Do you feel any talks are successful?

We all know the trope: The person(s) of color (overwhelmingly the black guy) gets killed off first, especially in a horror film. Well here is a brief list of such films, many of which not only feature the person of color dying first, but feature the main white characters ultimately saving the day:

• X-Men: First Class
• King Kong
• Scream 2
• Predator (1 & 2)
• Serenity
• State of Play
• Deep Rising
• Kill Bill: Volume I
• Jaws: The Revenge
• House of Wax
• Alien Vs. Predator: Requiem
• Stargare
• Aliens
• The Shining
• Leviathan
• Terminator (1 & 2)
• Red Dawn
• Jurassic Park
• Gremlins
• Hollow Man
• Hulk
• Predators
• United 93
• Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
• Super 8
• Cursed
• Killjoy
• Queen of the Damned
• Transformers (Not a complete fit in the trope since it’s not human-based. The only autobot to die in the film is Jazz, the jive-talking autobot voiced by a black actor)
• 300
• Resident Evil
• The Mummy (1 & 2)

And believe me, I could probably find many more if I looked a little harder. (Feel free to correct me on any films, as I have not seen a few of these films).

So, what is the point of this list? Well, it’s to illustrate that even if at first glance, a film may show potential of diversity, people of color are still, in many respects, disposable in films. It’s just enough time to introduce the idea that these films are inclusive by introducing some racial diversity, yet allows them not to have to explore the nuances of these characters of color by killing them off, to focus on the true protagonists - the white folks.

Now, let me make it clear: the individual films listed are not necessarily racist because the feature this trope, and the reasoning for killing of the character of color might not be a conscious choice. Rather, the focus is how the overall trope itself is racist, as it is evident in several films that even if there are people of color in films, they are likely to be killed off or rid of early on, further illustrating Hollywood’s penchant for not telling stories of people of color in any meaningful way and only actively engaging a white-centered audience.

I hear this from people all the time when it comes to all forms of oppression, but particularly racism. When discussing the past atrocities committed by white folks onto people of color, someone, almost always a white person tries to excuse the white people in the past by suggesting that they just didn’t know what they were doing was racist.

Slavery? Native American genocide? Banning racial minorities from immigrating to the US? The Zoot Suit riots? Internment of Japanese Americans? Etc.?

“Yeah, that was bad, but they didn’t know that what they were doing was racist/knew what racism was/didn’t think about race!”

I think what people neglect to think about is that the people of color who were the victims of these racist acts definitely knew what racism was. They could see that the way they were treated was predicated upon their race. They lived every day seeing it and having to take it and normalize it as if that was how life was supposed to be. So when I hear, “But they didn’t know about racism back then!” to me, it suggests that the mindset of “they” meaning “white people” is somehow more important than the suffering of the people of color they oppressed. And to me, it’s just another example of how white people control how we see US history.

Plus, the fact that they happened happened in the past does not negate the fact that these acts were heinous and racist, the consequences of which still affect racial inequality today, and I don’t believe that we should just give the white people of the past a free pass and treat them as children by saying, “They didn’t know better.” No, it’s far worse: They knew exactly what they were doing; they just didn’t care that people of color were suffering.

From elementary school through high school, nearly all of my friends in school were white. When I started doing theatre in DC, I suddenly had a very diverse group of friends, most of whom were black. I hung out with my black DC friends more than I hung out with my white school friends, but it always baffled me how outstandingly different either group was treated.

I would go to a mall with my white friends and nothing would really happen. If I went with a diverse group of friends, usually, nothing would happen. But then I go to a mall or a restaurant with a group of my black friends and suddenly store owners are following us around, police officers are asking what were up to, clerks are asking us to leave for no reason. It’s absolutely ridiculous. Suddenly, we’re too loud, too shady, we’re troublemakers. As someone who can confidentially say that she has a diverse pool of friends, it’s clear to me that there is a distinct contrast between the way that my friends are treated because depending on their race.

I think people often don’t notice the differences in how they’re treated because we usually stick to groups of friends that are of the same race, but perhaps if we spent more time with different groups and more time noticing our surroundings, the contrast would become clearer.

About my White Savior Films post:

I’m not against the individual films I’ve put on the list, because I actually like some of these films. Freedom Writers was one of my favorite films, and Finding Forrester was one of my favorite films I’ve seen in school.

My position against White Savior Films is not necessarily about the films as individuals, but the trend of the White Savior Complex within the group of films, and really, within Hollywood itself. I would like to see more films like Lean on Me rather than another Freedom Writers. More films like Coach Carter rather than another Glory Road, and etc.

It’s not like people of color aren’t telling stories about their own communities without the intervention of white folks. They are, and always have and always will. It’s about the fact that our society, and by reflection, Hollywood, put more value and attention onto White Savior stories, and that is the issue. It’s not the films themselves, but why those films are being made and getting so much more attention, and more importantly, why more films solely about people of color are not being made.

A White Savior Film (WSF) is a movie that features a white person coming into the lives of a person or people of color (POCs) who are often low-income, troubled, and/or severely oppressed. The troubled times that the people of color are in can be a product of oppression from other white folks, or their own doing. Either way, the White Savior comes in, quickly sympathizes with the problems of the people of color, learning what needs to happen to solve their problems, and in doing so, wins their favor and becomes their hero. Here is a list of some of these films:

• Gran Torino
• Avatar (Jake Sully literally becomes the Messiah of the Na’vi)
• The Blind Side*
• Hardball
• The Ghosts of Mississippi*
• Glory Road*
• Dances With Wolves
• Finding Forrester
• The Principal*
• Music of the Heart*
• To Kill a Mockingbird (slightly on the fence with this one because the savior Atticus Finch does not save Tom Robinson from being convicted)
• Radio*
• Cool Runnings*
• Dangerous Minds* (This film was based on the true story of a Latina teacher, yet Michelle Pfiffer played the teacher, thereby turning this into a WSF)
• The Last Samurai
• Wildcats
• Freedom Writers*
• Amistad*
• Black Rain
• Sunset Park
• District 9 (Also slightly on the fence with this one since the white protagonist mainly follows the plan of the oppressed alien that stands for a POC, and he is more of an anti-hero)
• Mississippi Burning*
• The Last Airbender (the TV series composed of all Asian characters, but the film’s three main heroes were cast as white people, while everyone else was of color)
• Dune
• Glory*
• The Ron Clark Story*
• The Help
• Atlantis: The Lost Empire
• The Road to El Dorado

There are a few different kinds of WSF. The most popular kinds include the white teacher/administrator that helps the students of color realize their true potential and help them overcome their own prejudices (The Principal, Freedom Writers, Dangerous Minds, etc.), and the white sports coach leading his or her team filled with usually poor and troubled people of color to victory (Glory Road, Cool Runnings, Wildcats, Sunset Park, Hardball, etc).

The more epic, and true “savior” WSF that many sci-fi films also fit into feature a white person who is often an oppressor happening upon a culture of people of color or aliens that are POC stand-ins. The white hero eventually assimilates into their culture, and he even proves to be more skillful than them as learns the culture. He becomes their leader and savior in the battle against their enemies (Avatar, The Last Samurai, Dances With Wolves, Dune, District 9, etc.) Particularly for the “epic” WSF, the saviors are male, heterosexual, and very masculine.

So what are the problems with these films? Well, they portray people of color as too desolate, too hopeless, too overcome by their own prejudices and circumstances to help themselves, so they need someone to help them. But not just anyone, no, this helper must be a White Savior. This Savior inspires the people of color, teaches them how to be a better them, and makes their lives better when the people of color couldn’t do it themselves. These films ignore the stories of people of color helping their own communities and helping themselves.

Hollywood, and many white people, eat these WSF up because white audiences can identify wanting to be the “savior” in POC’s lives, to be the one who rescues the poor POCs from their circumstances, to be the hero in their lives. They help alleviate feelings of white guilt by projecting white people not as the oppressors, but as the heroes who can save people of color from their circumstances, and often, the oppression that whites in the past have caused. Essentially, these films capitalize on the stories of people of color, yet instead of telling the film through their eyes, they are presented as stories of the white people who help them. The people of color in these films function as catalysts for the White Savior to learn his or her lessons and reach the end of his or her own journey.

* You’ve probably noticed that many of these films are inspired by true stories. People who defend WSF often bring up the fact that several of these are “based on a true story,” however, that doesn’t necessarily mean that all WSF are valid as a group. Rather, it shows that Hollywood has a greater interest in the stories of heroic white people saving people of color than stories of people of color helping their own communities or people of color helping white people out of bad situations. WSF stories are being used to support the status quo.

Is it racist to enjoy these films? No, it’s not. You can still watch these films and like them, but they are part of a trend that chooses to ignore the perspective of people of color, and feed into the White Savior Complex that really shows what Hollywood, and unfortunately, many white people have, so choose your films well and watch them carefully.

rollahardsix answered: my mom read this, and it sounded to me like it painted a very admirable portrait of these hard-working women. but I’m just a racist white boy

Yes, it is a very admirable portrait of these hard-working women. This conversation does not necessarily pertain to just The Help though.

There has been continuation of films in which stories about the oppression people of color are told through the eyes of a white person. Not only is that person the only white person who is magically able to see how much the people of color struggle, but ends up being the one who solves the problem with their White Savior powers because people of color obviously can’t solve problems on their own or be the leaders of their own revolutions. This trend occurs in movies like The Blind Side, Freedom Writers, and on larger and more grand scales, The Last Samurai and Dances With Wolves, and it is also a popular trend in science-fiction movies. Films like Dune, even Avatar and District 9 all have themes of a person from dominant oppressive group who always happens to be white saving the oppressed masses by becoming their champion, their voice, or their messiah. Films like The Help are on a smaller and more realistic setting, but they all have connected themes of white folks leading people of color (or metaphors for people of color) out of the terrible plight that other white folks put on them.

These kinds of films feed into this sense of white guilt that a lot of white people have. White people can take pride in watching films that have a white protagonist saving the oppressed masses. Particularity as The Help is a period piece, a lot of white folks can look at it at give themselves a pat on the back by feeling like white people are so different and have come so far from the oppressive white people of the past, but don’t consider how they might be perpetuating racism today. This thought, of course, is not usually a conscious theme, but one that these films exploit.

(Also, being racist and perpetuating racism are two different things)