There will be a time when it’s okay to have the name Karen again. But right now, in 2021, you can’t help but feel bad for any normal, upstanding woman with the name Karen, as the name has gained another meaning in recent years as a way to denote a panicky white woman that swears she is fine with Black people but is actually completely racist. And Karens of the world are going to be upset by the new BET film, aptly titled “Karen.”
As seen in the trailer for “Karen,” the film is basically an aggregation of all the ridiculous racist stories that we’ve seen from the last two years combined into a feature film format. You start with a Black couple moving into the suburbs where they’re situated right next to a middle-aged woman named Karen White (Tarryn Manning). As the name not-so-subtly suggests, Karen White isn’t excited by the prospect of Black people moving into her neighborhood and during their initial meeting, she’s basically laying out every racist microaggression in the book, making her new neighbors well aware they are not welcome.
From there, the trailer shows clips that are sadly all too real—Karen on the phone with police trying to report young Black kids for doing nothing, cops using aggressive force when it’s completely unnecessary because they can, and confederate flag memorabilia being proudly displayed for all to see, even though it’s only there to commemorate their heritage (*eye roll*). All that to say, the trailer would be hilarious if it wasn’t so damn real and didn’t have links to real tragedies that we’ve seen on an almost daily basis over the past several years.
Of course, if the trailer wasn’t enough and you want to see filmmaker Coke Daniels’ full feature, it is coming soon, though a date is not announced. You can watch the trailer below.