I was intrigued with the title, "Spinning Into Butter." As a kid growing up some relatives still made their own butter from fresh milk, and I thought maybe there was a connection. But there isn't.
The title is a reference to the old "Black Sambo" story where he had an encounter with several tigers and when they finally chased each other round and round a tree so fast, they spun themselves into butter.
The story of the movie is a take-off of that theme, where the Tigers are represented by white students and administrators at a small Vermont college. There are a number of students of color, and on the surface everything seems fine, but a racial incident results in lots of hidden feelings being brought to the surface.
While the story addresses a worthwhile topic, too often it is treated in a sophomoric manner. Many of the things said and actions taken by the faculty and administration, in response to the incident, seem more like caricatures of what might be said or done. Still, it was an entertaining 90 minutes.
Sarah Jessica Parker is in the nominal lead role as Sarah Daniels, who is a student relations dean recruited from a predominantly black Chicago college, in the hopes that she could help bridge the racial divide.
SPOILERS: The incident is a racially charged note pinned to the door of a black student. Eventually another shows up, then a hangman's noose outside his dorm window. This gets the faculty, staff, student body, and local law enforcement into a tizzy. Also a local news reporter. Two things come out of all this, Sarah finally meets her fears head-on, she had left the Chicago college because of the fear she had developed towards minorities, at school, on the El. And second, the black student was the one pinning notes on his own door. Why? Because he was brought up to expect whites to denigrate him and he was trying to make that happen. He was looking to have everyone spin themselves into butter. He was expelled, Sarah went back to Chicago.
The title is a reference to the old "Black Sambo" story where he had an encounter with several tigers and when they finally chased each other round and round a tree so fast, they spun themselves into butter.
The story of the movie is a take-off of that theme, where the Tigers are represented by white students and administrators at a small Vermont college. There are a number of students of color, and on the surface everything seems fine, but a racial incident results in lots of hidden feelings being brought to the surface.
While the story addresses a worthwhile topic, too often it is treated in a sophomoric manner. Many of the things said and actions taken by the faculty and administration, in response to the incident, seem more like caricatures of what might be said or done. Still, it was an entertaining 90 minutes.
Sarah Jessica Parker is in the nominal lead role as Sarah Daniels, who is a student relations dean recruited from a predominantly black Chicago college, in the hopes that she could help bridge the racial divide.
SPOILERS: The incident is a racially charged note pinned to the door of a black student. Eventually another shows up, then a hangman's noose outside his dorm window. This gets the faculty, staff, student body, and local law enforcement into a tizzy. Also a local news reporter. Two things come out of all this, Sarah finally meets her fears head-on, she had left the Chicago college because of the fear she had developed towards minorities, at school, on the El. And second, the black student was the one pinning notes on his own door. Why? Because he was brought up to expect whites to denigrate him and he was trying to make that happen. He was looking to have everyone spin themselves into butter. He was expelled, Sarah went back to Chicago.