Mian Shakeel Aslam -- When the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People complained about Hattie McDaniel's portrayal of slave housekeeper Mammy in the 1939 blockbuster film "Gone with The Wind," the actress is reported to have responded, "I'd rather get paid $700 a week for playing a maid than $7 for being one."
As the film "The Help" opens nationwide today, it faces the same challenges and criticisms of the best-selling novel of the same name.
The tale of a group of black maids in 1960s Mississippi who agree to share their lives via a book written by a young, aspiring, white female journalist has been hailed as a touching and moving portrayal of friendship and triumph, even as some have complained that the film offers the age-old Hollywood trope of the "white savior" who helps a group of beleaguered blacks who can't help themselves.
Even before the film's debut, there were calls to boycott the movie, which stars Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard and Octavia Spencer.
For director and screenwriter Tate Taylor, the controversy surrounding the movie is much ado about nothing.
"What I've discovered is that many people who (criticize "The Help"), usually about 80 percent, have not read the book, which I find a little frustrating," said Taylor, who adapted the screenplay from the novel written by his childhood friend Kathryn Stockett.
Posted by: Mian Shakeel Aslam
Source: http://mianshakeelaslam.posterous.com
No comments:
Post a Comment