This is one of those cases where people have confused a movie ABOUT racism with a movie that IS racist. Turns out, it’s possible to discuss race and racism and admit that racism exists without actually being racist. Crazy, huh?
Anyway, WHITE DOG stars Kristy McNichol as a young actress who hits a dog with her car and takes it in after it recuperates and pays her back by fighting off a home invader. She becomes concerned there’s something wrong with the dog when it attacks a co-worker of hers for seemingly no reason.
McNichol takes the dog to a wild animal trainer (Burl Ives) who sizes it up as an attack dog and recommends having it destroyed. The dog attacks yet another person for seemingly no reason and… guess what? Both victims of unprovoked dog attacks are black!
Enter Paul Winfiled as another trainer who explains to McNichol that her dog is a “white dog” – a dog specifically trained to hate, fear and attack black people. Winfield takes it upon himself to correct the dog’s training, even though he admits that it’s probably impossible.
The dog escapes, there are more killings, etc, etc. You can probably figure out how this thing goes.
In any case, it’s a good movie, with a cast and direction that elevates the story above its borderline exploitative aspects. Winfield is particularly good as the trainer who takes the deprogramming of this dog personally.
Fuller always chooses shots and setups that take an interesting angle on the story. There’s one particularly well shot scene in which the dog has broken loose and is foraging through trash in an alley. The camera is at the corner of the alley and the main road, and we can see a young black kid walking down the street toward the dog. The kid can’t see the dog, the dog can’t see the kid, but we can see both. As the kid draws closer, we can’t help but cringe at the thought of the potential upcoming attack.
The movie isn’t offensive or shocking, really. Its reputation precedes it. Still, it’s a solid suspense flick that has balls.
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