The Help actress Bryce Dallas Howard responds as viewers call it 'problematic'
9 June 2020, 15:36 | Updated: 9 June 2020, 15:40
Bryce Dallas Howard, who starred in 'The Help' as racist villain Hilly Holbrook, has advised people to watch more educational material than the 2011 film.
Bryce Dallas Howard has addressed criticisms of her 2011 film The Help after it became the most-viewed movie on Netflix in the wake of worldwide anti-racism protests.
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The movie outlines the racist treatment black domestic workers received in 1960's America and is told from the perspective of a white female journalist, played by Emma Stone.
However, the film - which also stars Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer, the latter of whom won an Oscar for her role as housemaid Minny Jackson - has been widely criticised for portraying a 'white saviour' storyline.
"The Help" just became Netflix's most watched movie amid Black Lives Matter protests. Before I go bang my head into the wall, let me explain why "white saviors" movies are extremely dumb:pic.twitter.com/qFP4LSwTYM
— manny (@mannyfidel) June 5, 2020
The Help is trending on Netflix which means a lot of people still don’t get it
— Kenice Mobley (@kenicemobley) June 5, 2020
Many have also pointed out that the film was adapted from a book by a white novelist, Kathryn Stockett, and was directed by a white man, Tate Taylor. People took to Twitter this week to raise their concerns.
Even Davis, who was nominated for Best Actress at the Academy Awards for her performance as Aibileen in the film, previously said that she regrets starring in it.
"I just felt that at the end of the day that it wasn’t the voices of the maids that were heard. I know Aibileen. I know Minny. They’re my grandma. They’re my mom," she told the New York Times.
And now, Howard, who portrayed racist villain Hilly Holbrook, has shared a number of other films and shows that people should be watching instead of The Help.
"I’m so grateful for the exquisite friendships that came from that film -- our bond is something I treasure deeply and will last a lifetime. This being said, The Help is a fictional story told through the perspective of a white character and was created by predominantly white storytellers. We can all go further," she wrote.
"Stories are a gateway to radical empathy and the greatest ones are catalysts for action. If you are seeking ways to learn about the Civil Rights Movement, lynchings, segregation, Jim Crow, and all the ways in which those have an impact on us today, here are a handful of powerful, essential, masterful films and shows that center Black lives, stories, creators, and / or performers," she added, before listing a number of films:
- 13th
- Eyes on the Prize
- I am Not Your Negro
- Just Mercy
- Malcom X
- Say Her Name: The Life And Death Of Sandra Bland
- Selma
- Watchmen
- When They See Us
Protests continue to take place all over the world in reaction to the tragic death of unarmed black man George Floyd, who was killed in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25.
