching Green Mile as a child and that movie struck with me for life, and likely attributed early on to me being one of the few non-racist folks around here somewhere in East Europe
