Main theme

The main theme in Randy Yang’s short film, “Video”, is racial bias in the US. The short film explores this topic in the modern context of social media which allows for racial prejudices to be publicly exposed thanks to technologies that allow video to be recorded and uploaded to the internet.

“Video” shows two African-American girls catching a white woman shouting racist remarks to a homeless man. The dramatic development of the plot explores racial prejudices in both white and black communities.

The character of the white woman helps the director explore the prejudices some white Americans have towards African Americans.

The woman’s remarks to the homeless man suggest she believes him to be dangerous and to be living off social welfare granted by Barack Obama, instead of finding a job. She claims that he will be forced to get a job when a white president comes to power. This is an example of how some white Americans felt that Obama unfairly favored African Americans because he is also black. The woman’s attitude also shows a lack of understanding towards homelessness and poverty – conditions experienced disproportionately by the African-American population in the US. Her attitude indicates that she does not understand the social and economic reasons for this.

At...