In light of the George Floyd killing and the worldwide protests, “The Help” quickly became the most-streamed movie on Netflix, but the reaction to that news has been of backlash and disappointment because, well, much like “Driving Miss Daisy,” Tate Taylor’s Oscar-winning film is a sugarcoated version of racism.
“The Help” actress Bryce Dallas Howard joined that fray soon after, talking about the film, but also giving counterprogramming suggestions. Howard then went on to list “better” black films that are “powerful, essential, masterful,” including “13th,” “Eyes on the Prize,” “I am Not Your Negro,” “Just Mercy,” “Malcolm X,” “Say Her Name: The Life And Death Of Sandra Bland,” “Selma,” “Watchmen,” and “When They See Us.”
Now Viola Davis, Howard’s co-star in “The Help,” has admitted that she regrets taking the role in the film. Speaking to Vanity Fair, Davis said that she was a “journeyman actor” just looking for work when she took on her role in “The Help.”
“Not a lot of narratives are also invested in our humanity,” explained Davis. “They’re invested in the idea of what it means to be Black, but…it’s catering to the white audience. The white audience at the most can sit and get an academic lesson into how we are. Then they leave the movie theater and they talk about what it meant. They’re not moved by who we were.”
She added, “There’s no one who’s not entertained by ‘The Help.’ But there’s a part of me that feels like I betrayed myself, and my people, because I was in a movie that wasn’t ready to [tell the whole truth].”
Davis thinks “The Help” was “created in the filter and the cesspool of systemic racism.”
For better and for worse, “The Help” launched Davis’ career into the mainstream, with the actress earning an Oscar nomination for her work. I was not a fan of the movie, but there are millions of Americans and worldwide audiences that loved it, so much so that it made $169 million at the U.S. box-office and $216 million worldwide. Are we now going down the route of insulting the film’s fans by implying they took part in an act of racism by not just watching “The Help,” but by actually, shockingly, embracing it?
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