The Rachel Divide
The Rachel Divide
| 23 April 2018 (USA)
The Rachel Divide Trailers

Rachel Dolezal became infamous when she was unmasked as a white woman passing for black so thoroughly that she had become the head of her local N.A.A.C.P. chapter. This portrait cuts through the very public controversy to reveal Dolezal’s motivations.

Reviews
YouHeart I gave it a 7.5 out of 10
Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
Mabel Munoz Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?
Ariella Broughton It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.
kosmasp Can we seperate the overall issue from the person involved? Can a person feel a different color skin than the one they are with? Is this equivalent to the gender question? It's a question the movie raises, but it's tough to have clear sympathy for Rachel. Not because she doesn't deserve it at all. But because she has some very serious issues.Issues she has to work on and maybe even talk to a proffessional about. But will we look on her request to be someone else as so wrong in the future? I really don't know what to think about that and there lies something in this documentary that is tough to adress or to deal with in general. It's obvious that African Americans feel cheated, because someone just wants all the benefits of being black without having to endure the racism that goes along with it. On the other hand, Rachel did try to help .. she didn't use the right tools (allegedly), but that is a different story.So while it may seem simple on the surface, there is more to it beyond that ...
ComedyFan2010 Rachel Dolezal became well known to us when she was forced to confess that she is "born white". And after that I have always been thinking "wth!". So obviously I didn't want to miss this documentary.And you know, I am glad I didn't. It is very well done trying to be objective and giving the voice to pretty much everyone involved. I always felt bad for Rachel even though I think that while she can do whatever she wants with her hair and love any culture, if she thinks this makes her black, she needs a therapist. But what she did was pretty harmless and not out of malice. And yes it seems like some sort of escape from reality, finding herself, finding love and belonging among black people. I want to add that I am not very quick to accept her explanation that their parents abused them. Even if it was supported by the siblings. Because there is at least one other adopted brother who denies those stories, he was not in the movie. So I neither accept nor reject it. It is their family feud and I rather have them resolve it themselves.But no matter what this movie gave me a better understanding of Rachel, her family, people who support her and people who think that what she did was wrong. The movie gave us a lot of footage and a lot of voice. And yes, I think this is a valid topic to discuss. Hope it works out for them all.
shiroplum Good documentary. If the subject matter is of interest, you wont be disappointed. But I don't get all the criticism. The biggest hypocrites seem to be the outraged liberals. who chant transsexual good...transracial bad.
Shaun V. I'm from Belgium, so I never really experienced the scandal as Americans did. I can vaguely remember that it even made the newspapers here. I must have read this article years ago. When I opened Netflix I recognized Rachel. So I started watching.This documentary was actually better than I thought it would be. The main focus is clearly on Rachel herself, and how this scandal affects her children, family and in general her whole social life. From the beginning you get the straight feeling that this story is not an easy one to tell. There is no black and white (get it!? ;-) ), with a big lie in between. This is obviously a woman who has been struggling with her identity for many years. You do start to feel she cannot be categorized as a liar. That would just be to simple. I think Rachel does believe that she never really lied. Perhaps she was just really creative with the "truth", so she could continue being the person she loved the most. But when you ignore a certain part of you, it will come back to bite you. That's exactly what happened. Towards the end you do feel Rachel is pushing it. Her family is clearly crumbling, and trying to get away from her. I got the feeling she did see this happening, but just couldn't help herself. Her son was actually quite spot on: "You can't tell my mom what to do". Clearly frustrated. This kid just wishing for life getting back to normal. She's like a dog being hit with a stick and coming back for more. All this for acceptance she will never get.Being an European I do watch at identity a bit different then most Americans do. And I do feel this woman was born a few decades to early. Whether you like it or not, we've gone from a world to a little village in a few decades. Soon there will be no more "race". So identifying yourself with a certain culture will be a social choice. In that way I think the black community, understandably very hurt about the struggle they already had, made a big mistake here. Instead of demonizing this woman, they could have joined this idea. Making acceptance a universal thing. Not just related to the way you look and your skin color. Isn't this what they have been fighting for? Not being judged on the way you look, but who you are? Equal opportunities? Doesn't that go for a person, who is white but feels black? Or maybe it is just all very black and white. Who am I to say!?