White Chicks (2004) Film Review

(February 2022)

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‘You can’t say White Chicks is a classic!

…. But there’s nobody around…?!’

If this were a biased review, it would be easy to compare White Chicks as a classic, existing within the realms of Euripides ‘The Frogs’, a satirical play about men masquerading as women in high society. If this review were biased, it would include mentions of the camp comedic genius of the Wayan brothers and their portrayal of the rich, entitled, bratty white woman, who ruled the 2000’s populist.

I’m not saying it’s the funniest, most quotable, silliest and soundest film to come out of the 2000’s, or that its humour rivals its compassion, nor that it is something people should see to enjoy film again, amid the landscape of ‘dark remakes’, that suck the fun and colour out of brilliant shows/films/stories- see the ‘dark’ Fresh Prince of Bel Air, the ruining of ‘The Winx Club’ and the seriously serious live action ‘Titans’.

Some may argue that the comedy hasn’t aged well, the fashion certainly hasn’t, nor has the stereotyping of women of colour or, the titular, ‘white chicks’.

But the redemption of such socialites in the 2020’s, (Hilton, Spears, and Lohan), the film revisited suggests the villainization of the rich and famous as they occurred in the 2000s and the particularly sexist rhetoric regarding women and their duty to keeping up appearances in (high) society.

Perhaps it’s the nostalgia talking, but there is something infinitely enjoyable about ‘yo momma’ jokes and toilet humour, compared to cinemas need for ‘smart films’, tragedies to induce thought and morality unto its audiences.

You can be a passive viewer of White Chicks, if you want, or you can indulge in its silliness, laugh in recognition with your friends over the humour, personalities, and such.