★★
Chelsea Handler explores how white privilege impacts American culture and the ways it's benefited her life and career.
Classification: 15
When though the documentary itself acknowledges that its very existence is a result of white privilege, Hello Privilege. It's Me, Chelsea feels like a clueless quest for validation as comedian Chelsea Handler tries to battle the concept of white privilege. This film is only an hour in length and consists mostly of talking-head interviews with far more interesting subjects than Handler herself, she attempts to inject her humour in places but is wise enough to allow the more personal details to be the focus rather than herself. Despite this restraint, however, a lot of the documentary feels self-important, a chance for Handler to earn "credibility" for addressing how she found mainstream success despite her inappropriate behaviour and using that success to highlight serious racial issues in America. The catalyst for the film seems to come from a place of white guilt, or a sense of why me? Handler is questioning why she has found success where so many have failed and it can make Hello Privilege. feel like an entitled vanity project so she can just say "see I'm aware of the struggle, praise me".
The film isn't a lost cause, Handler can obtain fascinating and powerful interviews from the wide net of topics she casts in the film. Interviews with subjects such as Ruby Sales, Tim Wise and rapper Jelly Roll do provide an interesting viewpoint in their fields but it feels that director Alex Stapleton and Handler change direction every time they are directly challenged in their intentions with the film. Handler herself confronts her personal history with white privilege as she recounts history with her old African American boyfriend from her teenage years but only after Jelly Roll has her reveal that to the audience. It may seem like an organic form of storytelling, showing how Handler is going on this journey of self-discovery and understanding but it feels like a fishing expedition for whatever will make the documentary relevant. When the film isn't allowing compelling dialogue about white privilege, it has Handler perform these Daily Show-esque segments with obvious targets who don't believe white privilege is a problem. Here Handler doesn't seem to want to start a dialogue but subtly mock their ignorance which undercuts the documentary's intention of learning about white privilege.
Hello Privilege. isn't about finding a solution but its during these pieces of the documentary that it doesn't even feel like its about learning about the causes either. Racism is embedded in American society, a complex hatred that spans centuries and manifests in both hateful and ignorant ways, bred into the very ways people live their lives. Having a rich celebrity tease them for that ignorance is not going to sway them to a place of understanding instead have them root into their bigoted beliefs further. The documentary does explain the concepts of white privilege, it's a problem caused and can only be solved by white people but held back by a fear that equality will actually bring more inequality in some oxymoronic scale of fairness. The issue is what will this film do? What will Handler's quest accomplish? She can interview as many people as she likes to understand this problem but what actually can Hello Privilege. accomplish?. Handler acknowledges these doubts with the film but it shows how Handler may not be the appropriate subject for a documentary exploring these themes. When she accepts her personal history it does give the film a more emotional core as Handler can personally relate to white privilege that harmed others but as one activist says to her combating white privilege is a daily struggle, so unless Handler continues these efforts beyond the film then these revelations feel pointless.
Despite the information and emotion that can be gained from Hello Privilege. It's Me, Chelsea there is not enough to justify its intentions. It's a half baked attempt of a celebrity trying to bring awareness to a social issue that many have committed their lives to combating and using her celebrity to cram as much into her film as possible. Celebrity cameos from African American comedians, professors, musicians, members of the public all speak to Handler because of her privilege. Most of the figures she interviews would be more fascinating subjects for documentaries than Handler herself as the wide array of topics covered involving racism in America. Its uneven direction of the subject matter that makes Hello Privilege. so frustrating, Stapleton and Handler don't know what they want in this film or what they want to achieve with it and think acknowledging these difficulties during the process will somehow make the audience more receptible to it. White privilege is a serious problem in society and this quest for validation is not the answer people need.
Director: #AlexStapleton
Cast: #ChelseaHandler
Release Date: September 13th 2019
Available exclusively on Netflix
Trailer:
Written review copyright ©CoreyBullochReviews
Images and Synopsis from the Internet Movie Database
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