Movies where white people "rescue" black people. Annoy anyone else?

[Anonymous]

I'm sick of women being beaten, tortured, kidnapped and killed in tv and movies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Couldn't stand The Help for this reason.

Ditto for my and my 80-year-old mom. Both of us are white, and both of us cringed.

White woman, same cringing for The Help. I thought it was entertaining enough, but the premise bothered me. I didn't see The Blind Side because I had the same reaction when reading the reviews.

Didn't see 12 Years a Slave because I knew it would be upsetting, not because of concerns about white savior-ism. (In fact, I have not heard that about this movie before now.) As I get older, I have less and less interesting in seeing any movie in which someone is tortured, raped, etc., regardless of context.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are the only person that I know that is annoyed by The Blind Side.

I also thought of it as how Michael Oher overcame so much.

You are probably a glass half empty person.

You should watch hotel Rwanda to sooth your white guilt.

Here's what I found annoying about The Blind Side. Sandra Bullock goes to the projects to look for Oher or Oher's mom (can't remember which) and is confronted by a gang leader type who threatens to come across town and rape her white daughter if she doesn't leave Michael alone (so he can be recruited into the gang). I read the book which was followed fairly closely in the movie except for this scene. It's true that some guy on his football team made a rude comment about the girl but it was obviously a rude comment and Michael made him pay for it. In reality, the gang leader didn't behave this way at all.

Earth to Hollywood: When middle class white women venture into poor black neighborhoods, gang leaders don't walk up to them and threaten to rape them. But you might find that strangers on the street will say "hello," because that's the friggin' neighborly thing to do!

Earth to clueless white woman... I delivered pizza at the UMCP and yes... People threatened me and eventually the manager stopped delivering to those areas. I am middle class white woman and these were open air drug markets.

Michael also injured a boy in a rage and they left tht out of the movie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are the only person that I know that is annoyed by The Blind Side.

I also thought of it as how Michael Oher overcame so much.

You are probably a glass half empty person.

You should watch hotel Rwanda to sooth your white guilt.

Here's what I found annoying about The Blind Side. Sandra Bullock goes to the projects to look for Oher or Oher's mom (can't remember which) and is confronted by a gang leader type who threatens to come across town and rape her white daughter if she doesn't leave Michael alone (so he can be recruited into the gang). I read the book which was followed fairly closely in the movie except for this scene. It's true that some guy on his football team made a rude comment about the girl but it was obviously a rude comment and Michael made him pay for it. In reality, the gang leader didn't behave this way at all.

Earth to Hollywood: When middle class white women venture into poor black neighborhoods, gang leaders don't walk up to them and threaten to rape them. But you might find that strangers on the street will say "hello," because that's the friggin' neighborly thing to do!

Earth to clueless white woman... I delivered pizza at the UMCP and yes... People threatened me and eventually the manager stopped delivering to those areas. I am middle class white woman and these were open air drug markets.

Michael also injured a boy in a rage and they left tht out of the movie.

Middle class and delivering pizza???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are the only person that I know that is annoyed by The Blind Side.

I also thought of it as how Michael Oher overcame so much.

You are probably a glass half empty person.

You should watch hotel Rwanda to sooth your white guilt.

Here's what I found annoying about The Blind Side. Sandra Bullock goes to the projects to look for Oher or Oher's mom (can't remember which) and is confronted by a gang leader type who threatens to come across town and rape her white daughter if she doesn't leave Michael alone (so he can be recruited into the gang). I read the book which was followed fairly closely in the movie except for this scene. It's true that some guy on his football team made a rude comment about the girl but it was obviously a rude comment and Michael made him pay for it. In reality, the gang leader didn't behave this way at all.

Earth to Hollywood: When middle class white women venture into poor black neighborhoods, gang leaders don't walk up to them and threaten to rape them. But you might find that strangers on the street will say "hello," because that's the friggin' neighborly thing to do!

Earth to clueless white woman... I delivered pizza at the UMCP and yes... People threatened me and eventually the manager stopped delivering to those areas. I am middle class white woman and these were open air drug markets.

Michael also injured a boy in a rage and they left tht out of the movie.

Middle class and delivering pizza???

You think poor people deliver pizza? They need a car and insurance.

[Anonymous]

Slightly off topic but The Green Mile where John Candy excuses whites for his impending execution because he's "tired." What f-ckery. That some people actually accepted that motive/characterization as plausible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Slightly off topic but The Green Mile where John Candy excuses whites for his impending execution because he's "tired." What f-ckery. That some people actually accepted that motive/characterization as plausible.

John Candy wasn't even in The Green Mile. John Candy died in 1994. The Green Mile came out in 1999.

[Anonymous]

I found a review comment about Reese Witherspoon's movie, noting that she's not in it that long and the movie isn't about her saving them:

"The first half hour of this film follows the lost boys in South Sudan on their journey to Ethiopia then follows them as adults in America. Reese was barely in the film because it follows the struggle of Mamere (sp?). The marketing department is really doing this movie an injustice but Reese sells more. This movie sheds light on a situation that most people have heard of but dismissed after a few minutes of unpleasant thoughts. Give it a chance. It was actually pretty good."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Slightly off topic but The Green Mile where John Candy excuses whites for his impending execution because he's "tired." What f-ckery. That some people actually accepted that motive/characterization as plausible.

John Candy wasn't even in The Green Mile. John Candy died in 1994. The Green Mile came out in 1999.

Thanks, I wondered about that. It's been a while since I watched The Green Mile, but I had not idea what PP was referring to. I looked it up and the quote about being tired was (obviously) by John Coffey/Michael Duncan. Sorry, PP, I bought the whole movie as "plausible", apart from the fantastical elements. His character has been criticized as a magical Negro, but he came across as a whole character to me, not existing solely to educate or assist the white man.

[Anonymous]

I'm annoyed by it, too -- partly because I think it reflects studios' assumption that white people won't watch a movie unless there's a white person at the center of the story.

Plenty of people were irritated by "the blind side." There was also the movie about Steve Biko that focused on a white journalist rather than Biki himself, or "last king of Scotland," the movie about Idi Amin (w/a powerhouse performance by Forrest Whitaker) that was from the POV of his white doctor.

Compare it with "42," the Jackie Robinson movie - there's no doubt a white guy is instrumental in events, & Harrison Ford does a great job in the role, but he's still clearly secondary to Robinson himself as far as the story is concerned.

[Anonymous]

I'm with you, OP. It's cringe-worthy and makes me a bit embarrassed.

[Anonymous]

I found a semi-formal review of The Good Lie, and it says the movie is focused on the Sudan family, that Reese Witherspoon is in it but not the main character.

http://www.thewire.com/entertainment/2014/09/toronto-film-festival-reese-witherspoons-the-good-lie-is-great-but-not-as-advertised/379927/#disqus_thread

[Anonymous]

I can appreciate the individual movies, but yes the theme is frustrating and tiresome. Viola Davis is on the cover of More magazine this month and talks about how Holywood only gives her mammy type roles. Such a waste of talent.

Viola Davis's new show looks fucking awesome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm annoyed by it, too -- partly because I think it reflects studios' assumption that white people won't watch a movie unless there's a white person at the center of the story.

Plenty of people were irritated by "the blind side." There was also the movie about Steve Biko that focused on a white journalist rather than Biki himself, or "last king of Scotland," the movie about Idi Amin (w/a powerhouse performance by Forrest Whitaker) that was from the POV of his white doctor.

Compare it with "42," the Jackie Robinson movie - there's no doubt a white guy is instrumental in events, & Harrison Ford does a great job in the role, but he's still clearly secondary to Robinson himself as far as the story is concerned.

FYI the white journalist (Donald Woods) portrayed in Cry Freedom was an integral part of the story. The movie is based on 2 books, one about the journalist and one about Biko, both written by Donald Woods. If Donald Woods had not risked his life to leave the country, you would never have heard Biko's story.

So this does smack of over-sensitivity trumping reality.

[Anonymous]

Yes I can't stand it...didn't realize it irked white people too.