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When Twitter was ablaze about a new film called Loqueesha, I barely had time to process or even watch the trailer. For me, the logline was enough to question why anyone had decided to make a film chock full of such blatant cultural appropriation and mockery, especially one that comes at the expense of black women.

If you weren’t privy to the firestorm that erupted, let me briefly fill you in on the premise. Loqueesha, the early frontrunner for the 2020 Razzies, is the story of a white bartender named Joe (Jeremy Saville) made to believe that his advice is worth gold (notably, by his mostly inebriated patrons). So much so that one of his patrons, a black woman/painfully obvious love interest named Rachel (Susan Diol), encourages him to apply for a radio hosting gig. Ignoring the fact that the ad specifically seeks culturally diverse applicants, Joe continues to work with Rachel on his demo tape for submission. When rejection comes his way, he is naturally disappointed.

Never fear, though! Joe has a unique epiphany while watching a Jerry Springer-type show with two black women fighting. He realizes that no one wants advice from a regular Joe Schmo; what they really want is the real tea from black women. So, instead of using his time and resources to find an actual black woman who is qualified for a gig like this, he decides that he can easily just morph into a black woman, Tootsie-style. Joe, doesn’t need the full experience though, he prefers to be black-adjacent —you know, without all of the oppression, backlash, and systemic racism, of course. I mean who wants the actual responsibility of being black, when you can just use the culture for your own personal and professional gains, right? And of course, if you’re going to go black, do like Joe, reinvent yourself submit as a hyper, over-exaggerated, ghetto and stereotypical version of a black woman, with a non nonsense and matter-of-fact personality, because that’s what the people want, especially white people.

As you might expect, the screenwriter —oh, did we mention that star Jeremy Saville also wrote, directed and produced this movie?!?— needs to invent some justification for his lead character’s racist behavior. Saville makes yet another regrettable decision by leaning into some nagging female tropes by giving Joe an ex-wife who pressures him to single-handedly come up with $13,000 for their son’s gifted school education. Once Joe uses his privilege to convince the station owners to hire him, unseen, while also agreeing to all of his wild terms, he then needs a team of people he can trust to be quiet about his charade. He enlists the help of two black people to serve as his producer and the face of Loqueesha. Joe is killing it, he gets to be the non-licensed therapist of his dreams, while hiding behind the robust personality of Loqueesha and winning the hearts of listeners along the way. Even his business partners in crime start to applaud him and buy into the delusional belief that he is a better black woman, than an actual black woman. Heck, even the actress playing Loqueesha agreed!

Naturally, life starts to catch up with him. The actress wants more money and opportunities, which she “black-fe-mails” him for. His conscience starts to weigh heavy, and eventually needs to come clean. But first, Rachel has to profess her feelings for him, after disappearing and not being in contact for what felt like months. It isn’t until after Rachel finds out about the lie, that anyone confronts him about his lies and racism thinly veiled under the guise of comedy. So, since this is Joe’s story, after he apologizes and cancels Loqueesha as a personality, he decides to quit altogether. Right after Rachel admonishes him, she encourages him to still not give up on his dreams; after all, they’re in love! ‘Cause there is absolutely no way Joe could truly be racist; he’s got a black (girl)friend! Of course, he ends up being himself and walking out with not one but TWO jobs: one radio show as Joe Schmo and one as Loqueesha! His life ends up better than he could’ve even Imagined. Plot twist, right? Not at all, of COURSE he gains twofold after exploiting black culture.

This film was painfully hard to watch. As a black woman, I’m tired of the same stereotypical representations of what others think and assume we are. We are not a monolith. Our bold personalities cannot and should not be mocked by white men. We should not have people profiting off of mocking our pain, uniqueness, beauty, hardships, life lessons, cadence, culture and more. And hiding behind the message that the strong black woman inside him encouraged him to be the best version of himself is even worse. When will creatives of colors get hired more to tell our stories authentically? When will people stop using black women as a whole as the whipping board for their entertainment? Also, when will there be better opportunities for more meaningful comedic content? I don’t have any of these answers but I know I’m tired and wouldn’t recommend this film to anyone, living or dead.

Kay-B is a journalist, writer and podcaster living in New York City. She enjoys all things TV & film, world travel, great food and delightful books.

Where to stream Loqueesha