The Help – a 2011 film that centred on the struggles of black maids in 1960s America – is having a resurgence lately, as it currently ranks as one of
the top streamed films available on Netflix amid the current civil rights uprising and global protests that were precipitated by the killing of George Floyd. One of the stars of that film, Bryce Dallas Howard, who played a villainous white housewife, has publicly come out to say that there are so many better films to watch that represent the Black community more fairly and accurately.Posting to her
official Facebook page on Sunday, June 7, the actress and daughter of famed actor-director Ron Howard, wrote, “I’ve heard that #TheHelp is the most viewed film on Netflix right now! 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.”
[video_embed id='1973293']RELATED: Michael B. Jordan, J.Lo and more stars attend BLM marches over the weekend [/video_embed]“Stories are a gateway to radical empathy and the greatest ones are catalysts for action,” she continued, before recommending a long list of films that she feels better elucidate the struggles of Black people in America, told by the Black community and Black creators.“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…”Some of the films that she recommends include James Baldwin’s
I Am Not Your Negro, Selma, Watchmen, Malcolm X, and
Say Her Name: The Life and Death of Sandra Bland. Her full list of recommendations on the FB post is complemented by her call for comments that include other films she may have missed. Even though the performances in
The Help are a tour de force – Octavia Spencer won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her powerhouse portrayal – Howard isn’t the only performer from that film who has publicly regretted their involvement. Viola Davis told
Vanity Fair in 2018 that she regretted her Oscar-nominated performance in the film because, “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 [her character]. I know Minny. They’re my grandma. They’re my mom. And I know that if you do a movie where the whole premise is, ‘I want to know what it feels like to work for white people and to bring up children in 1963,’ I want to hear how you really feel about it. I never heard that in the course of the movie.”
The Help production also faced scrutiny recently when star Octavia Spencer revealed that she wouldn’t have earned the same salary as her white co-stars had it not been for Jessica Chastain lobbying on her behalf for equal pay.
Time reported in 2018 that it was because of that, both women earned five times what they were initially offered to appear in the film.[video_embed id='1967865']BEFORE YOU GO: Man hilariously reviews his toddler's restaurant[/video_embed]
