by Murtada Elfadl
Viola Davis has some regrets about her Oscar-nominated performance in The Help (2011). In the film she played Aibileen Clark one of several black maids - along with Oscar winner Octavia Spencer - interviewed by a young white journalist (Emma Stone) who’s writing a book about the racism and prejudice they faced in 1960s Mississippi. At the time the film faced criticism of having a white saviour problem. That is, only dealing with racism from the perspective of the white characters and what they do to combat it.
It’s a story as old as film, with numerous examples. Some set in the US like Driving Miss Daisy (1989) and others elsewhere, Cry Freedom (1990), to name just a couple. Davis agrees with that take, telling the NYTimes in a recent interview...
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. 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.
What she still holds dear though are the friendships she made on that set:
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.
Many of them are also Oscar winners. When The Help was released it had two Oscar winners amongst its cast; Sissy Spacek for Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980) and Mary Steenburgen for Melvin and Howard (1980). Spencer won for The Help. Since then we got Davis for Fences (2016), Stone for La La Land (2016) and Allison Janney for I, Tonya (2017). A new name has been added last week with Cicely Tyson receiving one of this year’s Honorary Oscars for her distinguished career which includes one nomination for Sounder (1972), as well as a Tony and two Emmys.
Do you still have fond memories of Viola's piercingly heartbreaking performance? I do, while acknowledging the issues she raised in her comments.