Here's a movie I would die before seeing, a movie that is neither inspirational or uplifting to me. Supposedly the movie reflects the old south in the 60's and the relationships maids had with their
What could I possibly mean by this saying this depiction is of no use?, well let me give you an ENERGY summary of the movie.
In the movie we have a bunch of fat, Black female maids who work for White families because they are poor, ignorant and have no other options. The White girls are privileged, wear pretty clothes and can be told off all day by the Black maids in a righteous way and still be considered superior and feel the same. The White women basically ignore the feelings of the maids, but one White girl amongst the group decides to have sympathy and write about the maids experiences. First she must prove she cares, she must prove she's a good White person until the maids trust her and agree. She's on a mission to get others to have sympathy for those that can't help themselves and have to stay in the most disrespectful situations. lol
They cannot help but come across as pitiful, broken down, ugly women. Remember I talk about ENERGY, not idealism and what we wish people would see so don't be so quick to get offended. (I think Viola Davis is very attractive in everyday form.)
However
This movie is so stereotypical that it even includes a hilarious scene where one of the fat Black
White people love jokes like that, and they will laugh and laugh, because at the end of the day who cares what this broken down, fat Black maid thinks. They are allowed to laugh at themselves and their ignorance in a safe way because they would die if they had to be her so they can take it.
If Michelle Obama said it, Oprah Winfrey said it or even a ghetto NeNe (who seems to have money) said it; they would be upset and felt looked down on. When it comes from a fat, black maid it's funny and tolerable. Like Hattie McDaniel putting White folks in their place with her "Aunt Jemima" wisdom in "Gone with the Wind".
And no I don't think they are racist for making this movie. I'm learning as I get older that people do what they can do. It's always been easy to get over on Black people. Most Black people can't catch the things that I catch like above. They're usually so emotional and happy to see themselves on screen they don't care about the context.
In fact many Black people will be happy if Viola Davis is nominated for an Oscar in this movie. She's a modern day Hattie McDaniel and though I resent the roles she takes, I can understand her simply wanting to act. After-all Black people have yet to create an "Emerald City" that has the ability to offer jobs to this race and others. I'm sure Viola Davis is a good person and I'm not attacking her personally. In fact she has played many roles throughout her career. She even expressed the fact that she was apprehensive in taking the role, here's what she said:
“Of course I had trepidations. Why did I have to play the mammy?” she mused in an interview with Essence magazine.I don't agree with her statements, I believe in creating and molding, not taking crap and trying to mold it. You can't make quality out of stereotypes unless you wind up being an equal to the one who is stereotyping you. Doing a quality job while playing a pitiful, broken down role doesn't take away from the ENERGY of that role.
“But what do you do as an actor if one of the most multifaceted and rich roles you’ve ever been given is a maid in 1962 Mississippi? Do you not take the role because you feel like in some ways it’s not a good message to send to Black people? No. The message is the quality of the work. That is a greater message.”
See again, I attack ENERGY and the fact that Black people don't seem determined to grow and diversify in the movie industry. We must understand that, no matter how hard, long and discouraging it may seem that's the only way to empowerment.
We don't believe in that, we believe that we should go to another person's garden and eat and grow our seeds there because they destroyed our garden and everyone likes their garden better anyhow. Some Black people are saying "Yeah , that's what you do".
No it is not, what you do is.....
You go back in your garden and plant harvest and grow until your garden becomes fruitful again. Any other way and God allows and condones us being slaves. We cannot allow our low-self esteem and the fact that people might not want to come to our garden initially stop us.
I won't go on, but I'm tired of people creating a formula through using this race.Sad, broken down, helpless Black person with "Aunt Jemima" verbal wisdom, brings enlightenment to White person and White person takes action and make things all better.
Again you can't blame others for this. Just like we put pressure on Disney to create a Black girl version of "Cinderella" and boy did they oblige. They created a storyline that was completely different then the original. And then decided to add things they thought would interest Black people and things that they felt were strong enough ENERGIES in our folklore and communities.
Honestly I did feel the stereotypical jabs in the movie, but I can't lie and say I wouldn't do it too if I where a different race. I would be so annoyed that someone is pressuring me to create something they can't create themselves. In turn, I would do it in a way that I want to do it, not exactly how the person tells me to do it. Or in the case of "Princess and the Frog" I would not have portrayed it in the way the person hopes I would. After-all maybe they won't bother me again would be my thoughts.
P.S. I in no way look down on the women of this era who performed these jobs. I simply reveal ENERGY and I have described the ENERGY of this movie as it's been presented.
Source
Source--Movie Doubts
