Good story, Not enough for a whole film

good back-story, and good acting

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

If Rachel Dolezal (forgot her new name, sorry) did actually suffer a traumatic childhood, and I believe she did, then she deserves compassion.I understand the divide regarding Dolezal's identity and I do agree with many people from the black community's (and others) responses. However, there is much more to be gained through understanding than outrage and hate.This doc left me straddling the line and I think most people would benefit from thinking in this position.

It's becoming rare that a documentary actually presents an even handed account of its subject, and trying to do that with Rachel Dolezal is perhaps about as impossible as can be simply due to the number of levels her story touches on.Most everyone, I assume, knows her as the woman who was born white, but called herself black and was the president of the Spokane NAACP. But why did she do that? If Rachel can be trusted, and really that is a big if, it's that her parents adopted some black children but she took it upon herself to teach them black culture. Along the way she found herself identifying more and more with what she saw as "black culture."What I think this documentary does a particularly good job at is saying that there is no one thing that is set apart as "black culture", just as there really is no one thing that sets any other culture apart exclusively. What Rachel did was take elements of what she saw black culture as, maybe the ones that she liked the most, and claimed them as hers. For whatever reason though she didn't see that as being dishonest, even with the people she was trying so desperately to identify with telling her that it was.One part of this documentary that really stuck out to me though was one of her critics saying that she is using her sons as her struggle. Rachel is a mother, and seemingly one who wants her children to do well, but she has come across as taking their difficulties on as her own. To me that reveals that ultimately she see it's really all about her. She either seems oblivious or indifferent to what her sons are going through because she refuses, or is incapable, of being honest with herself and with the world. She has made life more difficult for them and she doesn't really seem to care.And yet, it's hard not to feel something for Rachel despite all that. Where I draw the line though is it doesn't justify anything she has done.

This is one for the DSM. I have a much better understanding of this woman after watching this documentary. Here's what I think happened: she had abusive white parents and loving adopted black siblings. She needed to dissociate from the parents and wanted badly to be a part of the only other family she had who just so happened to be black. Being white to her means being a helpless abused young girl. She even says that at the end! Had her siblings been Canadian, I think she'd be claiming Canadian heritage. She also clearly really loves the attention. I can't fully figure her out, but I do think some therapy could help her face her past trauma and potentially realize why what she is doing is wrong and harmful to the black community.

I had a hard time getting through this documentary. Usually I can find ways to find something likable about a main character but try as I might, I couldn't come up with any likability for this woman.She seems very cold and detached. I felt bad she had such a horrible childhood, which is why she identifies with being black, although I'm still unsure about that. I am not black, but if I were, I would resent her lies. She cannot know how a black person experiences discrimination or have a sense of an ancestry. As far as black being a social construct, I have never heard of anything so stupid. Just my opinion. I think she needs therapy to try to heal herself, instead of passing herself off as something she is not.