Did You Hear About Kitty Karr?

Content Warning: This section includes discussions of racism, colorism, racially motivated violence and abuse, and rape.

The book’s main theme is the deep-rooted and ever-prevalent nature of racism in the US. Through Kitty’s character, the reader sees the history of how the racist structure of US society was built, starting with white people enslaving Black people and progressing to the segregated South of the Jim Crow era. Through Kitty, the reader sees how the events of the civil rights era, like the murder of Emmett Till and the Montgomery bus boycotts, affected Black people throughout the United States. Through Elise’s character, the reader receives a reality check: The racism of Kitty’s past is still present to this day. The narrative references modern incidents like the backlash against football player Colin Kaepernick for kneeling in honor of #blacklivesmatter and against Meghan Markle for marrying a white English prince. Elise reveals that when she posts about #blacklivesmatter on her Instagram, her publicist, Rebecca, takes the posts down because they make her uncomfortable and go against Elise’s “brand,” which in Rebecca’s eyes requires her to look and behave as white as possible. Finally, in the book’s final chapters, it is revealed that Elise witnessed and experienced police brutality as a child when her father was pulled over by the LA police with Elise in the car. The incident included Elise’s father being called the n-word and tackled to the ground. By shifting back and forth between the past and present, the narrative shows how the building blocks of a racist society have been put in place, creating a monolith that is hard to dismantle.

One reason US structural racism can persist is because it is so deeply ingrained that it is often not acknowledged by those perpetuating it. Repeatedly, white characters in the book—particularly Rebecca, Nathan, and Henry Polk—seem to suggest that a “racist” person is someone who fought for the Confederacy or joins the KKK. While characters like Rebecca may not use the n-word or consider themselves prejudiced, they nevertheless function as part of the racist machine of society. Rebecca takes down Elise’s #blacklivesmatter Instagram posts, silencing her, for example. Meanwhile, Nathan silences Kitty when he refuses to make movies that portray meaningful Black issues or characters, telling Kitty, “I’m not here to change the world. I’m here to entertain, and I’m telling you, it won’t make any money” (328). Nathan and Rebecca, although living in different times, are worried about the same thing: their reputations among other white people, their comfort, and their paychecks. In this way, the book also hints at the ways capitalism and structural racism are intertwined. People do not want to challenge the status quo if it means discomfort or financial loss.