Viola Davis: "I Betrayed Myself, And My People" By Starring In "The Help"

[Maza Yanga]

Viola Davis explains why she regrets starring in "The Help."


Viola Davis says she feels that she betrayed herself by playing Aibileen in The Help. In a new profile in Vanity Fair, Davis says the film was focused on catering to a white audience.

“Not a lot of narratives are also invested in our humanity,” says Davis. “They’re invested in the idea of what it means to be Black, but…it’s catering to the white audience. The white audience at the most can sit and get an academic lesson into how we are. Then they leave the movie theater and they talk about what it meant. They’re not moved by who we were.”

Critics argue The Help embraces the cliche "white savior" trope. The writing technique refers to a white person who provides help to non-white people in a self-serving manner and has been done time and time again in the cinema.

“There’s no one who’s not entertained by The Help. But there’s a part of me that feels like I betrayed myself, and my people, because I was in a movie that wasn’t ready to [tell the whole truth],” Davis says.

She argues The Help was “created in the filter and the cesspool of systemic racism.”

 

[King Freeman]

I stopped fucking with these movies years ago when I started noticing the white savior in films all to often. Glad she's noticed and is saying something tho. Never too late to wake tf up.

 

[Inori]

Yeah I cant stand these type of movies about black plight at the hands of white people... Good for her.. and now she's in an even better position to push, produce and star in movies that aren't all about black pain..

 

[King Freeman]

I stopped fucking with these movies years ago when I started noticing the white savior in films all to often. Glad she's noticed and is saying something tho. Never too late to wake tf up.

Come to think of it I think either this movie or the blindside was where I saw the trailer and asked myself wtf. Just ceased giving these types of films mental real estate. Never watched or been tempted to watch those, the butler, 12 years a slave, noah none of that shit.

 

[Stomp Johnson]

I hope she can at least find comfort in the fact that I've never seen that bullshit.

 

[Ibex]

Ain’t never seen The Help, The Butler, Selma, none of them. That black power shit gets no play in this ride.

 

[Big Lurko]

Come to think of it I think either this movie or the blindside was where I saw the trailer and asked myself wtf. Just ceased giving these types of films mental real estate. Never watched or been tempted to watch those, the butler, 12 years a slave, noah none of that shit.

Blindside was a true story that was pretty dope tho

 

[#1hiphopjunki3]

Come to think of it I think either this movie or the blindside was where I saw the trailer and asked myself wtf. Just ceased giving these types of films mental real estate. Never watched or been tempted to watch those, the butler, 12 years a slave, noah none of that shit.

I've never watched and never will watch the Blindside due to just seeing trailers for that bullshit when it was premiering in theaters. In the trailers they had that man looking like he had mental health issues and shit. Not too mention the trailers made it seem like it was more about Sandra Bullock's character as opposed to Michael Oher.

I remember a white female coworker trying to recommend me watching that shit (I own and talk about movies alot) and I told her straight up that I don't do white savior films. Shit had the bitch confused as hell on how to respond to me. LMAO

 

[grYmes]

I watched The Help once and didn’t care for it. The good that came from it tho is it helped Viola Davis climb up the ladder. She shouldn’t feel like she betrayed us tho. There’s plenty of actors who have done much worse.

 

[Scribbledabble]

I hope she can at least find comfort in the fact that I've never seen that bullshit.

i was going to say the same thing

 

[BlackRain]

Blindside was a true story that was pretty dope tho

It was a true story that they very much fucked up for the movie. Both the player and real life family have said this.

 

[shutupGabi]

She said this years ago.

The help is a problematic fav of mine idc idc idc

 

[Rubato]

Ain’t never seen The Help, The Butler, Selma, none of them.

 

[King Freeman]

She said this years ago.

The help is a problematic fav of mine idc idc idc

Coo...



Jokin. Lol.

 

[Suckio Andretti]

She said this years ago.

The help is a problematic fav of mine idc idc idc

Shut up gabi

 

[RusselWilsonJr]

She was old enough to know better..miss me wit that

 

[Slide Like M.Bison]

Meanwhile, when niggas gon apologize to Nate Parker and realize how good “The Birth Of A Nation” was?

 

[King Freeman]

She was old enough to know better..miss me wit that

Weren't you just telling us we couldn't support black lives matter because black on black crime?

:lookatthisshit:

 

[RusselWilsonJr]

Weren't you just telling us we couldn't support black lives matter because black on black crime?

:lookatthisshit:

Show me where I said that


and what that gotta do wit this?

 

[King Freeman]

Show me where I said that
View attachment 317340

And just cause niggaz get locked up for killing niggaz dont mean that we should just ignore the fact that it happens at an alarming rate..

People that live in close proximity to one another kill one another..

Like..we pose to just accept that shit

So we shouldn't fuck with black lives matter because black on black crime exists?

You implied that bullshit for 3 days straight before telling us you didn't care.