Following the killing of George Floyd on May 25, thousands of protesters have taken to the streets to raise their voices against racial prejudice and heavy-handed police tactics.
As 'Black Lives Matter' movement gains prominence, people from different walks of life assemble to show solidarity with people of colour. Amidst this, many viewers are turning to 2011 film, The Help. It has become the most-viewed movie on Netflix in the US, reports EW.com.
Based on the 2009 best-selling novel by Kathryn Stockett, 'The Help' is the tale of a young white woman in Jackson, Mississippi who in 1963 asks African-American maids to help her write a book about their experiences working for white families in the early stages of the civil rights movement.
Directed by Tate Taylor, The Help earned Octavia Spencer an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and also stars Emma Stone, Jessica Chastain, and Bryce Dallas Howard.
While the film had received positive reviews at the time of the release, Viola Davis was nominated for an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a BAFTA Award and won two SAG Awards, a BET Award, and two Critics’ Choice Awards for her performance in the film. However, the actress said that she regrets doing it.
"Have I ever done roles that I’ve regretted? I have, and The Help is on that list,” she told New York Times in 2018, explaining, "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.”
As The Help reaches the top spot on Netflix, Netizens didn't seem much happy about it. Twitterati are pointing out how there are other films about racial divides that are more relevant to watch right now.
Here's how they reacted on Twitter:
We asked white people to do some self educating on how to dismantle systemic racism and now The Help is trending #5 on Netflix pic.twitter.com/cDituCtn8e— ICM (@cinnaMENA) June 5, 2020
lmao The Help literally gives us nothing. Sugarcoated white savior narraritive. @netflix you have the power to push for better, more informative content for viewers. Hello?! Let’s just start with 13th and When They See Us. Both Netflix originals so what are you waiting for?!— Penny (@onecent_) June 5, 2020
DO NOT WATCH THE FUCKIN HELP RIGHT NOW. WATCH 13TH, SELMA, WHEN THEY SEE US. LITERALLY ANYTHING BUT THE HELP. pic.twitter.com/pEvQOnge67— Ashly Perez (@itsashlyperez) June 4, 2020
The fact that #TheHelp is trending on @netflix shows that white people still don’t get it #BlackLivesMatter— Hannah Ryan (@bauwauwsch) June 5, 2020
The Help is trending on @Netflix lmaoooo. America, try watching the 13th, When They See Us, Teach Us All, The Khalid Browder Doc, Self Made: Maadam CJ Walker, LA 92, Malcolm X, and who killed Malcolm X for education purposes...— Miky D (@MIKsnMatch) June 5, 2020
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