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*Netflix’s new comedy “Step Sisters” is now streaming on the network, and in case you missed all the controversy when the trailer initially dropped (see above), the story follows the president of a black sorority (Megalyn Echikunwoke) who is tasked with teaching one of the campus’ white sororities how to step dance for a charity competition.
As you can imagine, the reaction to that premise was… not good, as noted by the L.A. Times.
“We can’t have anything at all,” read one comment online. “None of us black sororities and fraternities are going to watch this foolishness. It’s African… Can we just have it please? Good Lord!! #sofrustrating.”
“The black girls better win cause y’all ain’t about to appropriate rhythm too…,” was another reaction to the trailer.
“Ummm no thank you,” said a third. “This is not what the culture needs and this is not based in reality. Stop appropriating African American culture to make a buck!”
But Echikunwoke and her co-star Nia Jervier: “Understand why some people are put off by the logline. But it’s one of those movies where you have to watch it,” Echikunwoke said.
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“I think an important thing for all of us when making this movie was to make sure that it wasn’t just a film about white girls taking something from the black community.” — Lena Waithe pic.twitter.com/fft0ZdV9IX
— Step Sisters (@stepsisters) January 12, 2018
Jervier added, “The stepping and humor put honey on what might be a tough pill for people to swallow. You receive a message without you knowing you’re there to get one.”
Stepping is deeply rooted in African tradition and “is most often employed by historically black fraternities and sororities.”
“The people who made this film are in the culture depicted,” said Ben Cory Jones, a writer on HBO’s “Insecure” and producer of “Step Sisters,” noting that writer Chuck Hayward (“Fat Camp,” “Dear White People”) and Jones himself are both members of black Greek-letter organizations.
“We understand the special nature of black Greek organizations and we’re paying homage to that and creating some space where we can have some dialogue about it,” he added.
“Hayward was inspired to pen the script after watching a YouTube video of a white sorority on a predominantly white college campus — as opposed to at a historically black college or university — stepping” — per L.A. Times.
Emmy-winning writer Lena Waithe serves as a producer on the film, and said, “No one is trying to be offensive. At the end of the day, the film is about sharing culture. Culture is meant to be appreciated and explored by everyone.
She added, “I’m a believer in not judging something until you’ve seen it. I implore all of them to check out the movie. You can’t talk to us about it until you see it. And I respect those who are like, ‘That’s just not my cup of tea. I don’t want to go there.’ That’s their choice, but then you can’t bash it. If you see it and then you still [don’t like it], that’s fair game.”
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