The Butler (or Lee Daniels’ The Butler) comes out in a few weeks, so Lee Daniels, Oprah Winfrey and Forest Whitaker sat down with Parade Magazine to discuss the film – this issue will be out over the weekend, I guess. I keep seeing the ads for the film on TV, and I swear, each commercial gets worse and worse. I think this film is going to be a hot mess. I think that all of the people involved – poor Forest!! – thought they were making an important film about race and the civil rights movement and how the movement is seen through the lens of presidential power… but I still think the film is going to be a mess. I think Forest Whitaker is going to be the “magical” butler who comes in and teaches the powerful white folk about civil rights. And really… no. This is like a kindergarten-version of history. At best, this is going to be like “What if Forrest Gump was a black butler at the White House?” I bet that’s how they pitched it too. Here’s some stuff from the interview:
On why this film brought Oprah back to acting:
Oprah Winfrey: Lee was relentless. I remember being on my mountain in Maui, where I go to try to restore myself. And he called saying, “You need to get ready, because you are Gloria.” So I did it to have the opportunity to work with Lee. I also did it because Gloria represented to me every woman of that era who sacrificed herself … never bringing her own dreams to fruition because family took precedence over everything. It’s a story many have not seen with black people in these roles, because usually we’re one extreme or another. But to see that we are people who love our children, who have the same aspirations as everybody else—I just love that.
On using the N-word:
Lee Daniels: It’s a word I used quite a bit, until Oprah sat me down and talked to me about its power.
Winfrey: You cannot be my friend and use that word around me. It shows my age, but I feel strongly about it. … I always think of the millions of people who heard that as their last word as they were hanging from a tree.
Forest Whitaker: I don’t use the word. Never did.
On whether young people today know enough about the civil rights movement:
Winfrey: They don’t know diddly-squat. Diddly-squat!
Daniels: I showed the film to my relatives … because I figured they’re the harshest of audiences. And my 30-year-old nephew said to me, ‘Did some of this stuff really happen?’ And I was very upset by that.
On their experiences of racism, and the valuation of life:
Whitaker: I’ve had many incidents in my life of racism. I’ve been thrown on the ground. I’ve been frisked. I’ve been arrested so many times I couldn’t tell you. I have no need to talk about it.
Daniels: It’s a given. I can’t even get a taxi [in New York]. I send my [white] assistant out to get a taxi because I can’t.
Whitaker: The movie deals with the valuation of life, too. Like, whose life is valuable? Is it okay to take life? In terms of today, [the film] Fruitvale Station [of which Whitaker is a producer] is playing, about the shooting of Oscar Grant in the Oakland BART station, which just happened in 2009.
Winfrey: And the shooting of Trayvon Martin.
Whitaker: If you can’t accept that these things are going on, you’re living an illusion. So the question at this point is more of, how can we move the needle forward? Can we speak up? I think this film helps that in some way.
Winfrey: Yeah. But do we live in a land where Martin Luther King’s dream has been ultimately fulfilled? No. Has part of the dream been fulfilled?
Daniels: Yes.
Winfrey: [nods] Are more people judged by the content of their character than by the color of their skin? Yes. Is everybody judged by the content of their character? Absolutely not.
On who they think needs to see this movie:
Winfrey: America.
Daniels: That’s good. And kids need to see this movie. I’m fighting to get a PG-13 rating.
Winfrey: This is your answer: People need to see this movie.
Well, the only positive thing that I got out of this is that Forest Whitaker was a producer on Fruitvale Station. So at least he’s part of one powerful film about race this year. All apologies to Oprah – who I’m actually starting to feel genuine pity for – but if you’re trying to tell a story about how powerful a script is, don’t begin that story with “I remember being on my mountain in Maui, where I go to try to restore myself.” OPRAH!!! That pretty much sums it up, right? MY MOUNTAIN IN MAUI. WHERE I GO TO RESTORE MYSELF.
As for the n-word debate about who can use it and why and how… I don’t care. I know that’s the controversial soundbyte that media outlets will use, but is it wrong of me not to care? I don’t use the n-word. I don’t want to use it. But I have music on my iPod with some lyrics that drop some n-bombs (Jay-Z & Kanye, mostly), and I don’t care. To me, the whole “but black people can say the n-word, why can’t I?!?” debate is just as stupid as the “but black people kill each other, therefore Zimmerman is not guilty!!!” debate.
Here’s one of the trailers:
Photos courtesy of Parade, Fame/Flynet.
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