"The Help" has been trending on Netflix as Black Lives Matter protests continue worldwide following the death of George Floyd, who died after now-fired Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
But "The Help" isn't a helpful resource on understanding racism at all.
Many Americans are turning to literature and film to help educate themselves on race and cultural issues, with sales of books on race and racism skyrocketing. But the problem is that "The Help" isn't an authentic look into the perspective and experiences of the racial injustices black people face.
In fact, the 2011 film directed by Tate Taylor, a white man, is based on a 2009 novel written by author Kathryn Stockett, a white woman, that focuses more on the white voices and characters than those of the black domestic workers.
"The Help" centers around a young, privileged white woman named Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan (Emma Stone), who writes a book about the experiences of two black maids, Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis) and Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer), during the Civil Rights Movement in Jackson, Mississippi during the 1960s.
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Although critics largely praised "The Help," and the film went on to receive four Oscar nominations – best picture, best actress for Davis and best supporting actress for both Jessica Chastain and Spencer (Spencer won the Academy Award) – the film came under harsh criticism for perpetuating the offensive "Mammy" stereotype for black women.
"Not to say the film isn’t entertaining and may have other benefits, but if I were to pick one film that helps us understand where (black people) are today and what problems we face, that wouldn’t be the one I pick," Darnell Hunt, director of UCLA's Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies, told USA TODAY.
"The Help" is also accused of playing into the white savior narrative, a trope where white characters come to the rescue of minorities in a feel-good tale that dilutes people of color in their own stories by minimizing and simplifying racial issues.
"One of the problems with films like ‘The Help’ is that they're set in the safely distant past that lets the present off the hook," Hunt added. "It’s almost as if, ‘Oh gosh, look how horrible things were back then and look at how far we’ve come today.’ Which of course, isn’t true."
Hunt, who also serves as a professor of sociology at UCLA, continued: "('The Help') does tend to flatten the consideration of things that have a bearing on the way race actually works… the film limits (racism) to individuals as opposed to systemic racism."
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In 2018, Davis openly expressed her regret in participating in the film.
"Have I ever done roles that I’ve regretted? I have, and 'The Help' is on that list," Davis told the New York Times.
Davis continued: "I just felt that… it wasn’t the voices of the maids that were heard. I know Aibileen. I know Minny. They’re my grandma. They’re my mom. And I know that if you do a movie where the whole premise is, I want to know what it feels like to work for white people and to bring up children in 1963, I want to hear how you really feel about it. I never heard that in the course of the movie."
Ablene Cooper, a nanny for the Stockett family that allegedly inspired Davis' character, called her in portrayal in the novel "embarrassing" and "emotionally upsetting." Cooper filed a $75,000 lawsuit against the author in 2011, but it was ultimately dismissed by a Mississippi judge.
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The complaints didn't end there.
Bryce Dallas Howard, who played racist socialite Hillary "Hilly" Holbrook in "The Help," said the film is not educational in understanding racism amid protests.
"'The Help' is a fictional story told through the perspective of a white character and was created by predominantly white storytellers," Howard wrote on Instagram and Facebook Sunday. "We can all go further."
The criticism spilled onto Twitter.
"Movies NOT to watch when trying to educate yourselves on racism: 'The Help,' 'The Blind Side,' 'The Green Book, 'Freedom (Writers' (and) Any other White Savior movie," tweeted @cynthiacide. User @yolian_ogbu added, "not The Help trending on Netflix....the white savior complex is not the right direction to go in."
User @kenicemobley wrote, "The Help is trending on Netflix which means a lot of people still don’t get it."
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However, "The Help" trending (as of Monday at No. 4) on Netflix indicates people are at least trying to educate themselves, even if their attempts are misguided.
Dallas Howard used her platform to implore fans to watch films that "center Black lives, stories, creators, and / or performers."
"Stories are a gateway to radical empathy and the greatest ones are catalysts for action," Dallas Howard added. "If you are seeking ways to learn about the Civil Rights Movement, lynchings, segregation, Jim Crow, and all the ways in which those have an impact on us today, here are a handful of powerful, essential, masterful films and shows."
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To better understand racism, try streaming these films and series:
- "13th" (2016)
- "When They See Us" (2019)
- "Eyes on the Prize" (1987)
- "I am Not Your Negro" (2017)
- "Just Mercy" (2019)
- "Malcom X" (1992)
- "Say Her Name: The Life And Death Of Sandra Bland" (2018)
- "Selma" (2014)
- "Watchmen" (2019)
- "Moonlight" (2016)
- "Fruitvale Station" (2013)
- "Do the Right Thing" (1989)
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