‘The Help’ is Top Trending Movie on Netflix During George Floyd Protests
*The 2011 film “The Help” starring Octavia Spencer is one of the most popular movies on Netflix at the moment. The film centers on Black servants and their white employers, and appears to be a resource for folks to learn about Black history amid protests over race relations in America,
Renewed interest in the film also comes as the Black Lives Matter movement makes headlines once again in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, LA Times reports.
“The Help,” based on the Kathryn Stockett novel of the same name, received a best picture nod at the Academy Awards and earned Spencer a supporting actress Oscar. But Twitter users are urging white folks to consider other options as they explore how best to heal race relations in America.
Washington Post global opinions editor Karen Attiah noted:
Please don’t watch “The Help” to understand this moment we are in. Or “The Green Book”, or “Crash”. The three movies I would recommend this weekend as a primer to race issues and racism:
“I Am Not Your Negro” -Raoul Peck
“13th” by @ava
“Get Out” by @JordanPeele
Check out her tweet below.
Please don’t watch “The Help” to understand this moment we are in. Or “The Green Book”, or “Crash” (ugh)
The three movies I would recommend this weekend as a primer to race issues and racism:
“I Am Not Your Negro” -Raoul Peck “13th” by @ava “Get Out” by @JordanPeele https://t.co/GV0MFeCWrN
— Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) June 6, 2020
Several Twitter users recommended documentaries about Black Americans being victimized by police, such as “Time: The Kalief Browder Story.”
dear white ppl who went and watched ‘the help’ to… learn, i guess?
what you should actually watch if you genuinely care, is ‘time: the kalief browder story.’ also on netflix. easy peasy, no excuse. https://t.co/iOxcLJFXgf
— tracy clayton aka CHUBBA BEEF (@brokeymcpoverty) June 6, 2020
“What a Day” podcast host Akilah Hughes suggested, “If you watched the Help this week you have to donate $500 to black charities.”
If you watched the Help this week you have to donate $500 to black charities. I endorse the rules. https://t.co/pQZKJrehzP
— Akilah Hughes (@AkilahObviously) June 5, 2020
Viola Davis previously revealed that “The Help” is the one role she regrets.
“But not in terms of the experience and the people involved because they were all great,” she said. “The friendships that I formed are ones that I’m going to have for the rest of my life. I had a great experience with these other actresses, who are extraordinary human beings. And I could not ask for a better collaborator than Tate Taylor.”
She added, “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. I know Minny [played by Octavia Spencer, who won a best-supporting-actress Oscar]. 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.”
Davis also received an Oscar nod for her portrayal of Aibileen, in the best-lead-actress category.
Ablene Cooper is the real nanny who inspired Davis’ character. She filed a $75,000 lawsuit against the author claiming her portrayal was “embarrassing” and that her likeness was used without permission, per Vanity Fair. The suit was ultimately dismissed by a Mississippi judge.
