White Saviours and the Third World
Whitey’s got your back, Nelson Mandela. Check out this great article on gay blog AfterElton about the White Savior trope (ie. how movies about racial minorities’ rights almost always have at its centre a white hero. eg. The Help, The Blind Side, The Last Samurai, The Last of the Mohicans, The Flowers of War). The writer makes a good comparison, that if Milk was set up so the hero was Moscone (I’m guessing that was the straight guy that kinda nervously went along with what Milk was proposing?), we’d be up in arms.
Also, if you’re interested in race relations in Hollywood movies you can’t go past this: The 5 Old Timey Prejudices That Still Show Up in Every Movie. Everyone loves a countdown!
Lastly, check out this hilarious video that has the white saviour trope DOWN. Warning: It will ruin Michelle Pfeiffer’s Dangerous Minds for you forever.
PS. Bullshit, Spell Check. You have had more than enough time to recognise that ‘Pfeiffer’ is part of the English language and it’s here to stay. Long live M-Pfeiff.
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