I just came off the message board for THE HELP, and there were a number of posts decrying the film (and the book it's based on) as "racist".
So, I wondered if there were any posts on this board commenting on Louise Beavers' admittedly stereotyped character.
It's a rather pleasant surprise that there isn't.
She's far more sensible than the couple who employs her. :)
shareWhy was this racist? She was a good cook, a smart woman, had a good sense of humour. What's racist about that?
shareWhy was this racist? She was a good cook, a smart woman, had a good sense of humour. What's racist about that?
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OP: GET OVER IT. That was then. This is now.
Your race card is expired.
She shouldn't be controversial. She's intelligent, level-headed, and treated with respect by her employers. Of course, she inspires an "Aunt Jemima"-esque ad campaign, but she's amply compensated for it. (And, after all, doesn't the actual ad seem like a spoof of racism?)
shareI honestly don't think she was a stereotype. She was smart, down-to-earth and obviously could run rings mentally around her employers. I mean, she saved the dude's job!
shareApparently Al Sharpton hasn't seen the film yet.
shareI was waiting to see a post decrying her role in the movie.
The way I see it, you have to view things in light of the era. The housekeeper was treated very well, for those times. She could easily have been white, and she would have been treated the same way. Her race made no difference. But she was a maid, not an white collar professional, of course.
You could also say the movie is misogynist, since the wife doesn't work, and all she is concerned about is her home, her kids, and her husband, with no outside interests, apparently, and no career. It's not mentioned that she had ever worked. But that's the way it was back then.
That's such a good point. Context is everything. The race card is played at every other hand now-a-days, almost as a default so they can avoid actually thinking.
Standards in 1950 were different than they are today, and in 50-75 years from today, folks will look back at our injustices and play whatever card is trendy and in vogue at that time. It's always something people need to have a beef with.
It's a period piece, it's a movie, all characters are brilliantly portrayed. When I grew up it was common for the women to bear large families, not work, and have their primary interests be their husband's welfare, their children, and of course, decorating and presentation of the house and hosting dinner parties, usually for the husband's work.
Now-a-days it's more common to see two income families, and instead of live-in maids, we drop the kids off at day care facilities with strangers, and mothers take a short leave of absence after giving birth.
Meh. Times change,....
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Sic vis pacem para bellum.
I agree with this. Gussie could have been white, green, or blue. She was not mistreated, not shown as a token black, she was the maid. And Blandings gave her a $10 raise (and I assume she got a lot more for advertising) for her slogan.
And yes back in 1948 this was the typical family, the post-war family. I wasn't alive yet, but the girls were the start of baby-boomers, the wife was the matriarch so to speak, and the husband made the money. They even had a canary, besides the maid. They struggled to get this dream house, as likely lots of war veterans tried to do back then. They succeeded .
The girls were far from baby boomers. Boomers are born between 1946 and 1964 and they were born way earlier than that.
However, whomever called this film racist -- idiotic. So not racist. For that matter, let's pick on The Wizard of Oz. Not one single black person.
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You are right in that "baby-boomers" were born starting in 1946. And not to quibble about it, but I used the term more in the cultural sense; the two girls were part of a new generation that were looking for ways the world can be improved, after the end of the war. The school they attended seemed to encourage their activity in seeking topical articles in the paper, for example. Mr. Blandings didn't seem to get that, though Mrs. Blandings asked her husband to to encourage their participation.
Perhaps calling the girls "baby-boomers" is a bit much, but the girls struck me as being individualistic and socially conscious, which are traits of young baby-boomers.
She would be a stereotype more if she is sassy and wisecracks at her employers. But having a maid, black or not, was typical for an upper middle class family in the 40s.
sharei think she's a Good character. but she should have got more than a 10 dollar raise for thinking up that slogan.
shareGussie was an intelligent, capable housekeeper, who was treated well and paid fairly by the family. Louise Beavers played her beautifully, just as she did all of her many film roles, for which she was well-paid, compared to the average person's wages. Movie audiences got to see her performances, and she had a good career. Everybody won.
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