The homily “Many a truth is said in jest” may apply to the opening paragraph of Joel Stein’s quasi-review of the comedic anti-DEI documentary Am I Racist? by anti-woke activist and satirist Matt Walsh, in The Hollywood Reporter.
Columnist Stein’s usual tongue-in-cheek style (he probably wasn’t truly afraid of the “Latinx ticket seller”) nevertheless sheds light on the real-world reason Am I Racist? has been ignored by the entertainment press: Fear of the denizens of that left-wing universe, where daring to even acknowledge a documentary by a conservative activist risks the wrath of one’s unanimously liberal colleagues, who may sneer in disgust, cut ties, even try to derail your career.
For whatever reason, there are films that we in the entertainment media fail to notice. In the case of the documentary Am I Racist?, that whatever reason is that we’re liberals. Not one mainstream media company reviewed the film — the first theatrical release from Ben Shapiro’s conservative media company The Daily Wire — which has been in the top 10 for two weeks. So The Hollywood Reporter enlisted someone who doesn’t care if he loses all his friends. That person was me.
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I oversmiled at the Latinx ticket seller while nervously asking for one ticket to Am I Racist? He seemed unfazed, which made me a little less worried when I handed that ticket to the Asian woman who directed me to theater six, which was completely empty, other than a can of beer left behind by an audience member at the noon screening.
Right before the film started, five people scattered throughout the theater: an old white man, a younger white woman and three-generations of a Latinx family, none of whom, I would guess, would want to be called Latinx.
The film is a Borat-style comedy in which podcaster Matt Walsh puts on a disguise and tells subjects he’s documenting his anti-racist journey in a movie….His disguise consists of a man-bun wig and skinny jeans….
Stein wasn’t crazy about Walsh the comedian.
….Walsh lacks some of the skills of a comedian, such as being funny….He does occasionally land some solid jokes: When an anti-racist seminar focusing on grief begins by asking attendees to introduce themselves with the weirdest compliment they’ve ever received, Walsh offers, “I’ve been complimented on the number of black friends I have. It’s 17.” But most of the time, his comedy is a mimeograph of comedy….
After listing a series of scenes that he felt didn’t work, Stein admitted Walsh landed a few right-wing jabs against academic race grifters.
However, Walsh does gain access to the prominent DEI experts he hopes will embarrass themselves, and they largely comply. He gets Robin D’Angelo, author of White Fragility, to give his Black cohort $30 out of her wallet as reparations. He is a waiter at a Race2Dinner event, hosted by Regina Jackson and Saira Rao, where white women pay to be yelled at — and definitely get their money worth. When he isn’t doing irrelevant bits (dropping plates, overfilling water glasses) and gets out of his way, his subjects do indeed skewer themselves.
He also often succeeds at making DEI instructors seem like grifters….
After the film, Stein talked to stand-up comedian Lucretia Lyon, who saw the film at the same time.
“I was surprised how funny it was,” said Lyon. A Borat fan, she thought Walsh nailed the undercover bits. “The narcissism was amazing to watch,” she said about the many DEI instructors who bragged about their superior sensitivity to racial issues.
