anyone watching The Rachel Divide?

[Tybee]

It is on Netflix, about Rachel Donazal (sp?). Absolutely fascinating and I realize how little I knew about her, and how much more complex this story is than I knew. It's only a couple of hours but I started it late and want to finish it today, and wondered what you all thought. I think it presents a lot of interesting issues about a lot of things, and I have found myself wondering some of the same things she wonders in the film, such as when she is supposed to select a race on her child's birth certificate.

[Ultralight]

She apparently changed her name (good, because it is impossible to pronounce and/or spell).

[JaneV2.0]

I read her book, and came away with it still not understanding why she felt it necessary to reinvent herself.

[Tybee]

I read her book, and came away with it still not understanding why she felt it necessary to reinvent herself.

Jane, from watching it, I get the feeling it had to do with abuse from her parents and older brother?

[JaneV2.0]

My guess was she was exaggerating the abuse--you never really know with memoirs what's true, and what's for effect. Even if it were true, why not just separate yourself from your family of origin?

I never read a coherent reason to claim a heritage she doesn't have and parlay it into jobs, speaking engagements, education and art opportunities...

[iris lilies]

She is idiotic.

[JaneV2.0]

She is idiotic.

Not to put too fine a point on it, eh? :laff:

[iris lilies]

Not to put too fine a point on it, eh? :laff:

Well it is funny that just yesterday I looked up on YouTube that video of the reporter who interviewed her standing out on the street, the interview that began the unraveling of her storybook life.He started out asking her about all of the racially charged threatening anonymous letters she had reported receiving, and after letting her jaw for a while, he zoomed in for the kill.

She is a very skilled liar.

[sweetana3]

The whole story reminds me of the Spanish woman who successfully faked being a World Trade Center survivor and fiance of a man who died in Tower 1. She became the head of the survivor's group before being found out by reporters doing research on all the survivors. She apparently did not make money from the scam but got attention which was what she wanted.

I have no problem with her being whatever she wants but when it involves lying to others to get into the group, it is not authentic.

[JaneV2.0]

Yeah--I can understand her identifying with a community to the extent that she immersed herself in it, but I can't understand--or excuse--the lying and exploitation part.

[iris lilies]

Yeah--I can understand her identifying with a community to the extent that she immersed herself in it, but I can't understand--or excuse--the lying and exploitation part.
After listening to the filmmaker on NPR, I kinda/sorta understand little Rachel. Essentially she is living out a teenager’s temper tantrum in rebelling against her parents. In little Rachel’s mind, if she think of herself as “white” she becomes one of “them” i.e. her parents and her birth family. Because they are bad people, she cant be one of them and still maintan her integrity.

Anyway, this is Rachel Logic which is, of course, silly. It has far less to do with embracing a culture she admires than fleeing a “culture” she thinks of as abusive and mean. She is running AWAy from something, not running TOWARD something.

I did not watch the documentary or read her book and probably will not. But I have a question...did the incident at the college she attended get covered in book or film? I mean the incident where she was said to have accused that historically black college with some kind of discrimination charge?

[JaneV2.0]

After listening to the filmmaker on NPR, I kinda/sorta understand little Rachel. Essentially she is living out a teenager’s temper tantrum in rebelling against her parents. In little Rachel’s mind, if she think of herself as “white” she becomes one of “them” i.e. her parents and her birth family. Because they are bad people, she cant be one of them and still maintan her integrity.

Anyway, this is Rachel Logic which is, of course, silly. It has far less to do with embracing a culture she admires than fleeing a “culture” she thinks of as abusive and mean. She is running AWAy from something, not running TOWARD something.

I did not watch the documentary or read her book and probably will not. But I have a question...did the incident at the college she attended get covered in book or film? I mean the incident where she was said to have accused that historically black college with some kind of discrimination charge?

I don't remember her addressing that issue--or if she did she mischaracterized it. Creative Memoir Writing 101...

[Tybee]

I felt bad for her and her siblings. Her sister had scars from where one of the parents hit her with a bullwhip. It was a sick family culture, and I think Rachel tried to save them from the parents.

I did not see her actions as living out a teenaged temper tantrum, not at all. She seemed sad and lost. I was surprised, since I had always thought she was just an opportunist.

After viewing the film, I have no idea what she was.

[JaneV2.0]

Do any of her siblings corroborate the sordid details she relates? Bullwhip? Really?

I came away from the book not thinking any more highly of her than i did before I read it. I found it self-serving and it glossed over questions that begged to be answered.

[Tybee]

Do any of her siblings corroborate the sordid details she relates? Bullwhip? Really?

I came away from the book not thinking any more highly of her than i did before I read it. I found it self-serving and it glossed over questions that begged to be answered.
Jane I did not read the book. My post was about the film. Her sister Esther was the one who showed the scar on her leg, not rachel. Her sister Esther described her abuse by the parents.

[JaneV2.0]

Jane I did not read the book. My post was about the film. Her sister Esther was the one who showed the scar on her leg, not rachel. Her sister Esther described her abuse by the parents.

There seems to be a divide among the siblings as to how bad their upbringing was--which is typical of siblings, I think. Certainly if you have an abusive family of origin, "divorcing" it is perfectly reasonable. I gather the film doesn't address the reinvention part, either.

[iris lilies]

The way Rachel Dolezal has dealt with her trauma is not the reaction of a fully actualized adult, it is the reaction of a child. She probably is, as you say Tybee, sad and lost, but I think of that as childlike behavior.

I completely understand someone wanting to distance themselves from abusive parents. That is healthy.

It is NOT healthy to engage in the behaviors she has engaged in—lying about who she is, creating false scenarios where she is the victim of racial hate crimes, using her lies to get jobs. These are not the actions of a fully functional adult. It reminds me of what therapists call “acting out” which seems to be applied most often to children.

She is probably mentally ill but that doesnt mean she isnt annoying.

[sweetana3]

I think it is an attention getting mental illness. She will continue so long as she gets the attention she wants. The 911 fake survivor continued her attention getting behavior until it turned seriously dangerous and she was hounded out of the US (she was Spanish).