So, I just got around to The Butler (I know, I know, what took me so long, right?) and at a steady 7 on the IMDB meter, that film is actually very underrated. But what makes it more than what it appears was probably missed by a good portion of the audience. No offense to my melanin deficient friends ;-) but I dont think anyone who wasnt raised in a black household during those turbulent years can entirely understand the subtext of the relationship between Whitaker and his militant son played by David Oyelowo. When Whitaker charges at his son during dinner, that has nothing to do with dissing Sidney Poiter. It was a much deeper conflict. Culturally speaking, whites and blacks in the US never really experienced the generation gap in the same way, especially in the 60s. The divides were of a different nature. The generational conflict going on inside the black home at that time was existential. It wasnt about cutting your hair or turn down that crazy music or the way you dressed. I mean all that was present, but the core of the divide was deeper as it was rooted in the literal survival of the community. It isnt so important that The Butler, portrayed masterfully by Forest Whitaker, is a historical character, or even an amalgam, but more that he is symbolic of the old guard whose very survival depended on securing and defending a place in the established white-dominated hierarchy. What many white liberal never really understood was just how conservative most black families were and to a very large degree still are. I dont mean that crazy ass tea party conservative bullshit, but old school conservative in the manner of family structure, religiosity, work ethic, relationships etc... because that was how we survived. It was essential to survival. The black family structure was a fortress where children were being raised to survive within an intolerant racist system. That is not to say the generational tension in white families wasnt based on real issues, but I was raised around white kids, spent most of my high school years in a suburban white neighborhood. It just wasnt the same thing. What I saw in The Butler was maybe the first time I saw that really addressed at length. So while it was given accolades or criticism based on its accuracy or casting and all that Hollywood superficiality ... it was really about a lot more, but most of it was beneath the surface. Excellent film.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Mar 2014 07:06:59 +0000
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