Lee Daniels’ The Butler
Forrest Whitaker is one of those special actors who can
totally immerse himself in a role with enough pathos and unfulfilled longing
that you feel his pain, even when his character’s actions aren’t particularly
noble. Turns out, Oprah Winfrey eventually achieves the same result. They’re
just two of the great performances that blanket The Butler like a field of ripe
cotton.
In terms of awards, there are not enough Oscars for the cast
of Lee Daniels’ The Butler. I guess this speaks best for the script and there
is an award for that. Terrance Howard, David Oyelowo, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Mariah Carey and
Lenny Kravitz fill out the amazing cast along with all the celebs gathered to
play the presidents and first ladies The Butler served.
For a person my age, it’s gut-wrenching to experience again
the racial inequalities and desperate battle to overcome them that marked the
post-WWII period peculiar to our nation's history. It’s
likely necessary so people born after 1980 can see why there’s so much
bitterness in current events such as the OJ Simpson trial or the Trayvon Martin
tragedy.
As with Forrest Gump (but not as hokey), the historical
contrivances get to be tiresome toward the end of the film, but are a necessary
evil, I guess, to advance the story,
Even amid the daily indignity of the Jim Crow era,
attitudes not entirely confined to the south, many blacks of the era were able
to eke out a decent middle class living, as long as they were willing to
withstand a constant barrage of indignities -- separate facilities for eating and
going to the restroom or being treated like an animals -- by whites.
Lee Daniels' The Butler
The frustrating part of race relations in our country is
that a sizable portion of the nation doesn't really know what racism is. It’s
not using certain words, acting with rudeness and malice nor even committing
senseless acts of violence. These are just symptoms. Racism is a stain on the
human heart. The afflicted always view the object of their dread and distrust with a jaundiced eye while unable to
perceive the hatred tearing their souls apart. I don’t know if it’s
curable, but films like this can’t hurt.
This is the kind of movie you’d want to take your children
to see so they can comprehend not only our mixed history on race but understand
that there’s a struggle that continues for the essential human dignity of our
fellow Americans. It’s likely to be the most discussed major film of the year
and for that I’m giving it three and a half Wilders, taking half off for the
Forrest Gump exigencies.
This week’s Overlooked Film of Significance: Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire. I’m guessing
that a good chunk of the country that made The Butler the top grossing film two
weeks in a row may have missed this earlier film by the same director. I
resisted for a while. Who wants to see a movie set in a ghetto?. But I was blown
away by how good it is, defying stereotypes and making a heroine from a youth
struggling against great hardship.
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