The White Savior Narrative

[Jayson]

Viola Davis regrets role in The Help: 'Feels like I betrayed myself, and my people'

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Well, in my opinion, this crap does need to be criticized. Well, why not make movies more focused on the common plight of mankind, not focused on guilt trips over one race etc..? Well, stories about history can still be told, but efforts need to be made to make them seem more universal.

 

[PGen98]

Well, stories about history can still be told, but efforts need to be made to make them seem more universal.

Revisionist history does not help people learn from historical blunders. While there is always creative license to make slight changes, particularly in films that aren't necessarily historical but set in that era, when it comes to actual historical recreations, to pretend that things were somehow rosier back then than they actually were is to do a disservice to the struggles of those who endured them. Show things accurately, how else will people learn not to follow the actions taken in some of those films.

Granted, the white savior aspect is definitely one that's played on far too often, but that leaves room to tell the stories of black, asian, hispanic, jewish and so on heroes who helped to change things or to save lives. Tell their stories, put them out there to be seen! For instance, tired of the usual WW2 stories, tell the stories of the Smoking Snakes -- https://www.sabaton.net/discography/heroes/smoking-snakes/ (scroll to the bottom to see the story behind the lyrics) That would make an absolutely epic film, let's see that get made!

 

[Jayson]

I think people should just not care so deeply. Anyway, the real problem is if these issues become personal. If people are obsessed with what people think - in the abstract, that's mental.