White People Won't Save You

A podcast that deconstructs the white savior trope in film, and recenters the Black and PoC chaaracters and actors in them.

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Episodes

Thursday Dec 07, 2023

This one is special! We're so thrilled to be joined by Joel Robinson, a member of the Osage Nation, and professor of Native American and global indigenous media studies, Joanna Hearne, to discuss the current state of Native representation in media. 
It's an incredible conversation that covers Killers of the Flower Moon, Reservation Dogs, some film history, and tons of great recommendations to watch. 
We're super grateful to both Joel and Joanna for joining us! Check out Joel's piece for Slate on Killers of the Flower Moon here, and find Joanna's books here and here. 
We also wanted to make as many resources available as possible so check out our Google Doc that has a list of the films recommended as well as some books and more! Also, The National Film Board of Canada has a bunch of films you can watch for free on their website! 
You can find Joel at @trythebuffer on Twitter and IG and you can find us at @white_pod as well as at whitepeoplewontsaveyoupod@gmail.com  We've gotten so many great messages recently and we promise we'll get back to everyone soon! 
Speaking of soon, look out for our annual holiday episode and end of year round up coming up in the next few weeks! 

Thursday Nov 23, 2023

As the Holiday season starts up, we turn towards a classic, and one we've been low-key avoiding. But the time has finally come for us to watch one of the craziest movies we've seen so far, 1964's Black Like Me.  
We're joined by friend of the show Dare Johnson to talk about a movie where a white man pretends to be Black to see "what it's like." If that wasn't bad enough, it's based on a real experiment done by journalist John Howard Griffin. 
We've got a lot to talk about with this one, including how not one Black person called him out for obviously being a white man, how no Black person knew he was a white man, and how not one damn Black person said, "ain't you a white man"? 
As we get ready to close out 2023, we just want to say how much we appreciate you all and we hope you're able to wind down and spend some quality time with those you love. Times are rough, so be sure to hold on to the good things. 
You can find Dare @badicaldude, and hit us up at @white_pod on Twitter and at whitepeoplewontsaveyoupod@gmail.com to let us know what you thought of this one and what we should watch in 2024. We'll be back in two weeks with Spike Lee produced, Son of the South. 

Thursday Nov 09, 2023

*Note, unfortunately we had some recording issues on this episode and lost part of our conversation, but we still have a great episode for you and Kaili will be back!
You know we had to talk about this one! We're joined by the super talented Kaili Y. Turner to discuss the buzziest Oscar film of the season, Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon. 
Based on the book of the same name and depicting the heinous Osage Indian murders that spanned over 10 years, we get into what this movie would have looked like from an Osage perspective, reaction from Native critics, and much, much more. 
Kaili is incredible and you definitely need to be on everything they have going on. Check out Kaili's website and find them on Twitter at @Kailyturner. 
We'll also have much more coverage of KotFM coming up so stay tuned for that. As always, find us at @white_pod and email us your thoughts at whitepeoplewontsaveyoupod@gmail.com 
We'll be back in two weeks with Dare Johnson talking about Black Like Me!

Karen

Thursday Oct 26, 2023

Thursday Oct 26, 2023

Ladies and gentlemen, 2021's Karen.
 
 
 
Wait...you need us to say more? Well, in honor of the spooky season, we subjected ourselves to one of the most absurd movies we've watched yet. Cameron and Jordan discuss what the hell everyone involved was thinking, the Get Out effect on Black horror, and a Cee-Lo Green song so bad it makes us long for Taylor Swift's cover of September. 
With all the uncertainty in the world, hope everyone is doing alright out there. It's important to stay informed, but watching death on this wide a scale isn't normal. Take care of yourselves. 
Keep up with us for the time being on Twitter @white_pod and hit us up at  whitepeoplewontsaveyoupod@gmail.com We'll be back in two weeks with Black Like Me. 

Rooftops

Wednesday Oct 11, 2023

Wednesday Oct 11, 2023

Ever wonder what West Side Story would be like if you took out all the songs, dancing, drama, and replaced it with fake combat dancing and crack? Well, you get 1989's extremely confusing film, Rooftops. 
Actually directed by West Side Story's Robert Wise and completely wasting Tisha Campbell and Allen Payne, this one was a real head scratcher. Jordan and Cam talk the bait and switch of the trailer, the absurd "dance combat", and Lobo's press on nails. 
Also, one of the wildest stories of Caucacity in 2023. 
We're still out here on Twitter until it implodes at @white_pod . Follow us there and we'll see you in two weeks for maybe the wildest movie we've covered yet, 1964's Black Like Me.

Wednesday Sep 27, 2023

This week, we step into the ring to go 12 rounds with the one and only Denzel Washington. We're joined in our corner by comedian Drexton Clemons (Game Breakers on Prime) to break down 1999's The Hurricane. 
The story of Rubin Carter, a boxer wrongly convicted of murder, it got Denzel a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination. It was also almost all lies. We get into the real story of Rubin's trial, if there has ever been as absurd a cop as Della Pesca, and discuss if Denzel has ever been in a truly bad film. 
Follow Drexton on Twitter (no X over here) and Instagram (both @thisguydrex) for upcoming stand up dates as well as all your sports takes on Game Breakers! 
You can also follow us on Twitter at @white_pod to stay up on all the caucacity going down, upcoming live shows, and more! We'll be back in two weeks with 1989's dance drama Rooftops! 

Ninja Vengeance

Thursday Sep 14, 2023

Thursday Sep 14, 2023

WE BACK BABBBBYYYYYY! Saviorless Summer is over and the time has come to return and karate chop these white savior movies in the neck. 
And what better way to start than with Ninja Vengeance! Have you ever wondered what it would look like if a white ninja fought the KKK? Look no further than this mess of a B-movie that...look, it's a lot. A love subplot with the chemistry of an Ikea manual. The karate of a community theater production of Mortal Kombat. And an understanding of race on par with Ron DeSantis. 
A lot has happened during our break, including the continued strikes for writers and actors and the wildfires in Hawaii. If you can, consider giving to both here and here. 
Also as a programming note, we're going to be releasing episodes bi-weekly from here on. So don't freak if we don't show up in the feed next week, we'll be back the following week! 
Follow us on...(sigh) X at @white_pod and be on the look out for our IG coming soon. We love y'all and it's good to be back! 

Blindsided

Thursday Aug 17, 2023

Thursday Aug 17, 2023

We come to you live with a special White People Won't Save You report! Blindside 2: Blindsided. While he was busy protecting the pocket, they were busy running his.
Cameron and Jordan react to all the drama surrounding the new allegations and law suit between Michael Oher and the Touy's.  We get into Oher's grievances, the difference between a conservatorship and adoption/guardianship, and why the math ain't mathing on the Touy side. 
We've got some fun stuff coming up soon for y'all. Starting with a live watch of Rooftops with the good folks at Queuepoints podcast over on our Discord. Also, we;ll be back with new episodes soon. Thank you so much for your patience, we can't wait to get back to doing the show! 
We're on...X *shudders* for now at @white_Pod, but we're working on setting up at calmer shores on Instagram. We'll back with more caucacity for you soon! 

Strike talk with James III

Saturday Aug 05, 2023

Saturday Aug 05, 2023

We back! Kind of...
Jordan and Cameron chop it up with friend of the show James III (Black Men Can't Jump in Hollywood) to discuss the ongoing WGA/SAG strike that continues to roll on. We talk his experiences on the picket line, what the unions are fighting for, A.I. and more. 
We also get into the ancestors messing up that cop in Boston, fake gorillas in the zoo, and Taco Bell potentially skimping on the meat. 
We hope you've been enjoying your summer! If you can, we encourage you to donate to the Entertainment Community Fund 
Follow James at Ruleof3inc on Instagram and follow us on...X? at @white_Pod. We'll be back soon, stay safe y'all! 

Wednesday May 31, 2023

Hello! Although we're still taking it easy for the summer, we couldn't let a white savior movie this blatant pass us by. Guy Ritchie's The Covenant (yes you have to say the whole thing) is the story of a soldier so racked by guilt after his Afghan translator saves his life, that he goes back guns blazing to bring him and his family to America. It's the grounded and subtle storytelling Guy Ritchie is known for. 
Jordan sat down with culture critic and podcast host Murtada Elfadl (The Izzy and Murtada Picture Show) to discuss just how crazy it is that Dar Salim's character dragged Jake Gyllenhaal 62 miles on foot, how the hell you make an apolitical movie about Afghanistan, and much more. 
You can find Murtada on Twitter at @ME_Says and read his work all over at places like AV Club and Variety. He also helps put on NewFest, an LGBTQ+ festival in New York which will be starting today! Go to NewFest.org for more!  
As always, you can find us on Twitter at @White_pod and at whitepeoplewontsaveyoupod@gmail.com More coming soon, including info on live watches, reviews, and more fun things. Happy Pride, and we'll see you soon! 

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