"Entertainment cannot replace education." Very well-said.

“Some guy was found guilty. I don’t know who he is.” Honestly it is the shade he deserves.

This is why a lot of black films that were critically acclaimed in 2019 (us, Luce, waves, dolomite is my name, the Atlantic’s, clemency, queen and slim, the last black man in San Francisco) were snubbed from the academy awards and other major film awards bc they didn’t have a white savior narrative and or the feel good sense as other race films that were awarded. They wouldn’t nominate Lupita Nyong’o for Us for best actress despite the fact that lupita won the best actress awards than any of the Oscar nominees bc her performance challenges the notion of specific roles/performances that are usually given to black actresses

The Green Book is a lot more overtly offensive than The Help though. I mean that chicken scene alone. That movie completely centers a white man who feels he's "blacker" than Don Shirley, because he he eats fried chicken and listens to Aretha Franklin or some shit. The Help seems to push this message of, "we're all women, we all have it rough. Some of us are black maids getting paid next to nothing and have to deal with the constant fear of being lynched in the deep south and some of us are being criticized for not getting a man."

I think that's why I loved Black Klansman because while it's a true story that takes place in the past, Spike Lee ends the film with riots that happened in modern times as well as news footage of the Klans leader David Duke to show that racism is still alive. Very powerful film!

I literally just dug up a comment I posted a year and a half ago to a commentary about "Green Book"'s best picture win which says virtually everything you cover in this video essay: "[...]I'm generally tired of any and all movies like this which portray racism as some absurd oddity from a bygone era as manifested through people who just needed to get to know some coloreds to change their minds. Racism is here and now. It's systems and structures and institutions. It's both the folks yelling 'build the wall' and the ones who just moved into the historically black neighborhood last month and already are trying to rid it of the guy who's been selling his art on the street corner for the last decade."

What to watch instead of “The Help”, ”Driving Miss Daisy”, ”Crash”, ”The Blind Side”, and ”Green Book”: 1. Do the Right Thing 2. 13th 3. Judas and the Black Messiah 4. Malcolm X 5. The Color Purple 6. The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till 7. When They See Us 8. The Central Park Five 9. Dolemite Is My Name 10. Fruitvale Station 12. Selma 13. BlackkKlansman 14. Da 5 Bloods 15. If Beale Street Could Talk 16. Sorry To Bother You 17. Get Out 19. Us 20. Blindspotting 21. Beasts of No Nation 22. Widows 23. Mudbound 24. Imperial Dreams 25. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind 26. Moonlight 27. Beast of the Southern Wild

As a mexican, we're not usually taught about black history so when I learned about the Tulsa massacre on Watchmen I was horrified about it and did a lot of research about that topic and about slavery. Now I get the civil rights and the black lives matter movements.

Remember that time Whoopi didn't win for Color Purple? That hurt, it's one of my favorite movies.

I always felt like Emma Stone was so forgettable in The Help. I only remember it for Viola and Octavia’s performances.

White people like White Savior films. It's comforting.

This is the same issue with Native American people in cinema, they're shown as history always in the past tense while the good guys are always Americans, ignoring how the american government has oppressed them with their propaganda which the same thing cinema has committed too. There is something called Fourth Cinema to combat this, is there a movement for cinema and black people that frames stories outside the classical white hollywood First Cinema?

Came for the content, stayed for the drag of 'Lady Antebellum' 😌 and other WTP.

Basically trying to stay on the safe side they want everything to be peaceful but people need to realize protests and change are not comfortable or peaceful 😧

In Hollywood, I've noticed that POC only ALWAYS win Oscars for acting in typecasted roles. Black actors have won Oscars for playing slaves, shady crooks, a Mammie, or an abusive parent. Latinex actors also get it bad because they always get nomimated for playing the shady drug dealer or mafia/mob leader. But when POC do act in roles that don't paint them in a negative light, but in more of an empowering role, they ALWAYS get passed up. It's why movies like Us, Dolimite is my Name, Waves, and Queen and Slim would NEVER get nominated for an Oscar. Because in the eye of the Academy Awards, they're not some kinda white saviour or slave narrative. It would just be seen by the Acdemy as a family drama to watch on the side. Hollywood claims it's so "diverse" and trying to fix the "race problem," but it's not. Unlike Broadway, Broadway actually IS fixing it's race problem. We've seen such an increase in diversity in all of it's major acting categories with actors acting in roles that are actually positive and not too self deprecating. Just in 2016, all 4 of the major musical acting awards went to POC for their amazing work.

The Take made a video about the white savior films and added the help, they actually made it the thumbnail and a lot of white people came up to its defense. I was like "really? You don't see it? It's so obvious, how could you not?" I still don't get why they don't get it lol

I like watching The Help with ESL students at the beginning of dealing with race relations. It's funny, well acted, has amazing actors in it and it warms them up. Then as we progress deeper into the issue, you can see students coming back to the movie and start to question the narrative. That's the best way to use it imo.

I am afraid to read the comments. I'm an emerging filmmaker. I just wanted to say thank you for making this video and your perspective on this.

that Spike Lee clip on loop for 2 hours provides a better filmgoing experience than The Help or Green Book

Without a doubt the best channel on KZfaq

This conversation has been going on for a little longer than most people realize. Do you remember the American Indian appearing at the Oscars in 1972 (I think that was the year) to accept Brando's best actor oscar? And how she was BOOOOED. If not, please google that. Brando later explained that on the Dick Cavett show in a very poignant way. And it's 50 years later and Green Book wins Best Picture. So PLEASE stop watching the Oscars. They suck. They're anti-equality, anti-progressiveness, anti-inclusiveness, anti-everything.

The movie "For Colored Girls" is absolutely amazing. I picked it up randomly at the library years ago and I wish everyone could see it. It also has a small documentary on the DVD about the poetry events and woman whose poetry and experiences inspired the movie. I don't know why more movies like this aren't being made and recognized. Incredible work. I definitely feel Hollywood is leaving out too many voices. I especially want to see more female lead projects in the future and I'm so glad people are demanding change.

White Savior movies can be acted well, costumed beautifully, shot impressively, and maybe have a great soundtrack (lookin at you, Hidden Figures! That soundtrack is *chefs kiss*). But it is a bad way to talk about racism. It is a bad way to talk about American history, especially regarding the achievements of black Americans.

I recently got into a heat of argument about this on Facebook, when Viola Davis did the Vanity Fair interview, and said that she regrets making The Help. A while woman posted with a comment: ‘’Viola Davis in 2020 is regretting the very role that made her a star. I find her so rude for saying that, because this movie isn’t racist, and the fact that she enjoy many awards for her role in this film makes her a hypocrite”. Among the comments were stuff like “I don’t even know her lol”, “an ungrateful woman” as examples. Therefore I commented with just a generic description of white savior narrative and the idea of movies about racism without a white character in it. In response I basically got a cocktail of insults, people told me I’m rude and that I’m calling the girl who made the post stupid etc. Thank you so much for this vid, because for the past months I felt like I’m literally the only white person around me (I live in Poland) who gets the problem. You put all my thoughts in a professional, eloquent piece and I’m so freaking grateful for that ❤️

I wish there are amazing original stories starring African American characters and showing their daily lives, their sadness, their joy, their families, their workplace. I’d really want to watch that

Funny how “wide” and “white” could be easily interchangeable in that opening question.

I can't stand the whole "black films should be used to educate" trope. Too many popular and award-winning films featuring black artists are biopics or civil rights films. There are are so few films in which a person of color is just a regular Joe (or Jane), complete with flaws. No, they typically have to be some altruistic hero or civil rights pioneer. Especially if they want Oscar recognition. If a film is going to be "educational", then I agree that it should focus on institutional racism. More contemporary films with familiar villains from someone's neighborhood... not some ghost from some bygone era, as you point out. It's difficult for Jennifer Lopez or one or two or three of the cast from Parasite or The Farewell to be nominated because the characters do not fit Hollywood's stereotypes. White actors get to explore all these different personas and people of color get to play a well-known-true-life persona or tragic victim. How dull.

Olivia de Havilland died. I didn't know . I'd love to see your take on her life.

R.I.P. to the legend, the honourable John Lewis seen at 9:24 (wearing the backpack) being pushed by the pigs during the Selma march, let's keep making good trouble!

I liked the Help as a movie. Without context it's a very female movie, about female friendship and strength in the faces of the titular Help. The most boring character actually is Emma Stone's. I would understand why it's interesting to people. On the other hand, I can't understand why The Green Book would win over Blackkklansman...

Seth Meyers and Amber Ruffin did one of my favorite white savior parodies a few years vack

In my super white catholic school upbringing we honored black history month by watching Remember The Titans every year. That was about it.

Sidney Is such a hero to me. Love the commentary

Couldn't we consider Sidney Poitier a star actor, someone who always plays the same sort of role in the same sort of way? Not many people criticize George Clooney for always playing the same character all the time.

This channel is medicinal.

I just wrote this as a sub-comment, but would also like to include it in the overall conversation: Many of us on Latin America are watching the news about racism in the US in horror, while congratulating ourselves that there’s no racism in our counties, but we are so very wrong! It’s not only colorism or classism that exists in all (yes, all) Latin American countries. Racism is as pervasive as in the United States, and it’s targeted against our native populations, people of African descent, people from Asian countries and even from the Middle East. Do you remember, for example, how Yalitza Aparicio got so much hatred in our countries just for being of native origin? The same thing happened when Rigoberta Menchú got her Nobel Prize. There are countries, like El Salvador, Costa Rica, Chile and Uruguay that don’t even acknowledge the existence of African-descent or indigenous populations, and they have been ignored, erased or silenced in history books, statistical data like the census and even cultural values. We all should look within our countries with more discerning eyes, and we will find that what’s happened and is still happening to Black people in the US, has also happened and is happening to all minorities in Latin America, from Mexico to Chile: violence, prejudice, police brutality, inequality, bigotry, systemic racism, you name it, everything made worse by the invisibility of minorities and the fact that we keep denying there’s blatant racism in our countries. It is in this context, and this context only, where the phrase “all lives matter” is equally as important as “Black lives matter”.

I think that Sidney Poitier's films in the late 50s and throughout the 60s were meant to provide positive representations of Af-Am men in films. Admittedly, his characters appear possibly too virtuous, even cliché virtuous, possibly beyond a regular person, but is that really the problem that Af-Am audiences had with them? At the time when these films were made, wasn't their point to uplift the image of the Af-Am person in a predominantly white film world? What I personally like about Sidney Poitier's movies is that he fights against racism but also transcends it through the strength and virtue of his characters. He never resigns himself to the way things are and he always draws the line. The stories allow his character to develop on screen, which is more than any Af-Am actor was able to do at that time. In short, he gave visibility and complexity to his characters, allowing audiences to hopefully think of African Americans differently.

We know The Help is problematic af, but I had to pause and applaud when you spoke Truth to that dry-ramen-noodles shake-and-go LONG BOB 😭! As a naturally curly girl, I'm still not over it. They had Emma out here looking SO foolish. Which is actually completely on-brand for The Help, so... maybe it was intentional? Omg that would be worse! War Crimes!

that clip of spike lee at the end was pitch perfect. another thoughtful, well-researched, inspiring video - thank you so much for your hard work every time!

I had a feeling a Be Kind Rewind video was coming today! Its a good feeling!

I strongly disagree with including 12 Years a Slave. Not only it's made by one of the greatest directors of all time who's also black, it's one of the most unflinching looks at slavery narrated through the eyes of the slaves. It's a cinematic masterpiece and it's necessary because there are still people who need to be educated about the horrors of slavery.

Just when I was running out of Be Kind Rewind to binge! Also the Netflix series “They’ve Gotta Have Us” is a 3-episode documentary on this same topic and it is _glorious_ in it’s celebration of black film. It’s a great companion piece to this.

I'm South African but I love this channel, I think it's a great resource for film fans to engage with the media we consume

This is one place I appreciate long-range critical thinking about films and the industry. It made me think about why I love the ones I do and the comfort zone around them. Respect.

I'm not American. I have read amazing literature by black, Native American, Asian-American and Chicano writers. I wonder that not many of those books (Toni Morrison's novels, for example) are turned into movie scripts to reach a wider audience. The Color Purple is a great book and a deeply moving film. The Help, not really, though the acting by Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer was terrific. This video has been really interesting to me as a non-American person interested in these issues.

If anything THE HELP has taught me one thing: how to make pie 😉

The producers of Selma are: Oprah Winfrey, Jeremy Kleiner, Christian Colson, Dede Gardner and Cameron McCracken.

The Help was one of my favorite movies. And I still really enjoy it. I know it's not necessarily a great depiction of racism, I just like the performances in it. I also think that it is slightly a cut above others of its kind because it at least addresses lack of upward mobility for black people and and it does focus on the black maids telling their stories and perspectives. But again, I know that that doesn't make it an epic anti racist manifesto for the ages lol

I feel like To Kill A Mocking Bird would be a good topic as well. It was a film that had a large impact as well as the book. It did inspire change, but it is a story told through a white perspective during that time period in the south. This does influence how it was made and how it has aged.

Wait Olivia deHaviland died? No!

Be Kind Rewind, as always, thank you. Your humility and wisdom continue to give all of us insight and a passion to simply be better. I can't get enough and the short wait between is worth it tenfold.

By the time we reach the inauguration in January 2021, I get the feeling theres gonna be books, documentaries, films and a shit ton of articles and reports that would be very disturbing yet fascinating to read about the multitude of events that struck this year. The deaths, pandemic, black lives matter, the election and much more.

I saw Green Book a day after seeing Blindspotting, and I swear my neck nearly snapped from the whiplash.

Don't ever compare 12 Years A Slave with something like The Help. 12 Years by the way was based on an actual true story.

Without a doubt one of the best channels on KZfaq!. When information is presented this way it actually makes you think.

Spike Lee grabbing the opportunity to finally speak at the Oscars after decades of being snubbed made the show vaguely worthwhile for once. I wish BlackkKlansman had swept the show so he coukd have said more. ‘Not my cuppa tea’ lmao

Racism continues today. Thank you for the section highlighting modern films on race produced by white filmmakers, that predominantly focus on the pre-1970s south.

I can’t tell you this enough- thank you! You are doing an amazing job to explain why this is important to change the way black people are portrayed matters. Some people only rely on movies to understand people that they have never interacted with. So I’m glad that you have made videos like this in the past- showing that you truly care. Side note: it saddens me that Viola hates that role so much but I completely understand.

I'm sorry, it was still hilarious to see Octavia Spencer's character get even by shitting in the mean lady's pie haha

I have been waiting for this for too long! Every time a new video from BKR comes up, my whole day comes to a screeching halt!

I agree with some of the points, however I find it regressive to think of cinema movies as a medium for education about history, other than how they reflect society during the time of their making, which is helpful and interesting, but ultimately not nearly enough. Rating movies based on their educational level seems as pontless to me as rating science books based on their entertainment value. I believe it was Marc Bloch who said that a historical publication cannot be simultaneously scientifical and pleasurable to read - science and entertainment are two separate cultural entities. I think the main problem is the fact that people choose Hollywood movies over books written by actual historians/sociologists etc. as their source of information on racial history.

I grew up in the South, and when people ask what it was like I say that it was a blend of "The Help" and "Driving Miss Daisy". You ask why films like these are made, and the answer is that they are nostalgia of a way of life that is all but gone.

"Talking about race through the prism of the civil rights era is more comfortable" Historical distance + white protagonist + racism treated as an individual sin rather than an institutional problem...that's the triad of mainstream American movies' inability to deal with racism,

Amazing commentary and analysis! And very enlightening. And I appreciate how you really go in depth with the older movies with Sidney Poitier and such, by really putting them in context of the time instead I just saying, “no these aren’t good questions for today so don’t watch”, you understand how they were pretty good commentary for their time.

As a black person, I approve this message. LOL Seriously though. Great research and an excellent point. A

The Help is one of my favorite films, but I always thought it was best examined in terms of storytelling, characters, performances and direction than the end-all be-all of anti-racism. Perhaps it’s more a gateway drug for people who are willing to look into their own biases, but that depends on if the viewer will expand their knowledge of anti-racism films beyond what’s comfortable and relatable.

I love Sidney Poitier, but it is true that his films embody the “perfect man” stereotype, which limits his humanity and the black men he was representing. He is the black “Mr. Darcy”. That being said he will always be a hero to me as much as he was when I was a kid. To Sir With Love was an amazing film, same with Blackboard Jungle.

I want to start by saying that I have enthusiastically consumed every one of your posts to date, and I especially want to thank you for posting this particular video. I constantly find myself earnestly wanting to support Black artists involved in mainstream movies such as "12 Years A Slave", "Harriet", "Selma", "When They See Us", et al, but this often comes with deeper trauma when revisiting these atrocities. I am not someone who watches movies purely for escapism, but I also think that perhaps I am not the audience that would benefit (I use that term loosely) from watching content vividly rooted in the terrors of racism. There is more than enough space in Hollywood to make films that reflect a non-historical Black experience that expresses the nuance, complexity, and (dare I say) joy of the Black American experience...I am patiently waiting for more of that. In the meantime, thank you again for your perspective...I always look forward to the next video.

I’d like to see a comedy where someone thinks they aren’t racist but keeps committing acts of micro aggression that cause them trouble.

The fact you included that clip of James Edwards in "Home of the Brave" at 3:07 makes this channel legendary. Thank you for tackling this often exhausting and complicated subject matter with intelligence and honesty. Your work is a gift! Thanks so much!

The year The Help came out I started a new job where I was going to be manager over a white woman 20 years older than I am. She tried to relate to me by bringing up this movie. I politely tolerated her attempt at conversion (in my mind I was probably thinking "binch, please"). I hadn't seen the movie and did not watch it until it was on video, but yes these movies are definitely made for white audiences. I eventually watched The Help because Ms Davis and Ms Spencer are great actors . I went to Hidden Figures because of the actors once again and to learn a little about the story of these women at NASA (of course do your research to learn the true stories). I have never seen Driving Miss Daisy or more recently The Green Book because these movies have no appeal to me.

I, too, cringed when I saw The Help trending.

I can appreciate the flaws of The Help as having some unfortunate white saviour tropes, but I don't think it should be trodden into the dust completely. If nothing else, it's a touching portrayal of female friendship across the boundaries of class and race, and beautifully made. And it's ending certainly isn't tied up with a bow - far from it. Hilly wins and Aibileen is thrown out of the house (driving home the point that Hilly's privilege as a rich white woman allows her to still hold all the power, even after her appalling behavior is made public). And the movie frames the victory of the book as Aibileen's, not Skeeter's. Just my two cents. I appreciate that my being an Asian woman doesn't make me the most qualified to talk about this.

My favourite channel

Thank you for this video. This is a strong contribution. As a gay, Latino minority, I am still learning about the legacy and history that African American movies have had. I have seen several of the movies shown here... and their influence in art is consistently from the award season point of view very different when seen from a lens different then those who made Greenbook or The Help, etc. You stated the point very well about how these movies place the Anglo hero in a pedestal, but don’t necessarily address the root of the problem with race. I appreciate your videos because they entertain me, but this one in particular was very educational. Thank you.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!❤️❤️❤️❤️ I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE WAY THAT YOU BREAK DOWN ALL DIFFERENT KINDS OF MOVIES IN SUCH AN ELOQUENT WAY! YOUR VOICE & YOUR RELATABLE STORY TELLING IS BEYOND ANYTHING OR ANYONE WHO HAS TOLD THEM THUS FAR! YOU RESERVE YOUR JUDGEMENT, WHILST AT THE SAME TIME, YOU GET YOUR OPINION ACROSS IN A WAY THAT’S NOT OVERLY ASSERTIVE, BUT SURE!! YOU HAVE NEW SUBSCRIBER WITH ME! I CAN’T WAIT TO WATCH MORE OF YOUR CONTENT!! BRAVO!!!⭐️❤️⭐️❤️⭐️❤️⭐️❤️⭐️❤️⭐️❤️

you also forgot remember the titans. a film that literally used the same cliques as these films you included.

The shots taken at 12 Years a Slave were weird, tbh. It’s light years better than Driving Miss Daisy, Green Book, and The Help.

This channel is a national treasure! You do a great and important work documenting these stories, loved this video!

I only stumbled upon your channel two days ago. I watched several videos and decided to subscribe. I'm amazed at the effort you put into your work and how you add layers of context. Top notch.

I won't deny, I liked The Help when I saw it but mostly this feeling stemmed from the (almost) all female cast (not you, Emma Stone, I felt like the movie would be the same if they edited her out) and especially the acting of Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer and Jessica Chastain. I never once thought it was a movie that was meant to educate people about racism in the USA

I haven't been as much mad getting out of a movie theater as when I checked the long list of dramatic licenses, hence lies, that Hidden Figures had. The movie was 99.9% false.

Another great video! Thank you for suggesting good indie movies to see. As a liberal white woman, I've had the attitude in the past that, yes there is still racism, but at least things have gotten a lot better. The last few years have really opened my eyes to how pervasive and systemic racism still is. We need to face it, understand it, and demand real change!

You always make such good videos that lead to meaningful conversations

I have never clicked so fast! I always know will learn something new here. Thanks!

Besides the point, but can you do a video celebrating the life and career of Olivia de Havilland similar to your Judy companion guide video?

This year has been awful alright. I have been waiting for u to upload. This summer holiday has been to damn stressful

What’s the black and white clip of the black soldier from?

Just getting hip to this channel and this particular episode/video was captivating! 👏🏾 The commentary and message was spot on! I'm going to leave below a list of amazing films to support by Black artists/films that are about everyday Black experiences. Anyone can feel free to add more! 1. Crooklyn 2. Rosewood 3. School Daze 4. Posse 5. Raisin in the Sun (the original) 6. The Women of Brewster's Place 7. Having Our Say: The Delaney Sisters first 100 years 8. Waiting to Exhale 9. Sparkle (the original + the og soundtrack‼️) 10. The Feast of All Saints 11. Cooley High 12. Mahogany

Thank you for this - I've been trying to find a way to explain this to myself and you put it into words perfectly. As always...

Let’s not forget this is all over the world. I understand we need fix america but don’t think the rest of the world is perfect peace and love about this issue.

As a black filmmaker and movie podcaster called lights camera cocktails I bring this up all the time and I'm happy that other people bring this up too thank you for bringing up white savior movies

I’m not going to fight literally anything you have talked about in this video, but the Green Book controversy is terribly interesting to me. Both actors based their performances and interactions on public interviews the people they played had done. And the places with those interviews took them down in order to fall in line with Dr Maurice Shirley’s accusation of lies. You have to use the way back machine to even see some of the statements Don Shirley had to say about Vallelonga. Which is weird.

@13:55 that’s the problem: film makers can’t call out systematic racism without calling out the same capitalist system that empowers the film industry. It’s somewhat nuanced, but again the problem is capitalism.

It’s bad when Hilly is saying “We can do better than The Help”

I am a simple woman, I see a new BKR video and I drop everything I'm doing, play, hit like, and watch

As a black person .... I'll admit I was someone who watched The Help when I saw it trending lmao. But in my defense it had been like 8 years and I couldn't remember the plot lol

I absolutely love this video. I feel challenged by this video I've recently watch a video on the problem with white Savior trope in movie by the Take but they seems to talk only through the eyes of a white writer The way you explained the problem and its impact on society is more thorough I think?

This was literally my thought when I heard, The Help, trending. Like why The Help?? Thank you so much for making a video about it. Couldn't have said it better. I read the book 9 years ago but never watched the film.

This video is fantastic. I love the work this channel has done, but this one actually is informing me and giving me some homework on some movies I want to watch. I just gotta make sure I'm in the right mental state first. I've been tired and overwhelmed more often than not, but I definitely wanna check out the listed movies. I'll make sure to add them to my Watch Later!