Yesterday, I watched the movie The Help with my girlfriend. 24 hours— and a lot of thinking and research later— I wrote this:
"The Help is a movie made by white people, for white people. The purpose of the movie is to convince people with undeserved privilege that racism no longer exists."
Here is my reasoning: the racist situations in the movie, while sometimes accurate, either do not go far enough in their brutality (more about this later), or the racism presented is so outrageous that it compels viewers to compare their present time with the Civil Rights era. When faced with this juxtaposition, it is tempting to assume that racism now, compared with back then, is not that bad, since blatant racism is not a socially condoned practice anymore.
For example, an ongoing issue in the movie is the instillation of separate outside bathrooms for black maids. One character— I'll call her Crazy Racist Lady since I'm so bad with names— flips out whenever she thinks of a black maid using her inside toilet "for white people." Now, coming away from this, most people would think: "We don't do that anymore! What a relief! Thank goodness racism isn't a real problem now like it was back then."
Racism still exists today, and it is more dangerous when it's subtle. Anyone can point fingers at Crazy Racist Lady because her racism is so obvious and laughable. When racism is presented and defined in terms of its conspicuousness, it ignores more invisible forms of racism. It also chalks up racism to a few unstable individuals, rather than as an ingrained, large-scale social and legal issue.*
The movie also has not one, but two, Nice White Ladies. The function of this archetype is to give sympathetic white viewers someone to identify with. Identification with this archetype assures viewers that, if they had existed in the same time and place, they also would have been a friend to the oppressed.
These people need a reality check. If you were taught hatred and ignorance from birth, and if everyone you know (and had ever known) was a racist, chances are, you would be a racist too— and not even recognize yourself as such. Individuals who broke away from this mindset were truly extraordinary and very rare, which brings me to my last point.
After Nice White Lady liberates the oppressed black maids through her writing (because, you know, black people are incapable of liberating themselves), "her" book is published anonymously. It is not long, however, before everyone in her neighborhood realizes that the "fictional" maids are actually their own. Crazy Racist Lady goes so far as to threaten Nice White Lady and one of the maids with legal action. What keeps Crazy Racist Lady from making good on her threats? An unconvincing tactic from Nice White Lady & co.: "If you tell on me, I'll tell on you".
Crazy Racist Lady fires the maid and huffs off, never to be seen again.
In real life, Crazy Racist Lady would not have been content just firing the maid, nor would she allow herself to be humiliated. In real life, Crazy Racist Lady would have sent the Klan to settle things on her behalf.
After the movie, my girlfriend told me that she knew the movie was not based in reality, since none of the black characters were lynched, or even threatened to be lynched. People who partook in the Civil Rights Movement (even just a tiny bit), were risking their lives every day. By suggesting that being fired was the worst thing that could happen to a black activist, the movie not only lessened the danger, but also the courage and heroism, of real people who actually partook in the Civil Rights Movement.
The fictional activists were spared a horrible fate. Some real activists were not. I wish I could have fully enjoyed The Help, since, besides all that, it was actually a good movie. But, oh well. There are other movies I like better.
*Of course, the legal racism in Mississippi during the Civil Rights era was mentioned, but the only people I saw really enforcing it were Crazy Racist Lady and a few other token villains. I hate two-dimensional villains, since it makes their evil deeds seem cartoonish and insubstantial.
**UPDATED on 8/20/11** This article is brilliant: The Solace of Preparing Fried Foods and Other Quaint Remembrances from 1960s Mississippi: Thoughts on The Help.
"The Help is a movie made by white people, for white people. The purpose of the movie is to convince people with undeserved privilege that racism no longer exists."
Here is my reasoning: the racist situations in the movie, while sometimes accurate, either do not go far enough in their brutality (more about this later), or the racism presented is so outrageous that it compels viewers to compare their present time with the Civil Rights era. When faced with this juxtaposition, it is tempting to assume that racism now, compared with back then, is not that bad, since blatant racism is not a socially condoned practice anymore.
For example, an ongoing issue in the movie is the instillation of separate outside bathrooms for black maids. One character— I'll call her Crazy Racist Lady since I'm so bad with names— flips out whenever she thinks of a black maid using her inside toilet "for white people." Now, coming away from this, most people would think: "We don't do that anymore! What a relief! Thank goodness racism isn't a real problem now like it was back then."
Racism still exists today, and it is more dangerous when it's subtle. Anyone can point fingers at Crazy Racist Lady because her racism is so obvious and laughable. When racism is presented and defined in terms of its conspicuousness, it ignores more invisible forms of racism. It also chalks up racism to a few unstable individuals, rather than as an ingrained, large-scale social and legal issue.*
The movie also has not one, but two, Nice White Ladies. The function of this archetype is to give sympathetic white viewers someone to identify with. Identification with this archetype assures viewers that, if they had existed in the same time and place, they also would have been a friend to the oppressed.
These people need a reality check. If you were taught hatred and ignorance from birth, and if everyone you know (and had ever known) was a racist, chances are, you would be a racist too— and not even recognize yourself as such. Individuals who broke away from this mindset were truly extraordinary and very rare, which brings me to my last point.
After Nice White Lady liberates the oppressed black maids through her writing (because, you know, black people are incapable of liberating themselves), "her" book is published anonymously. It is not long, however, before everyone in her neighborhood realizes that the "fictional" maids are actually their own. Crazy Racist Lady goes so far as to threaten Nice White Lady and one of the maids with legal action. What keeps Crazy Racist Lady from making good on her threats? An unconvincing tactic from Nice White Lady & co.: "If you tell on me, I'll tell on you".
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| "We know all your secrets." Simpsons, anyone? |
In real life, Crazy Racist Lady would not have been content just firing the maid, nor would she allow herself to be humiliated. In real life, Crazy Racist Lady would have sent the Klan to settle things on her behalf.
After the movie, my girlfriend told me that she knew the movie was not based in reality, since none of the black characters were lynched, or even threatened to be lynched. People who partook in the Civil Rights Movement (even just a tiny bit), were risking their lives every day. By suggesting that being fired was the worst thing that could happen to a black activist, the movie not only lessened the danger, but also the courage and heroism, of real people who actually partook in the Civil Rights Movement.
The fictional activists were spared a horrible fate. Some real activists were not. I wish I could have fully enjoyed The Help, since, besides all that, it was actually a good movie. But, oh well. There are other movies I like better.
*Of course, the legal racism in Mississippi during the Civil Rights era was mentioned, but the only people I saw really enforcing it were Crazy Racist Lady and a few other token villains. I hate two-dimensional villains, since it makes their evil deeds seem cartoonish and insubstantial.
**UPDATED on 8/20/11** This article is brilliant: The Solace of Preparing Fried Foods and Other Quaint Remembrances from 1960s Mississippi: Thoughts on The Help.
