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

[Anonymous]

I just saw the trailer for Reese Witherspoon's new movie "The Good Lie" and it made me think of "The Blind Side" and Brad Pitt in "12 Years a Slave" and then it got me thinking - why does America love movies where some pretty white man or woman comes to the rescue of weak, unprivileged black character(s). They're like feel good movies about saving a helpless puppy or something.

I am a white woman by the way and I can't help but feel that if I were black this would get on my nerves (hell I am white and it does get on my nerves). Am I the only one that thinks this way?

Google found an interesting article on the same topic FWIW: http://www.salon.com/2013/02/21/oscar_loves_a_white_savior/

[Anonymous]

I'm white too and that bothers me also.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just saw the trailer for Reese Witherspoon's new movie "The Good Lie" and it made me think of "The Blind Side" and Brad Pitt in "12 Years a Slave" and then it got me thinking - why does America love movies where some pretty white man or woman comes to the rescue of weak, unprivileged black character(s). They're like feel good movies about saving a helpless puppy or something.

I am a white woman by the way and I can't help but feel that if I were black this would get on my nerves (hell I am white and it does get on my nerves). Am I the only one that thinks this way?

Google found an interesting article on the same topic FWIW: http://www.salon.com/2013/02/21/oscar_loves_a_white_savior/

Don't forget Hurricane with Denzel Washington.

The story of Rubin Carter was nearly overshadowed by the story of the nice white people who saved the little ghetto black kid.

Nearly every white teacher in an innercity school movie is this way as well.

[Anonymous]

Don't Magic Negroes balance this out any?

[Anonymous]

A different but perhaps also annoying phenomenon are novels/movies where a powerful mammy type character rescues a white person - Secret Life of Bees and Whistling Past the Graveyard. I have wondered how AA people felt about that.

[Anonymous]

What about movies with AA leading men who are the heroes?

Eddie Murphy
Samuel Jackson
Jamie Fox
(Whoever else...I haven't been to the movies in a decade)

Name a movie with a hero who is Latino or Asian (aside from Jackie Chan).

Or name a movie with a female hero.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about movies with AA leading men who are the heroes?

Eddie Murphy
Samuel Jackson
Jamie Fox
(Whoever else...I haven't been to the movies in a decade)

Name a movie with a hero who is Latino or Asian (aside from Jackie Chan).

Or name a movie with a female hero.

Being an action movie hero in a movie is different than acting as the personal savior for a character. Maybe I'm just thinking of different movies that they starred in but all that comes to mind is action.

[Anonymous]

Brad Pitt in "12 years a slave", they were acting out a biography, events that really happened in the 1800s.

[Anonymous]

Yes, it's a cliche OP like handsome guy that fall in love with the gawky yet obviously gorgeous girl...
She's All That
Never Been Kissed

Or where the gorgeous popular girl falls for the geeky boy...
Can't Buy Me Love
Can't Hardly Wait

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

Come on Morgan Freeman is the spiritual salvation in like every movie he is in.

Or an awesome villain.

[Anonymous]

What about Erin Brokovich? Or does that not annoy you because it's a poor white girl rescuing poor white people?

[Anonymous]

Isn't this movie based on real events/ a true story? The lost boys of Sudan really did come to America. Does that offend?

[Anonymous]

Couldn't stand The Help for this reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about Erin Brokovich? Or does that not annoy you because it's a poor white girl rescuing poor white people?

It's not annoying because it doesn't imply that black people can only be saved by the grace of white people.