Module: HST4312 Screening History: Representing the Past in Historical Film
By Veena Saunder
12 Years a Slave and The Help are modern representations of African American history, being released in 2014 and 2011 respectively. I am going to argue that these films mark a change in Hollywood due to the better portrayal of black people in cinema, particularly women, however, there is still a continued issue with portraying black people as weak and requiring the assistance of white saviours. I am going to answer this question through observing African-American female depictions, the illustration of violence and the white saviour mentality. Previous representation of African American history has given little recognition to African-American women as there has always been a focus on history created by men. In the age of Barack Obama, we are shown the strength of black women through his wife, Michelle. These films also mark a change in the portrayal of violence because rather than showing the historical events in a way to not make the audience uncomfortable, the new era of African American historical films show the realities of being black in the South. While there is greater agency given to women of colour in these films, there is still a continuation of the white saviour mentality that has been prominent in films based on black history prior to Obama. This shows that although these two films do give black females representation, it continues with the same rhetoric of previous films where there is a white person who manages to help the black character in escaping slavery or a racist workforce. Modern representations have evolved from the old mould where they would tread cautiously over sensitive material, but this age has also come with its own pitfalls such as white saviourism.
African-American women have an increased representation in civil rights films such as The Help despite the anonymity they faced during the movement in the 1950s and 1960s. Black history, when told, has previously been largely told from a male perspective due to, as historian Martha Lott describes it, “a lack of research undertaken by scholars on African-American women’s representation in film on this subject”[1]. This shows that black history films have focused on men and their influence on civil rights. The lack of initiative to conduct research may have been present because there were no black cultural influencers in the media such as the Obamas to increase African American representation. David Izzo states that “Obama certainly is the main and culturally obvious impetus for this better-late-than-never ‘new wave of black films’.”[2] This portrays the idea that Obama brought change and what marks the “new wave of black films” is the increase of black, female representation in Hollywood. Obama’s presidency definitely did bring change to the structure of film through Michelle Obama. Carole Davies argues that “Michelle Obama presents images of strength in her physicality, unabashed assertiveness in public persona, and a deep sense of support for community both within and beyond the US”[3] which shows that the First Lady was a key stirrer of women of colour being given a voice. This allowed for greater representation for black women in the film industry. This is an important point as while Obama is the first bi-racial president, Michelle Obama is the first black first lady of the United States and has empowered other women, particularly women of colour.
The Help differs from other films that show African American history because it destroys the myth of black domestic stability in the home. The film shows the hardships surrounding the women maids and shows the structured racism integrated within the work force. Jennifer Woodard and Teresa Mastin argue that usually “the Black woman is characterised as a loyal domestic servant to White people”[4], whereas The Help begins to look at the reality of life as a black woman and diverges from the idealised “Mammy” character of the South. This is also seen in 12 Years a Slave where the film is contrastingly different from the nostalgic portrayal of the South in Gone with the Wind and rather than the black female slaves being portrayed as a form of domestic stability, we are shown the violent reality.[5] Historian Erica Ball points out that the director, Steve McQueen, “represents the violence of slavery with a harrowing realism… he steadfastly refuses to stage this violence in expected, and frankly, comfortable and reassuring ways.”[6] McQueen is not afraid to show the truths of slavery and instead of trying to hide the extent of slavery’s impact on black men and women he shows the brutal acts that plantation owners did to their slaves. While the prime focus of this film is to tell the story of Solomon Northup, a free man turned slave, one of the principal characters Patsey, played by Lupita N’yongo, shows the struggles of being a female slave. Rizvana Bradley argues that “Patsey’s character… enables a set of conceptual paradoxes and contradictions about black femininity to emerge.”[7] This shows that Patsey has reinvented social stereotypes surrounding black women. A character who throughout the film has been portrayed as a woman ruined by the structure of slavery through violence from her master shows the realities of being a female slave.
While both films make no attempt to hide the violence, particularly with 12 Years a Slave, there is also an element of victimising the characters and not showing their successes. Carole Davies states that 12 Years a Slave displays “a cathartic display of the intense violence and degradation of enslavement of the black body - and once again ignores the resistance text of black histories”[8]. This shows that even though the film industry has entered the Obama Era where there is a demand for black films, this film fails to show the strength and defiance for the regime amongst the black slaves. From black history we can see that there were figures who resisted or fought violence seen by Harriet Tubman who escaped slavery and helped many more into freedom; she stated that “no one will ever take me back alive; I shall fight for my liberty”[9]. This shows that there was an insurgence from the black community which has failed to be shown on screen. The resistance lacking in Steve McQueen’s adaptation is particularly stark because Solomon Northup’s book had characters who tried to escape enslavement whom McQueen has avoided including. Instead, he has portrayed characters such as Patsey as beaten down victims. Brenda Stevenson argues that “the only image of enslaved women… which rivals that of the beleaguered enslaved mother is that of the sexualized slave woman, most particularly that of the slave concubine”[10]. This statement is a poignant remark on 12 Years a Slave as it depicts black women as sexually promiscuous and as a white man’s sexual property. Although there is truth to the fact that white slave owners raped the women on plantations, this ideological portrayal of black women displays a pervasive racial stereotype of past and present.
A common thread throughout films in the Obama Era is that there is a continuation of the white saviour mentality. Matthew Hughey states that “The Help, much like many a white saviour film, trades explicitly on the careful parcelling of good and bad whites”[11] which shows that there is an innate need in modern day films to comfort the audience into believing that although there are racist characters, there is also the reverse activist campaigning for racial equality. There can be no middle ground in these films, and Skeeter, who interviews many black women in order to expose racial practices in the home, is portrayed as the one who progresses civil rights and supports the black women. However, these films do portray the reality of the struggles and therefore pose the question: to what extent could the black women in The Help speak out by themselves?[12] By being in a racialised society as the minorities it would have been difficult to speak out. 12 Years a Slave also suffers from displaying the white saviour as seen by Brad Pitt’s appearance at the end of the film where his actions essentially help Solomon return home. The necessity of having this character in the film is debatable and Daniel José Older's asks if “we really need yet another white saviour narrative?”[13] As I have mentioned before, although this film vividly shows the violence of slavery, we see little resilience from the slaves. In the memoir by Solomon Northup, he states that “notwithstanding the certainty of being captured, the woods and swamps are, nevertheless, continually filled with runaways”[14]. Had we seen more of the strength among the slaves and Brad Pitt’s role was minimised, then the film would arguably have been more representative of the Obama Age where the United States has its first African-American President. White saviourism, although a common theme in these two films, is recently notably absent in some films that represent African American culture. Jordan Peele’s Get Out (2017) has a black protagonist who escapes and resists a racist, medical experiment. Rather than pandering to the white audience, Peele has changed “black guy always dies first”[15] trope and has allowed the black characters in the film to have genuine agency with no white saviours. Regardless, there is yet to be an African American historical film that does not have an element of white saviourism.
In conclusion, 12 Years a Slave and The Help are modern representations of African American history as they deviate from the standard perception that the South was a place of luxury while glossing over the realities of being black. While there have been positive attempts made to change the way African American history has been portrayed, there have been other issues exemplified in the new age of black cinema. The portrayal of black men and women as weak and with no resilience is prominent in these films, which feeds into the white saviour complex where a white person helps them escape their situation and therefore claiming responsibility for the assistance. There are new factors in place which have improved the screening of black history such as the inclusion of more stories about women of colour seen by Patsey in 12 Years a Slave and Aibileen from The Help. The increase in female agency in Hollywood is due to Barack Obama’s wife Michelle and her influence of black culture in America. Her influence has led to a decrease in “Mammy” characters and more realistic portrayals of black women in slavery and segregation. The portrayals of the realistic nature of these two films show that there is a significant change in the modern adaptations of black history seen by greater female representation. However, there are still some aspects which show that these modern interpretations, although different from the pre-Obama film industry, still has its pit-falls in portraying the white saviour mentality. Nevertheless, these two films are marked as modern representations of African American history as they don’t attempt to comfort the audience through showing “the glory”[16] days but instead they show the realities of the events without any hesitation.
Footnotes
[1] M. Lott, “The Relationship Between the “Invisibility” of African American Women in the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s and Their Portrayal in Modern Film” Journal of Black Studies, 48/4 (2017), p. 11.
[2] D. Izzo, Movies in the Age of Obama (London: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015), p. 6.
[3] C. Davies, “"SHE WANTS THE BLACK MAN POST": Constructions of race, sexuality and political leadership in popular culture” Empowering Women for Gender Equity, 25/4 (2011), p. 102.
[4] J. Woodard, T. Martin. “Black Womanhood: "Essence" and its Treatment of Stereotypical Images of Black Women” Journal of Black Studies, 36/2 (2005), p. 271.
[5] R. Briley, “Hollywood's Reconstruction and the Persistence of Historical Mythmaking” The History Teacher, 41/4 (2008), pp. 455-468.
[6] E. Ball, “The Unbearable Liminality of Blackness: Reconsidering Violence in Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave” Transition, 54/119 (2016), p. 177.
[7] B. Rizvana, “Reinventing Capacity: Black Femininity's Lyrical Surplus and the Cinematic Limits of 12 Years a Slave” Black Camera, 7/1 (2015), p. 166.
[8] D. McDowell, “How Long? – Not Long” American Literary History, 26/2 (2014), p. 378. [9] C. Bernier, Characters of Blood: Black Heroism in the Transatlantic Imagination (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012), p. 84.
[10] B. Stevenson, “12 YEARS A SLAVE: NARRATIVE, HISTORY, AND FILM” The Journal of African American History, 99/1 (2014), p. 112.
[11] M. Hughey, The White Saviour Film (London: Temple University Press, 2014), p. 52. [12] C. Davies, “"SHE WANTS THE BLACK MAN POST": Constructions of race, sexuality and political leadership in popular culture”, Empowering Women for Gender Equity, 25/4 (2011), p. 102.
[13] “12 Years a Slave: Yet Another Oscar-Nominated 'White Savior' Story” The Atlantic, https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/01/-em-12-years-a-slave-em-yet-another-oscar-nominated-white-savior-story/283142/ [accessed 14 April 2019].
[14] S. Northup, 12 Years a Slave (New York: Derby & Miller, 1853), p. 254.
[15] R. Briley, “Hollywood's Reconstruction and the Persistence of Historical Mythmaking” The History Teacher, 41/4 (2008), p. 53.
[16] R. Briley, “Hollywood's Reconstruction and the Persistence of Historical Mythmaking” The History Teacher, 41/4 (2008), pp. 455-468.
Bibliography
Books
Bernier, C. Characters of Blood: Black Heroism in the Transatlantic Imagination (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012)
Hughey, M. The White Saviour Film (London: Temple University Press, 2014)
Izzo, D. Movies in the Age of Obama (London: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015)
Northup, S. 12 Years a Slave (New York: Derby & Miller, 1853)
Journal Articles
Ball, E. “The Unbearable Liminality of Blackness: Reconsidering Violence in Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave” Transition, 54/119 (2016)
Davies, C. “"SHE WANTS THE BLACK MAN POST": Constructions of race, sexuality and political leadership in popular culture” Empowering Women for Gender Equity, 25/4 (2011)
Lott, M. “The Relationship Between the “Invisibility” of African American Women in the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s and Their Portrayal in Modern Film” Journal of Black Studies, 48/4 (2017)
McDowell, D. “How Long? – Not Long” American Literary History, 26/2 (2014)
Rizvana, B. “Reinventing Capacity: Black Femininity's Lyrical Surplus and the Cinematic Limits of 12 Years a Slave” Black Camera, 7/1 (2015)
Stevenson, B. “12 YEARS A SLAVE: NARRATIVE, HISTORY, AND FILM” The Journal of African American History, 99/1 (2014)
Woodard, J., Martin, T. “Black Womanhood: "Essence" and its Treatment of Stereotypical Images of Black Women” Journal of Black Studies, 36/2 (2005)
Websites
“12 Years a Slave: Yet Another Oscar-Nominated 'White Savior' Story” The Atlantic, https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/01/-em-12-years-a-slave-em-yet-another-oscar-nominated-white-savior-story/283142/ [accessed 14 April 2019]
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