Yesterday, my Dad and I saw the movie Red Tails. It was awesome!
It takes place near the end of WWII mainly in Italy, following the lives of black pilots. It is an action/war film, fairly new. It, like The Help, tackles racism towards blacks in America.
What do both movies try to be? Both movies want to teach us about history, that racism is wrong, that we should be accepting to others, and to fictionally portray what the lives of blacks were like those many years ago.
Why does The Help fail at this? The Help has a righteous white. The main character is white and she is the one who starts fighting racism in her small town, making big changes, because blacks need a white girl to help them. Yeah, those poor blacks can't help themselves. It's one thing to be an ally against racism while being white, like the whites who attended the "I Have A Dream" speech, who spoke against racism, who helped blacks. It was another thing to make it where the whites did all the good things, making The Help feel-good-white-shit. In Red Tails there were some good whites, mainly bad whites, but never a righteous white. The blacks also did as much as they could for themselves.
Also, both seem like one is for women and the other is for men. The truth is, both genders commonly went to see both movies. Also, just because one is aimed supposedly at men, the other at women, it still doesn't excuse having a righteous white. The Help had so much opportunity and failed. You can't say "Well this movie was more for women, so blah blah blah." No, there is no excuse.
OK, that's pretty much the whole point of this post, but I'll point out a few more things:
-It was really funny at times.
-It had some really heart wrenching scenes (spoiler: like when Lucky died at the end).
-It had an black/Italian couple (seriously, this is the first movie I've ever seen having that). Plus the Lucky/Sophia storyline was very well thought out, you knew they actually cared about each other. They may have both spoken different languages, but that added to their feelings.
-It had action, enough said.
Gah, I've also recently been wanting to watch the movie Bamboozled, but my library doesn't have it. Maybe this movie makes me want to watch a million others on race.
Side Note: My mother, sister, and aunt are all big fans of The Help, while I'm not. I don't understand why more people aren't seeing the book/movie as wrong.
Also, both seem like one is for women and the other is for men. The truth is, both genders commonly went to see both movies. Also, just because one is aimed supposedly at men, the other at women, it still doesn't excuse having a righteous white. The Help had so much opportunity and failed. You can't say "Well this movie was more for women, so blah blah blah." No, there is no excuse.
OK, that's pretty much the whole point of this post, but I'll point out a few more things:
-It was really funny at times.
-It had some really heart wrenching scenes (spoiler: like when Lucky died at the end).
-It had an black/Italian couple (seriously, this is the first movie I've ever seen having that). Plus the Lucky/Sophia storyline was very well thought out, you knew they actually cared about each other. They may have both spoken different languages, but that added to their feelings.
-It had action, enough said.
Gah, I've also recently been wanting to watch the movie Bamboozled, but my library doesn't have it. Maybe this movie makes me want to watch a million others on race.
Side Note: My mother, sister, and aunt are all big fans of The Help, while I'm not. I don't understand why more people aren't seeing the book/movie as wrong.
If it makes you feel any better, I see "The Help" as a total literary fail. Last time I checked black people fought for civil rights, not because white people let them and helped out, but by their own initiative and in the face of widespread white resistance.
ReplyDeleteI'm not particularly into super-patriotic war movies, and at first I was worried that Red Tails would just be propaganda. ("See, black people have it great in the U.S!") But then I read an article in the NYT about how Lucas faced, again, widespread white resistance to this film because it wasn't about hip-hope and other things black boys apparently like. He financed the entire project himself (which indicates how loaded he is--jealous!)I'm not sure if it's going to work, but I know that several black directors are really excited about the movie. I think I'm going to watch this movie--even if I'm not a black male teenager-- because I really want to see how this is going to turn out. I think I'm going to keep from judging until I've seen the movie, and then I'm going to write a review.
Here's the link to the article, if you're interested. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/magazine/george-lucas-red-tails.html?pagewanted=all
politiciansathogwarts.blogspot.com
You make a great point on The Help, making it a mo wonder why I'm not getting near the book or movie.
ReplyDeleteIt's far from propaganda, it truly does give you a picture of racism at the time, while still having funny moments. I feel bad George Lucas had to pay for the entire movie himself, but it does make you realize the cash this guy has.
Hey, if you don't like the movie, it's OK, though I do recommend it. Thanks. :)
Politicians at Hogwarts? :D The mental image I'm having is Newt Gingrich (hate him) wearing a wizarding uniform. Oh my gosh, there needs to be a Photoshopped image of that! XD