In certain respects, this film is review-proof: Matt Walsh and The Daily Wire are already big winners. Their new feature film — a mockumentary about diversity education — opened last night in 1,500 theaters. Anecdotally, their fanbase responded enthusiastically, filling 75+ percent of seats in many markets across the country.
But The Daily Wire already got what it wanted: The visibility of their brand was amplified, and the celebrity profile of one of their biggest personalities, Matt Walsh, was elevated. Regardless of how well it does in the box office, as a vehicle for self-promotion, DEI = ROI.
The story (such as it is) is fairly thin: Matt Walsh has questions about diversity and racism, which leads him down the DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) rabbit hole. Alas, Wash is so gosh-darn famous, he must don a disguise. And so he does: God-awful skinny jeans, nerd-glasses and an ill-fitting man-bun. The rest of the film is mostly Walsh interviewing mush-brained “anti-racist” educators, slyly — and not so slyly — challenging their most cherished beliefs.
The parallels to “Borat,” a 2006 mockumentary by Sacha Baron Cohen, are self-evident. Walsh and Cohen are both gifted comedic interviewers with an uncanny knack for maintaining a straight face and perfect composure amidst mayhem and absurdity. Both rely on uncomfortable social moments, cringe-humor, subterfuge, and “gotcha” exposés of self-important tastemakers, influencers and experts.
“Am I Racist?” veers from the “Borat” formula towards the end, almost becoming a live-action version of “South Park,” complete with a Kyle-esque “I learned something today” speech in the finale.
There were no cameos by other Daily Wire personalities. (Excuse me: THE Daily Wire. I guess it’s like “The Batman.” Maybe we should follow their lead at The PJ Media.) The scene where Walsh leads a DEI workshop and they roll in his elderly uncle would’ve been a nice spot for an Andrew Klavan cameo. But other than a producer’s credit, there’s no sign of Ben Shapiro or any of Walsh’s conservative cohorts. No Brett Cooper, Jeremy Boreing, Michael Knowles, or anyone like that — a marked difference from their 2023 film, “Lady Ballers.”
There is a “Ben” — Matt Walsh’s on-air assistant during the filming — but this is Benyam Capel, who describes himself on Twitter/X as “one of Matt Walsh’s 17 black friends.” His identity as a black man is a catalyst for some of the film’s most memorable moments.
For many reasons, this is a tricky film to objectively review. Should I treat it like the standard Hollywood comedy? If so, it had multiple laugh-out-loud scenes — a step up from the Hollywood standard of none. No, it’s not a comedy classic, but it’s by no means a dud.
Should it be evaluated in the context as political propaganda? If so, we can be more forgiving of its choppiness. Not all its comedy landed, but it was almost always there to hammer a larger point: Fighting racism with more racism is really, really stupid.
There’s also the context of it being a conservative film. If you’re a conservative American who covets conservative content, you’ll likely be more supportive, because this was a film that was tailor-made for you. That’s how it is in this country now: There’s content for the left, content for the right — and unless there’s Marvel superheroes (or was directed by James Cameron), never shall the two meet again. Such is the cost of hyper-polarization.
One sidenote: Kudos to the editors and producers for making the film Kamala-centric. Numerous scenes were undoubtedly reshot — hastily, I’d assume — after Joe Biden abandoned his reelection campaign just a month ago. The film does a wonderful job at switching the focus away from Biden and onto Harris.
Like Walsh’s earlier film, “What Is a Woman?” this isn’t a movie that will revolutionize the ongoing social debate — if you’re not already on Walsh’s side, you’re unlikely to be swayed — but it sharpens the edges of the conservative counter-narrative. The (many) fallacies and contradictions of the left are exposed, mocked, ridiculed, and lampooned. Walsh successfully redirects liberal ambush-tactics to achieve conservative goals. In this light, “Am I Racist?” is the greatest example of conservative cultural appropriation in modern film history.
It’s probably unfair to expect too much from a comedy film, but I wished Walsh spent more time exploring the philosophical implications of his interviews: These DEI “experts” have created a worldview where racism is always, forever and eternal, and the only remedy is… hiring DEI experts. Not a bad gig if you can get it.
I attended “Am I Racist” with a 17-year-old fanboy of THE Daily Wire and a more ambivalent, apolitical 15-year-old. The 17-year-old rated it an 8.5; the 15-year-old a 6. I’d probably give it a 6.5. Watching it in a theater filled with happy, giggly conservatives added greatly to the ambiance. Just going by crowd reaction, the film succeeded in entertaining its target demo.
There are certainly worse ways to spend an evening.
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