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When Can We Help Ourselves? The White Savior in American Cinema

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Written by Markus Seaberry

Tuesday, 28 July 2009 00:00

I have been hesitant to write on this topic for some time, but I have to get this off my chest. As an African-American man, I have a problem with the whole “White Savior” image that is all over American cinema. I am sure that my readers out there know the plots I speak of all too well. Some kind-hearted European American shows up at just the right time and rescues the poor minority youth from their cruel existence. Almost as long as I have been watching films, I have been subjected to this, and it’s usually “based on a true story”. Whether it was Michelle Pfeiffer in Dangerous Minds giving hope and opening the minds of poor inner-city minority youth, or Hillary Swank doing the same in Freedom Writers, the White Savior is there to show us poor, misguided minorities that we can read and dream and reach for the stars because, darn it, poor minorities are people too! All we need is some nice white person who’s a rebel or an unorthodox thinker or a grumpy old man, such as Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino. Well, if cinema is any indication, the poor minorities would perish were it not for the White Savior. And on behalf of all minorities everywhere, all I can say is “We showl’ is appreciative of y'all White folks helping us out, boss!” As a matter of fact, if I’m “saved” again, I might just be ill.

^{Clint Eastwood and Bee Yang in Gran Torino.}

Maybe I’m being a paranoid Black man, but I am beginning to think that film companies latch onto these stories to illustrate how “helpless” other minorities are. OK, we get it. We got it in Wildcats with Goldie Hawn. We got it in Dangerous Minds, Freedom Writers, Sunset Park, Glory Road, and countless other sports- or school-related films. Hell, we even got the message back in the 1970s on the White Shadow TV show. To be honest, I have enjoyed most of these shows. Since many of them were based on truth, I gave them a pass for several years. After watching Gran Torino, however, it hit me. I thought the film was okay, even though Clint Eastwood was the only performance worth talking about. They could have at least found some talented “weak minority” actors. But a few days after watching the film, I realized that I had seen yet another White Savior story—the difference being that this time, the White man saved the poor Asian people from the bad Asian people. I had the realization while discussing the film with a colleague. “They did it to me again!” I said. Does it always have to be the poor minorities that need saving? Yes, I know that in most films they learn from each other and gain a greater understanding of the traits that we all share and hold hands and sing "Kumbaya", blah blah blah. But is it too much to ask for films where minorities save themselves?

Not every film where a White person enriches the lives of a Black person falls into this category. In Half Nelson, a cocaine-addicted middle school teacher (Ryan Gosling) forms a bond with a Black girl (Shareeka Epps) and tries to keep her from following in the footsteps of her drug-dealing older brother. They actually help each other, and even though the White character is the teacher, their relationship is pretty balanced. It's creative, ironic, and well-written. I can accept a movie like that, but I would really like to see more films where the minorities help themselves. The last films that I can recall that fell into that category were 2004's Coach Carter, and 2007's Pride. There has to be more stories where a “person of color” mentored other younger non-Europeans. In fact, I recently learned of a Washington, DC principal named Steve Perry who uses a tough love approach to keep the kids in his school in line and out of trouble. He has a practically non-existent drop-out rate, and everybody who has ever graduated from his school went on to college. Why isn’t somebody writing his story?

All I am asking for is fair representation on the big screen. I am not saying that I do not appreciate the contribution that anyone has made in the lives of our youth, regardless of color. I just don’t want my nieces and nephews and other little minority children to think they have to wait for a mythical White Savior to rescue them from the ills of the ghetto. C’mon, people, we have Black President! You don’t think he had some positive Black role models in his life? Let’s show the other side! Please, Hollywood, give the “White Saviours” a rest. Otherwise, I’ll be forced to start watching Steven Seagal films, and nobody wants to see that.

9 Comments

Chris McCoy makes this comment

Wed 29 Jul 2009 00:17:40 EDT

So, where does Hustle and Flow fit in to the scheme of things? It's black people helping themselves, but it's ultimately not a happy ending.
Jack Lab makes this comment

Wed 29 Jul 2009 02:28:37 EDT

Good article, Markus. There's also the "magical black man" archetype, in which the main characters in a story are fully-drawn, realistic white people, and then a minority person, usually black, comes along and is presented as wise, mystical, more in tune with nature, more spiritual, usually not very educated, and somehow more "pure" than the deluded white people. The minority person dispenses some apropos homespun wisdom, usually ends up saving the white person, and then disappears or is killed when the crisis is resolved and their continued presence would require them to have actual conversation with the white person. You can think of a zillion examples: That big dude in "The Green Mile," Scatman Crothers in "The Shining," the old Chinese guy in "Gremlins," Morgan Freeman as God in that stupid Jim Carrey movie, Morgan Freeman in pretty much everything else he's done, the black janitor in "Hudsucker Proxy," the blind black guy in "O Brother, Where Art Thou," Laurence Fishburne in "The Matrix," and on and on and on. Even Forrest Gump had Bubba Gump, the only character in the movie who was presented as both dumber and sweeter than Forrest. It goes back even farther, in the form of the "Noble Savage" literary archetype: James Fenimore Cooper's Indians in the Deerslayer series, even back to Aphra Behn's 16th-century novel "Oroonoko." These characters are helping the protagonists, but they're never shown as fully developed humans; they're connections to some other world of mysticism and blah blah blah. In other words, even though they're good characters, they're not human. It's one more way the culture says, "Being white is normal, and being any other color is a deviation from normal." Just like in pretty much any movie or TV show, if there's a black guy, he'll be light-skinned if he's a good character and dark-skinned if he's a bad character. This irritates the crap out of me in so many ways: The continued assertion that minorities are intellectually inferior; the continued assertion that I, as a white guy, am supposed to be "charmed" or something by an appallingly racist caricature of Ol' Uncle Remus; and the continued assertion that going to school makes people evil and/or stupid.
Jack Lab makes this comment

Wed 29 Jul 2009 02:29:34 EDT

I meant to have some paragraph breaks in there. Just pretend they're at the appropriate points.
Markus Seaberry makes this comment

Wed 29 Jul 2009 14:30:16 EDT

Chris-I hadn't thought about that one, true, the ending of Hustle and Flow isn't the happiest, but at least they held their own. Jack-The "Magical Negro" could be a whole other entry. I agree with your points. I just want a little parity. I know that there are lots of stories where minorities help themselves, shoot, my boss said that they could tell stories about the good teachers in the Memphis City School System if they need material.
empee makes this comment

Wed 29 Jul 2009 14:39:47 EDT

good blog.... very interesting.
Duane makes this comment

Wed 29 Jul 2009 18:00:16 EDT

I see what Markus means...a lack of leading African American men in the roles of hero/savior/etc. I think it's really just Samuel L. Jackson, Wesley Snipes, Ving Rhames, Denzel Washington and Will Smith...all getting up there in age, now. Only Tyrese Gibson shines out to me as given the chance to be the next in line. Also, the cliche' in Hollywood has already long been called "the white knight come to save us." The other problem, when talking about Hollywood is simply the politics that go with all of that. SAG and other film unions alone end up deciding what races, nationality and per what percentage have to be in a film - or else! This is why independent film is yet again the best option to make a change anywhere in the industry. Used to, below-the-line costs were what held back filmmakers...not anymore...it's only a small percentage of what it used to be. The above the line costs are trying to hold firm (the SAG, WGA, DGA scales of pay), but they are going to become big studio related only...about that way already, actually.
Chris McCoy makes this comment

Thu 30 Jul 2009 17:01:23 EDT

I don't think Fishburne's Morpheus in The Matrix counts as a Magical Black Man. He has is own agenda, is shown wielding considerable power, and is at least as deeply a drawn character as Neo and Trinity. You might have a better case with The Oracle, on the other hand, as a Magical Black Woman, but she's really filling the spot in the story that a god such as Hera would fill in Greek drama. She's not a savage who gained wisdom because of her powerlessness, she's every big the equal of the other "supernatural" players. And I can't believe I'm defending The Matrix, which is ultimately just a ripoff of Tron and Ghost in the Shell.
Sarah makes this comment

Thu 30 Jul 2009 17:25:08 EDT

Ok, so, Morpheus might not fit as the "magical black man," but neo is totally in the roll of "white savior," and if that's the case the Morpheus is just one of the many minority that needs to be saved... ps-have you seen previews for the new tron? looks f-n bad ass!!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1IpPpB3iWI
Eric Swartz makes this comment

Thu 30 Jul 2009 19:58:08 EDT

Good article Markus. I do however, based on the population of Memphis have a problem with the term minority and I don't think I have to spell that out. My thoughts on Gran Torino are that the grumpy old white man, Mr. Wakowski (sp?)) is actually MORE saved in a spiritual sense by young Toa and his family. He is a soul tormented by his bigotry and murder of innocents in wartime and this is the last house on the left for him. Freedom Writers, though a dramatization is based on a true story. I am a white male descendant of germans, slave owners and Cherokee indians and I become quite annoyed with any implication I should carry a sense of shame and guilt for any facet of my ancestry. I do not tolerate racism from anyone, Black, White or Purple. I watch people who try to be white saviors in real life and all I can say is that if that mission is driven by compassion it has some worth. If it is driven by a sense of grandiosity then it is false and a mockery. So as a filmmaker place your power in your mission because Hollywood has a bottom line and it is about what sells not what is good and right for the world.

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