Dear White People creator Justin Simien wants his show to age poorly

Vulture

"I’m not one of these people who thinks, 'Let’s never talk about Gone With the Wind again,'" Simien tells Vulture. "I’m not on that tip, because I want the conversation to be more nuanced. There are steps we took with Dear White People that, frankly, are going to feel wanting ten years from now. They should, if Dear White People is doing its job. It’s hopefully transitioning the culture into a more free place, but we are not free culturally by any means. I hope and expect that the next person who makes a show that’s similar to ours in terms of format will go a step even further. To me, that’s the whole point of art. So I’m not worried about it. I invite it. I was watching M*A*S*H the other day because I’m a nerd, and it has so many problematic elements to it. It’s incredibly misogynistic, there are absolutely racist overtones, but that show was necessary to transition us culturally in a place where we could reject the Vietnam War and see comedy on television as an art form. You have to have M*A*S*H in order to get to the next stage. But a lot of these instances are awkward. Especially with the blackface stuff. I remember seeing Tropic Thunder. I remember seeing the blackface episode in 30 Rock. I remember those references and at the time feeling like they were inappropriate. It was just an excuse to get a blackface joke in."