Please read over the short article below from The Atlantic magazine from January 17, 2014. The author makes a strong argument about films that deal with slavery almost always have a white savior. The films 12 Years a Slave, Lincoln, Django, and Glory all have at least one white person that fights against slavery, and in many instances are the 'saviors' in the film. Moreover, they usually end up dying for the cause like Colonel Shaw in Glory. Brad Pitts character in 12 Years is one of the only white faces that stands up against slavery - he was also a co-producer (Plan B) of the film. He could have taken Fassbender's role as the evil slave master Epps, but declined saying it would portray him negatively to his six kids so he didn't take that role. Yeah his kids, ok I believe that one, but it sure helps to sell a film with his name on it somewhere...
After viewing the film 12 Years, and reading the article below here's your assignment - answer the following 2 questions (Due Monday, No Lates)
1) Do you think 12 Years is another white savior film? If yes please explain, and include why these films have a white savior. If you do not agree, explain why you don't - include why Brad Pitt is the only good white guy, would the film have been different if he was left out?
2) Why do the films listed in the article have white saviors? Why isn't there a film with black saviors? Explain.
Here's the article:
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/01/-em-12-years-a-slave-em-yet-another-oscar-nominated-white-savior-story/283142/
Check this out>>
Here's the posters for 12 Years distributed in Italy, they took these down quickly (maybe too much)
Yes, I agree that 12 Years A Slave can be classified with other films that feature a 'white savior.' The reason that these films are perceived in this way is because they try to stick to the historical facts that we believe today. For example, in this case, a movie about slavery is not going to have the slave stand up to the slave master and say "Let me go" and happily ever after. The reason for this is because, although it would be the polite thing to do, it is not historically correct. We know from our ancestors and loved ones that simply begging for freedom was not enough in this case. Slaves plotted for years with many different ideas to try to make their way to freedom, many of which needed a scapegoat of some sort. Because the slaves had no direct contact with the anti-slavery world, they looked for people who did. A majority of these people were white. Similar to Solomon Northup, other slaves put not only their trust into these people, but their lives on the line only to be able to hope that the person they are trusting will do the right thing.
ReplyDeleteBrad Pitt was used as the 'white savior' in this film to add significance to the importance of this roll. Brad Pitt has a good reputation in the film business, so when audiences see him playing a character they automatically expect him to be some sort of hero. If the same roll was played by an actor that was not as famous I don't think it would have had the same impact that it did. The expectations would not have been as high, and although the roll was a very important one, I don't think the audience would have been expecting as much from the character.
I agree with you especially that first paragraph.
DeleteThe Blindside is the most heinous white savior film. Blech.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that “12 Years of Slave” was a white savior film. Brad Pitt was used because he is a well-known actor and people would be more interested in the character he plays than if it was an ordinary actor. Although his part was very short, people expect him to be the hero of some sort. Also, slave movies like this like to stick with historical facts that we believe to be true today. They’re not going to show a slave stand up for themselves or go against their “Master” and get away with it; we would like to see that but it’s not historically correct. In the movie it showed these slaves putting their trust and lives in the hands of white men they thought they could trust. Since they had no contact with anyone besides the other slaves and their owners really, they tried to befriend a trustworthy white man to help them either relay a message or do little favors for them. But they soon found out that people will do anything to make themselves look better and put other people down.
ReplyDeleteI’m not really sure why there are no black savior films. It’s more common to have a white savior film and show the white men as being “dominant” but I’m not sure why there aren’t any popular black savior films.
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ReplyDeleteI do think 12 years of slave is another “white savior”. But then again so are most movies. White is always seen as superior to other races. As much as people say that racism is a thing of the past, it happens every day. I can’t count how many times I have read things on Facebook or social media sites that are bluntly racist. For example, when the Coca-Cola Super-bowl commercial came out, many people were complaining about the different languages being incorporated to represent America. Racism is not a thing of the past. Even with February being black history month and people realizing its wrong, where is the “black hero” at? The white saviors are said to embody the time period. If we look back to the slave driven era, white people had to be the heroes. There was no way for a black man to buy the freedom of other black guys. Brad Pitt is the white savior in the film; His majestic, god-like appearance gives him credibility and respect. In the film he was born in Canada, Making his character above the slavery. The film would have been completely different if he wasn’t in it. He is the reason Platt was saved. That was the only way his family in the north found out where he was. He is the resolution and the abolishment of Platt’s suffering. All those movies mentioned in the article are great movies. They all have truth to them and explain a time period in which African Americans were not recognized as equal. However, I do agree with the author when he says it’s time to give other stories a chance. The white savior films are overdone. It’s time to move forward in history and come up with other different heroes (and I don’t mean batman or superman).
ReplyDeleteAlejandra londono
Great comments - your insight into this is probably increased since you're from outside the U.S., we are so inundated with racism it is like the air we breathe.
Delete12 Years a Slave has all the qualities of a "white savior" film. Brad Pitt is really the first white person to be introduced in the film that actually is opposed to slavery. It is obvious that the reason the white savior appears is to make white people seem not as bad. They created the issue to start with, but at the same time they fixed their mess, so that makes it "okay" in the end. If Brad Pitt's character never came about, Solomon would have been a slave for the rest of his life. He was just fortunate enough to come across the savior.
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of the white savior is to cover up the reputation of the white population. The concept is designed so that people don't put all the blame on white people (even though it's 100% deserved). Because a white person comes along and fixes the problem, it causes people to not hate them as much subconsciously. This is also why black people aren't seen as the "saviors". If they were, then there could not be a cover up available for the whites.
History has proven no one listens to the victims. The progress that has been made in America through the Civil Rights movement was successful because a white man in power agreed with them. The cry of the victim or a victim's sympathizer gets a movement started but...Harry S. Truman desegregated the army- not a black man, not his friend. The only way society progresses is when those who are supposed to oppress don't, and rise to power. The white man fixes the white man's errors. 12 Years a Slave is a movie about a white savior but only because even if Solomon did run away (does he I don't know the ending?) it would be up to the white man he runs into to save him or return him. Those who dehumanize must humanize again.
ReplyDeleteBrad Pitt is a life saver for Solomon because he is in a foreign land of bigots. Every white man seems to hate blacks but then Brad Pitt (an albino Jesus Christ) comes along and has the point of view of as northerner. Solomon doesn't think he'll ever see his family again. But that faith in humanity he finds in Brad Pitt's character encourages him to seek a route to run away while on an errand and attempt to send his family a letter. He even attempts to trust the white indentured servant with his risk. But Brad Pitt (Matthew Broderick, Daniel Day Lewis, Christopher Waltz) refreshes Solomon that through the whipping and scarred fingers, there are people willing to be human and accept Negros as human.
12 Years a Slave can be classified as a white savior film. With Brad Pitt being the only one against slavery it makes as if the white man got him out of being a slave when really Pitt didn't do a thing but put faith in Solomon. But in the end if Pitt wasn't there, Solomon could've been a slave forever. Without knowing a route, Solomon could've been killed or captured without never sending the letter. In every slave film a black man needs a little help from a white man. Django for example. Without Schultz, Django would never see his wife again or even given a chance to find his wife. In Lincoln, Abe is obviously a white savior. Without Lincoln slavery could be still going on so it is pretty obvious Lincoln is white savior film. But then again the white savior substitutes for the white mans wrong doings. Pretty much an excuse.
ReplyDelete12 Years a Slave follows the "white savior" plot that we have seen in many other movies about slavery. In the film Brad Pitt character plays one of the only character thats stands up for the slaves. If Brad Pitt was not in the film, the plot would have changed majorly. Pitt's role allows us to feel like we werent all so bad, hes the breather from the painful scenes of seeing people being brutally beaten. Hes also the person that makes the big change occur. For instance, without him Soloman would of never built up the courage to believe in himself again, he would stay in the mindset that he would never see his family again and he would of been a slave for the rest of his life. In every slavey movie there always seems to be a good guy. They need to make seem like not everyone has to be apart of the hatred. They want the story to have a happy ending, but in the real world there wasnt always a happy ending. They never show the real films without the white savior character they show them for the viewers opinion on the film. No one wants to feel like they came from a horrible past. In Holocaust movies they never really show a savior character they just show the brutal treatment these people once faced. If Pitts character was never introduced we may have not got the happy ending we were left with.
ReplyDeleteThe reason we have white saviors instead of black saviors is to most of the viewers, the white savior seems to show a more powerful and individualism when they stand up for slaves. Theres white savior in '12 Years a Slave' and 'Django unchained' In both cases they ease people into the film and allow us to not feel so bad about our terrible past. In most cases a black savior comes across as they should already stick together and stand up for one another. But in that time period when a white savior occurs its an unheard of thing and powerfuk difference, it shows hope of change to occur, it gives people more pride to the audience and allows them to feel like not every one was cold hearted and held hatred. As the article states a white savior gives more desire to the audience
There is no doubt that “12 Years a Slave” is another white savior film. I wouldn't glorify Brad Pitt as being the ONLY good intentioned white person in the story though. Benedict Cumberbatch, though a southern plantation owner who owned slaves, seemed to be a sympathizer, trying to keep the mother and her children together, giving Solomon the violin, preaching to his slaves, trying to protect him from the creep that is Paul Dano, praising Solomon’s intelligence- sure he did keep him as a slave, and sold him to a terrible man, but he was as much of a slave sympathizer as a southern man in his position in southern society could be at the time. With that said though, Brad Pitt, in a miraculous appearance in the end, is the only savior. Being a peace-loving, Canadian carpenter, he wasn't used to the peculiar institution, the cruelty and injustice, he recognized the differences in Solomon from the other slaves though, and hearing his story, which Solomon was timid to tell him, he was the first white man to recognize it as true and accept it as the truth, and correct the situation. He was the only white man to empathize with him, and to do what was right as a fellow human, though he expresses- a bit too blatantly- that it would be a risk for him to help Solomon. Without him the film would have had a completely different outcome, the chances of there being another white man with as strong a sense of conviction as Pitt’s character are slim, meaning Solomon would have had to take his own course of action, which more than likely would haven’t succeeded, especially considering his track record of attempts.
ReplyDeleteAs the article explains, this isn’t the only film with a white savior. There may be a few reasons for this. The first being the point that has been made over and over again, that in order for the oppressed to rise up they need the assistance of power- whether it be in Nazi Germany, with Allied Forces trumping the Third Reich, or sympathizers hiding and helping Holocaust victims escape, or in the USA during the 1800s with white people helping free slaves- from buying their freedom, granting their freedom, marrying them, or helping them escape- for those without power to be freed they need the assistance of those with power first. Another reason could be that filmmakers want to focus on the dichotomy between the types of white people- to show that yes there were terrible people that did terrible things but there were also good people too, compassionate good-hearted people, people that should be recognized and separated from the stigma of all white people were bad, and focus on the humanity of the whole situation, showing that everything wasn't black and white, there were gray parts too.
White savior films include the films Red Tails and The Blind Side; not 12 Years a Slave. I disagree because Solomon saved himself. Brad Pitt may seem like a white savior in the film however Solomon’s intelligence on how to escape to prove that he is a free man is what saved him. Both Solomon's brains and his brawn are what saved him in the film. It was his quick and charismatic response to Armsby double crossing him that saved his life. Brad Pitt helped him and he was white, but I wouldn't call Brad Pitt the savior because Solomon survived those 12 years on his own.
ReplyDeleteAll of the films listed in the article are white savior films, for example Django. The German guy is the white savior because he uses his power to fight slavery. But the film also has a black savior. The white guy fights the white enemy and Django fights the black enemy and the white enemy. Django is the epitome that there is such a thing as a black savior for Django outsmarts every white person after him by putting on the role a bounty hunter who is ironically racist against black people. Him and his partner set out to rescue Django’s wife and in the end Django runs away with his wife destroying Candyland and everyone trying to kill him. Also Django shows optimism and determination that a slave can be treated equally as the white slave owners.
Here's Ryan Samaroo's comment:
ReplyDelete12 years a slave is definatly a white savior film by far. The way the described and portrayed the blacks in that movie proved them to be incapable of saving or even planing to save themselves. They even say on the boat ride to the south that the uneducated african americans around them arent caple of a revolt or fighting back. Northrupt is saved by a white man. A white man delivers the note and returns to Soloman his freedom as a free black man again.
In racial movies there is almost always a white savior. In most movies the blacks are portrayed as incapable of a revolt. This is to ease hostility. To help establisish an eaqualibrium in todays society. So that racial hostility is down to a minimum. Cause if there wernt any white saviors and there were black saviors then all that bad history is put back on the whites. Its a way to make the whites less guilty and the blacks more forgiving.
Great job everyone! Remember that Brad Pitt's character was in the book. It is funny how he picked this role instead of the Fassbender role.
ReplyDelete12 years of slave can be classifed as white savior film because brad pit was the only white man in the film to oppose slavery until the end where his friend came. If brad pit was left out soloman would've been a slave for the rest of his life. BUT brad pit playing that role kind of killed it in the sense that they were using him to cover up their mess. Whatever movie you see brad pit in or the book he is portrayed as the good guy and like its brad pit he isn't gonna be in the movie just to be in the movie. we all knew as soon as we seen brad pit he was gonna come in and save the world. Now imagine if they just used some random old white guy, now that would've been better cause it would have shown that not everyone was for slavery and there were people who truly were against it
ReplyDeletethe reason why there isn't a black savior film is because the whole slavery thing started with white people so to cover up they use themselves to cover up the mess they made. Also, one might say yes it is typical that a african american in slavery would eventually stand up to them and eventually something would happen.