nefermaathotep: All of these critically acclaimed films use…

nefermaathotep:

All of these critically acclaimed films use variations on a single narrative: Black people are oppressed by bad white people. They achieve freedom through the offices of good white people.

The stridency of the “white savior” narrative varies a good deal from film to film. Lincoln treats black people mostly as props who provide significant glances and strategic reminders of What This Is All For while strings swell and Daniel Day-Lewis (Best Actor!) flexes his cheeks in an excess of folksy, canny, oleaginous self-regard as Lincoln. Django and Glory, meanwhile, both figure their white saviors as military enablers, teaching black men to self-actualize through violence, and thereby free themselves (Django) or their people (Glory). 12 Years A Slave drops its Brad Pitt-ex-machina in only at the end, focusing instead—refreshingly—on Solomon Northup’s own struggles and resilience.

The white savior in 12 Years probably wouldn’t be off-putting at all except for the fact that, in Daniel José Older’s words, “Did we really need yet another white savior narrative?” As it is, in the context of Hollywood, Northup’s stunned/numb gratitude at the end of the film tends to blur into a montage of other teary-eyed black actors gazing with awe and wonder at the surprising, over-determined nobility of some white actor or other.

I’ve seen Brad Pitt’s role in 12 Years defended on the grounds that Northup was in fact aided, and saved, by a white man. That’s certainly true. It’s also true that Lincoln did a great deal to end slavery. And it’s true that white men worked to free Africans in the Amistad case, and that Colonel Robert Shaw bravely fought side by side with black troops during the Civil War. I’d even argue (as I did here) that white people need to see stories about anti-racist whites, both as inspiration and as an exercise in humility. (If Shaw is the standard for principled resistance to racism, I know I, at least, don’t measure up.) But when every major film representation of slavery hinges on venerating the noble sacrifices of honorable whites—well, let’s just say that as a challenge to white supremacy, it leaves something to be desired.

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