The Help (movie ver.)
So that last post was supposed to be about my feelings about The Help. So here they are, belatedly. Nothing particularly new if you've kept up with the critiques of it.
The good: the second half (which despite what this post sounds like, I did enjoy), outcast Southern lady, that Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer are leading ladies alongside Emma Stone
The bad: I was uncomfortable for the first half (i.e. the part where we follow Skeeter around before we shift to Aibileen and Minny's story) and both Davis and Spencer are co-stars for Oscar purposes (if I heard correctly at least). I was also hoping Skeeter would date Henry, the black waiter. I'm sure outcast Southern lady will join the ranks of racist Southern ladies, but that's me being cynical.
The ugly:
-places a white woman at the center of events. Yeah, ok, so she couldn't have done the book without all the black women's help. Newsflash, while whites have played the role of allies to people of color, most of the time it's (I'm going to tell you something shocking now) people of color who fought for their rights. For narrative purposes we follow her like a puppydog for the first half which is not okay because...
-...this feels a lot like the forewards to slave narratives. The part where the white person says, "It's okay to read this book by this black person because they're a good person and I vouch for them."
-Similarly, I feel that Skeeter is created for the audience. As a college educated, liberal, feminist, anti-racist woman she's just to perfect; she has no faults. I'm not talking Mary-Sue or anything like that, but more she is a vehicle for the audience to identify with, and project themselves upon. Which brings me to...
-The movie falls into Racists=Bad People, Anti-Racists=Good People. Alas, life is not that simple. Good People can be racists, homophobes, classist, etc. Alternately Bad People can have Redeeming Qualities. Falling into this simple equation is problematic because we, as the audience, can assume we are Good People, just like Skeeter. Alas, we are not. We have our own prejudices, hates, and biases to contend with, and dammit, a movie about race in the South should make us think. I don't care that it's feel good.
...Lady Gaga's You and I MV. Koda Kumi did it in Mermaid. Although this is pretty abstract and Nebraska doesn't equate with fairy tale for me. Although, lol, I'm listening to I'm On A Boat now; it pairs pefectly. Yeah, T-Pain, get that mermaid.
And RightStuf has confirmed I get my ring. Fuck yeah.
ETA: wtf is with this spacing; this makes no sense, there's no HTML for it.
The good: the second half (which despite what this post sounds like, I did enjoy), outcast Southern lady, that Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer are leading ladies alongside Emma Stone
The bad: I was uncomfortable for the first half (i.e. the part where we follow Skeeter around before we shift to Aibileen and Minny's story) and both Davis and Spencer are co-stars for Oscar purposes (if I heard correctly at least). I was also hoping Skeeter would date Henry, the black waiter. I'm sure outcast Southern lady will join the ranks of racist Southern ladies, but that's me being cynical.
The ugly:
-places a white woman at the center of events. Yeah, ok, so she couldn't have done the book without all the black women's help. Newsflash, while whites have played the role of allies to people of color, most of the time it's (I'm going to tell you something shocking now) people of color who fought for their rights. For narrative purposes we follow her like a puppydog for the first half which is not okay because...
-...this feels a lot like the forewards to slave narratives. The part where the white person says, "It's okay to read this book by this black person because they're a good person and I vouch for them."
-Similarly, I feel that Skeeter is created for the audience. As a college educated, liberal, feminist, anti-racist woman she's just to perfect; she has no faults. I'm not talking Mary-Sue or anything like that, but more she is a vehicle for the audience to identify with, and project themselves upon. Which brings me to...
-The movie falls into Racists=Bad People, Anti-Racists=Good People. Alas, life is not that simple. Good People can be racists, homophobes, classist, etc. Alternately Bad People can have Redeeming Qualities. Falling into this simple equation is problematic because we, as the audience, can assume we are Good People, just like Skeeter. Alas, we are not. We have our own prejudices, hates, and biases to contend with, and dammit, a movie about race in the South should make us think. I don't care that it's feel good.
...Lady Gaga's You and I MV. Koda Kumi did it in Mermaid. Although this is pretty abstract and Nebraska doesn't equate with fairy tale for me. Although, lol, I'm listening to I'm On A Boat now; it pairs pefectly. Yeah, T-Pain, get that mermaid.
And RightStuf has confirmed I get my ring. Fuck yeah.
ETA: wtf is with this spacing; this makes no sense, there's no HTML for it.