Dreaming Whilst Black - General Discussion

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Showtime has secured US rights to this BBC production, created by and starring BAFTA winner Adjani Salmon, who plays Kwabena, an aspiring film maker stuck in an office job in recruitment.  It has good reviews in the UK media.

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S01.E01:  The Dream - Kwabena, an aspiring filmmaker stuck in a dead-end job, gets the opportunity of a lifetime - but he might have to sacrifice for it.

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S01.E02:  The Reality - Kwabena is now free to chase his dreams, but he doesn't know where to get the money to pursue them.

Kwabena daydreams a lot, especially at his office job, about making films, or on the bus, seeing an attractive woman, he imagines he would smoothly chat her up.

Between his dreams though, he endures little micro aggressions at his office, where he's one of the few people of color.  His coworker Adam asks for advice because he has a date with a black woman.  But he doesn't say that at first, says she's "vibrant," likes spicy food, changes her hair style a lot and imitates black speech "dem the kinda tings."

Kwabena doesn't mind giving Adam feedback on black films Adam and his date might watch, like The Color Purple or 12 Year a Slave.  Kwabena notes that those films include depictions of rape so he might want to steer clear for a first date.

But Vicky asks him to eat some peas he's brought for lunch in the kitchen instead of his desk as a courtesy to his office mates.  Kwabena sees two white colleagues eating at their desks so he decides to avoid confrontation, goes to the kitchen where he sees an Indian woman eating her lunch.

Kwabena runs into Amy, a schoolmate from film school who is working as an executive assistant at a film production company.  Amy endures her own little humiliations at her company, but also hopes to move more into film production herself.  She promises to forward Kwabena's script to development execs and gets him meetings.

However, the meetings conflict with his office work and he misses his chance with the film production company.  He realizes he can't keep doing his office job and pursue his dreams.  The decision is made for him when he goes out for karaoke with his coworkers where Adam exhorts him to do a rap with him on stage.

Adam chooses a rap where the mostly white coworkers are changing the n-word several times and as Kwabena take this all in, he realizes what he must do.  He announces "I quit" and literally drops the mike, walks out.

 

So now Kwabena is doing food delivery but also trying to raise money from family.  He films a short pitch for "Jamaica Road" a story about Jamaican immigrants to the UK in the '50s, based on the experience of his grandparents.  He scarcely raises 1000 out of the target 5000 Pounds he needs for his film.

Kwabena lives with a young couple Funmi and Maurice who are expecting their first child.  Funmi's Aunty Lola wants a fancy video filmed for her 60th birthday party.  Aunty Lola wants fancy tracking shots for her birthday video and offers to finance the whole film if he makes the video the way she wants it and if his film has Nigerian characters.

On the day of filming though, they don't pick up the Steadicam gear so Kwabena improvises by filming while on a wheelchair while Amy pulls him.  But Aunty Lola isn't happy with the result because it didn't feature enough of the party.  She gives him 20 Pounds for his time.

Kwabena meets Vanessa who gets her wig stuck in the doors of a bus, which he chases to get the driver to stop and retrieve the wig.  They go on a date and he asks what's her favorite film.  She says no way, he's a film snob and will judge her for her choice but it turns out to be Love and Baskeball which he says is shit, in a teasing way.

But they have great chemistry so they are going to keep seeing each other.

Kwabena still has to figure out a way to get his film made but he's met someone and he no longer has to deal with the daily racist behavior of his former co-workers.  Meanwhile, Amy still experiences those.  Her boss has her fetch coffee all the time and talks to her about the importance of diversity.  She puts up with it hoping to move into real film work.  She asks him to submit her for a new position and he promises to do so.

Then a new employee compliments on her hair, says it's like Powder Puff Girls and reaches for it, asking if it's real.  Amy finds out this new employee has been hired for the position she wanted.

 

So for American viewers, it's an interesting look at the experience of black people in the UK.  I don't think the racism depicted is too heavy.  They seem mostly about white people being oblivious of how the things they say and do offend their co-workers of color.  And these are short scenes depicted deftly and with some comic undertones.

Some of the black characters are also seen in a satiric or mocking way, for instance the elder Jamaican and Nigerian aunties and Maurice, the roomie who's often putting his foot in his mouth.

 

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I saw the promos, this looks and sounds exhausting to watch, so I'm out.

 

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NPR article discusses Dreaming Whilst Black and The Other Black Girl on Hulu about blacks navigating a mostly white workplace.

Read in NPR: https://apple.news/AyHN7722IRIun3fgEGEfSzQ

 

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S01.E03:  The Friends - At a diversity mixer, Kwabena and Amy meet Timothy Eastly, a prominent industry executive famed for producing successful films and TV shows. Kwabena lays on the charm enough to get Timothy to read his script and consider him for a writing gig.

Kwabena sabotages himself with the TV producer, thinking that he was going to steal his movie idea.

Hope it doesn't become a regular thing.  Maybe he learns about the development process and the workings of the industry a bit.

 

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S01.E04:  The Birth - When Funmi goes into labour, a nervous Maurice is more on edge than ever. Doctors at the hospital refuse to take Funmi's concerns seriously, and her life may well soon hang in the balance. With everything going on, Kwabena reconsiders his priorities.

This episode has a much more somber tone than the previous ones.

Maurice is the anxious expectant father but he's seen as a threat because he's a large black man raising his voice in the maternity ward, asking them to check on Funmi.

Then the emergency C-section, made it seem like the episode was headed towards a heavy ending.

But all ended well and they brought the comedy back at the end of the episode when Kwabena imagines the baby taunting him about taking his room.

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E01.05:  The Pitch - After the birth of baby Mayowa, Kwabena moves back home with his mother. He struggles to impress the jurors in his development scheme and must decide whether he is willing to do what needs to be done to get the funding.

Kwabena applies for a Scheme or program which helps minority filmmakers finish their projects.

So he is going to pitch Jamaica Road and hope to complete it.

But when his younger cousin gets in trouble with the law, he’s advised to make a film based on the events surrounding his arrest, because it would be more familiar to the judges choosing which project to fund ouT of the Scheme.

His impulse is not to do it because he thinks it’s been overdone, movies about young black men wrongly getting arrested but he’s convinced to pitch that idea instead of Jamaica Road.

Meanwhile, Amy’s employer gets in trouble for making a video about his Britain’s colonial history should be taught to diverse student body.  Amy had advised against not doing the video but they want her to apologize publicly and be a black face to show that the company is responsive to diversity.

She refuses to do it and quits, rejecting their bribe of a promotion.  Kwabena convinces her not to go back to Nigeria, instead help him make his film.

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S01.E06 - The Premier - Kwabena is riding high after showcasing his film, which has gone down brilliantly with old friends and important guests from the film industry, and he finally receives an offer that makes him feel like he has taken the first step towards his dream.

 

The premier of his film is the season finale.  Kwabena hopes to get an agent to sign him at the screening of his film, The 9.

But he keeps having misgivings about making this film instead of Jamaica Road.  However The 9 wows the attendees at the screening and he does get signed, with the prospect of actual jobs in the film and TV industry.

His uncle though thinks he sold out his cousin, used his legal trouble to make this marketable film rather than his original artistic inspiration.

 

Well every aspiring artist faces a dilemma between pursuing his or her vision versus catering to the audience.  But if it leads to work in a more rewarding industry than doing. Food deliveries, it shouldn’t be a hard choice.

But his uncle’s judgmental tone weighs on Kwabena.