this post was submitted on 19 Feb 2026
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I got a friend who's MAGA and I've been talking to her about her politics for a bit and she's willing to hear me out on my concerns. It's also black history month, and she knows nothing about black history.

I wanna watch a movie with her or a documentary that dives into modern-day racism without explicitly putting down MAGA/conservatives. My goal is not to insult her or make her feel bad, it's to educate her, hence why I'm asking.

(Please let me know if something I've said is problematic or offensive in some kinda way? Sometimes I word things badly or I will ask things that arent okay and I dont realize it until I hit post, lemme know so I can correct myself for the future thankyuuuu ;w;)

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[–] pomegranatefern@sh.itjust.works 3 points 14 hours ago

It's not quite the movie/documentary you are looking for, but I have seen https://leavingmaga.org/ spread around.

[–] RizzRustbolt@lemmy.world 2 points 15 hours ago

If Beale Street Could Talk

[–] Jela@lemmy.today 7 points 1 day ago

I would highly recommend Blue Bayou, it's about a Korean-American man in Louisiana raised by adoptive parents, but never got the proper paperwork to be considered a citizen. Amazing film, had me tearing up.

[–] Naryaskant@lemmy.today 34 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Before you try to educate someone else, I suggest you educate yourself first (because this is a really hairy terrain to navigate).

https://youarenotsosmart.com/2022/06/27/yanss-236-how-minds-change/

https://www.streetepistemology.com/

https://www.cnvc.org/

Oooo yummy links

[–] devolution@lemmy.world 26 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That one on Youtube about the dad. I can't think of the name. Racism will only if they have a personal connection with a minority (intimacy, blood relations, friends, community, etc.).

[–] ThePowerOfGeek@lemmy.world 26 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

The Brainwashing Of My Dad?

Yeah, that's a good one.

The problem is the recipient has to be receptive to their bias and intolerance. And most either aren't or actively revel in it.

[–] devolution@lemmy.world 15 points 1 day ago (2 children)

OP mentioned his friend is willing to be receptive so that's why I mentioned that one. And thanks for the name.

[–] Cock_Inspecting_Asexual@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Her, and im also black so im like, the perfect candidate for this 🥴

[–] devolution@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

LoL. Yes you are. Good luck. From an old black dude to a black youngin'.

[–] ThePowerOfGeek@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Good point. Hopefully it works for his friend.

I was talking in more general terms. Most of the time people don't want to open their mind to a different perspective. That's awesome that OP's friend is bucking that trend!

Oh yea she's super cool when not spewing stuff about the border. Ive got her to change her opinion on Book bannings and LGBT books being in schools.

She's very receptive to hearing me out and so is her family it seems. They're all conservative.

[–] SuperEars@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago (2 children)

"Jesus Camp" is just a dive into evangelical child indoctrination camps, in the George W Bush era. One scene has this prayer circle of children praying to a cardboard cutout of W.

It's arguably not constructive, but I'd say it's more a mirror to reflect towards a MAGA viewer "Look - this is you now."

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

The preacher in that doc, screaming about the gays? Got caught smoking meth in a cheap motel room with a couple of gay prostitutes.

Not that there's anything wrong with that...

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[–] Cock_Inspecting_Asexual@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That looks like a good one too

[–] pdxfed@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Related: Marjoe, is a 1970s Oscar winner for best documentary about a child preacher, Baptist preaching, the money involved in the preaching/god industry, and to a degree clearly exposed the raw core of manipulation inherent. It's a documentary so doesn't come straight out and say it, so it could be interpreted differently perhaps by a strong religious conservative. It's a fantastic exposé.

Honestly some of the Michael moore movies; Roger and me might hit different for some of those folks now that they're suffering the continued effects of wealth concentration that is so flagrantly and unashamedly happening. Sicko will probaby hit many folks across the aisle as the issue is universal. Bowling for Columbine might be interesting depending on if they are a gun nut.

The atomic cafe is in my top 5 movies of any genre. It's not just about arms proliferation, it pulls together a ton of cultural pieces and shows how naive, propagandized, and horrible a nascent fascist nation began post WWII.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

unlikely if you cant target the root of the problems, they would just call things woke. your basically saying changing thier mind without offending them, they are easily offended.

if shes willing to look at MLK, m. and the civil rights movement.

Nahh she isnt the type to yell "WOKE" at stuff. Thank god. She's just SEVERELY in the dark about shit.

She knows nothing about black history month, celebrities like Beyonce, Dolly Parton or Kanye; I thought she was fucking with me when she said "Isnt West a direction?" when I mentioned his name.

The only things she knows about are Politics and Roleplay (We roleplay gay shit on discord and that's how we met lmfao)

So "woke stuff" doesnt phase her cus we roleplay "woke" stuff all the time with Monster boys on discord 🤣🤣 Her family is also aware and is super chill about it.

[–] Randomgal@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Make sure she is actually interested in watching or learning more. It can come off as very preachy and grandiose what you're doing.

[–] Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 23 hours ago

Like those MAGA priests? /s

[–] Cock_Inspecting_Asexual@lemmy.world 2 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

Mmmm true.... How do I not sound preachy?

[–] Randomgal@lemmy.ca 0 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Honestly? I would back out of this entirely and just enjoy the friendship. Personally, I would feel manipulated regardless, I dont like the idea of friends with an agenda for me. What I believe is my business.

If she starts it? Sure, that's a different matter. That's how you avoid sounding preachy. By not preaching.

[–] Cock_Inspecting_Asexual@lemmy.world 1 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

I mean... I just worry for her dude... Her dad already gog laid off just 2 nights after they were talking to me about how "Trump was gonna make more jobs n fix all the layoffs" or whatever tf. and the company her dad works for LOBBIED WITH TRUMP to get him elected.

Shes super sheltered and just knows absolutely nothing about black history which I feel is a problem. At the very least I just her educated about black issues n shit cus her and her mom mentioned some shit about being "Colorblind" and just- as a darkie myself im just not about that 😭

[–] Randomgal@lemmy.ca 1 points 4 hours ago

It is up to them to learn from their mistakes. That's how learning works.

[–] Iamsqueegee@sh.itjust.works 13 points 1 day ago

American History X might be a good movie.

[–] choui4@lemmy.zip 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Not trying to dissuade you, but have you considered talking to her about class politics and the economy?

[–] Cock_Inspecting_Asexual@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I believe I have and she's brought up some conspiracy theories to try and dissuade my points. Im gonna prolly educate her tonight on the psychology if Conspiracy theories and see what she thinks after that

[–] choui4@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Will you keep us posted?

Have you ever heard of the Socratic method?

[–] Cock_Inspecting_Asexual@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I have not actually, and yeah ima keep yall posted ^^

[–] choui4@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 day ago

Hell ya, best of luck.

The Socratic involves (but if not limited to), asking the person youre conversing with a lot of follow up questions. Continuing to drill down until you get to the root of the issue. Then, you can work backwards to change their thinking to be more grounded in reality.

This is a really bad explanation but it works wonders for Consevatives. Ill give you a real-world example i had with my parents:

Them: "we dont like immigrants"

Me: why?

Them: they take our jobs

Me: how do they do that?

Them: by working for subpar wages

Me: ya, it sucks because it does take jobs away from people in this country. I wish employers were willing to pay fair wages

(Cut short for brevity)

[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 8 points 1 day ago

I cannot imagine having a maga friend at this point. I could not look at them without thinking how insane they are.

[–] REDACTED@infosec.pub 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

This is not the answer you're looking for, but I remember watching Green Mile as a child and that movie struck with me for life, and likely attributed early on to me being one of the few non-racist folks around here somewhere in East Europe

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[–] freshcow@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

The Perfect Neighbor on Netflix had me in tears. About a black mother who was killed in Florida by someone trying to claim Stand Your Ground laws

[–] atro_city@fedia.io 7 points 1 day ago

Not a movie but a youtube playlist: The Alt-Right Playbook

The first thing that comes to mind is that documentary that I think was on Netflix about the 13th amendment. It's just called "13th".

[–] disregardable@lemmy.zip 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I think you should start with Nixon. Start with the war on the drugs. Some people like to believe that racism "stopped" after the civil rights movement, but we just changed the way we described the targeting.

is there a good movie for that?

[–] Superdooper@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I feel like this is the perfect video for this as the guy himself used to be alt right : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OygHnodf0XM&t=1

Maybe not one as direct as that one if ya catch my drift. She gets defensive and dismissive if im too direct about it. but ima keep that vid in mind

[–] SwingingTheLamp@piefed.zip 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Honestly, I don't have such a movie to suggest, I don't think such a movie can exist, due to the Backfire Effect. Changing people's minds takes time, and the impetus to change has to come from within. The handful of times that I've managed to do it involved sharing an idea or observation that doesn't immediately trigger their defenses, but metaphorically is like dropping a grain of sand in the gears of their mind, and then letting it do the work of grinding away at the teeth, until one day their old thought process breaks down. It can take months.

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[–] TribblesBestFriend@startrek.website 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Peter Watkins

The War Game, Punishment Park, (the longuets) La commune (Paris, 1871)

They are each a documentary with a but.

The War Game talk about atomic bomb and use real citations but nothing in the movie is real. Punishment Parc take a hypothetical ~~facist~~ situation where the US government build a open prison into the Mojave desert and let loose convict in a kind of capture the flag run against police trainees, the fun part is that he take left leaning actor to play right wing voice and vice versa. In La Commune he take a theatre troupe and made them play the event of the Commune de Paris but there’s a « TV Crew » that are citing journal headline of the time.

[–] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I'll ask my wife, because she's been consuming a lot of racism lately. (Lots of civil war era books, with a strong focus on the injustices against black people.)

Off the top of my head there's of course, Roots.

We also watched the Free State of Jones. It's based on a true story that puts you in the shoes of a Rebel soldier who goes AWOL, and befriends a group of runaway slaves.

Since you know your friend better than any of us, you might want to watch any suggestions alone, and possibly even search online for an in depth analysis of it before presenting it to your friend. That way you can be prepared to intelligently discuss any topics that might come up.

EDIT: My wife reminded me of American History X, which is more anti KKK than pro-black, but it's also much more modern and VERY graphic.

Good luck!

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 2 points 1 day ago

If you're going there, then 12 Years A Slave is the best take on pre-Civil War slavery. It's a true story, and the book is great, too.

[–] SlurpingPus@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

Don't have any particular titles (mostly due to not living in the US), but I've noticed black people call the genre ‘civil rights movies’: e.g. Roy Wood Jr. here and in other clips. So perhaps googling that would yield some recommendations.

[–] roofuskit@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

It would have to involve a lot of emotion. It would need to trigger empathy in them so should center around a person who they would identify with. For racism it's unlikely you'll find a documentary for that.

[–] Cock_Inspecting_Asexual@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

They have empathy, its just misguided. They arent a racist but believe in being "Colorblind" (which is another conversation ima have to have with her lmao)

Her and her family just seem like the Misguided type of brainwashed where the only reason they became MAGA is out of some kind of fear or desperation for wanting to better their country. Innocent reasons that lead them into a horrible pipeline. They arent too far gone yet cus they enjoy talking to me and hearing out what I have to say. Even admitting when they are wrong in some aspects

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[–] theywilleatthestars@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)
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