White upper-class guilt trip, but at least the filmmakers are aware
I don't mean the title of this thread to be inflammatory, because I'm actually going to compliment the film.
It clearly is made from the perspective of privileged upper-middle to upper-class white people but what I liked about the film was that the filmmakers were clearly under no illusions that they were coming from a sheltered position, and throughout the film several observations are made, usually by the black characters, particularly Glover's, about how naïve, albeit well-meaning the white characters, particularly Kline's, are.
Whilst I was watching the film I remember feeling irritated that Kline had been so presumptuous as to think Glover and Alfre Woodard's characters would be a great match, effectively because they were both black, and so was delighted by the scene where these two characters get together and Glover comments, in good-humour, that they must be the only black people Kline knew.
The film also portrays the prejudice experienced by Alfre's son in the film in a low-key and non-sensationalist way that gets across the everyday experience of a black teen moving to a predominantly white, and thus, mistrustful, neighbourhood. The humiliations 'Otis' undergoes are raw and powerful but not overdone, and I thought that demonstrated admirable sensitivity and understanding on Kasdan's part.
Of course, no upper-middle-class white guy is going to know what it's like to be a black kid in LA, but at least Kasdan doesn't try to pretend otherwise, and what he does depict seems credible and refreshingly free of either sanctimony or gross stereotype.