This might be against the law, but I hate the movie The Help. I hate a lot of movies with a white savior. Also, a pretty crappy adaptation of a decent book. I liked most of the performances. I felt a type of way about a movie having a lot of black female leads, but not being able to relate to a single one of them. Because there really aren't a lot of movies with so many black movies that aren't "black movies" if you know what I mean. I renounced Tyler Perry long ago.
I get that it was the 1960s, but I hate seeing black women in subservient/~magical negro~ roles, with nothing to balance it out. Yeah, it was difficult back then, but not every single black woman in the 1960s were disenfranchised and non-glamorous. I am one thousand percent over movies that deny black women a balanced femininity to non-black women.
Now, you're probably like "Nikkie, why does this even matter?" Well, The Help was the movie that gave Octavia Spencer and Tate Taylor their big breaks. Today, I watched another collaboration of these two called "MA". Going into the movie, I didn't expect it to be good, even though its stars a two time (and back to back) Oscar winner. As far as I am concerned, Octavia is the GOAT as far as supporting actresses go. I wanted to be excited about her having a starring role in a movie. This might be my own personal conjecture, but I feel like Octavia Spencer does have an appreciation for horror/thrillers/various spooky stuff. She had minor roles in Pulse, The Nines, Drag Me To Hell, Halloween 2 (Rob Zombie). Not to mention bit parts on the television shows Brimstone, Roswell, and The X Files. She has an Oscar for a Guillermo Del Toro movie. She was also in the first of the Sam Rami Spiderman films.
Honestly? Legends only.
So, when I say the trailer for MA, I kind of felt this sense of impending doom in the pit of my stomach. Maybe it was a period pain, I'm not entirely sure. But I thought I was going to throw up. I knew what direction the movie was going to go in. I knew what was upstairs, I guessed why she was hanging out with them kids, and I knew something else almost immediately.
In cinema, Black women are not at the point where they can play these kinds of roles. Yeah, Octavia played the heck out of her role, but that role should have never gone to her. It was a lot of negative Black women stereotypes rolled into a B movie script. And you know what? MA wouldn't have rubbed me the wrong way if her backstory was a little different. How cool would this movie have been if Octavia played a "Psycho Biddy" character. Instead of some creep obsessed with white people.
*Spoilers Ahead*
Ok, so like MA was out to get those kids because their parents were the ~popular kids~ in high school and they tricked MA (Sue) into going down on one of them. They thought it was funny because she was dorky and "unattractive". If I made this film I would have had Octavia Spencer's character be the kind of person that peaked in high school/college and now wants "revenge" on the people that are perceived as popular. Or a popular student that like, got in an accident or something and all her friends ghosted her, so she was crafting "accidents" for their kids.
If they still wanted to keep the parents involved, they could have been "losers" in high school that she bullied but ended up doing well for themselves and she is jealous.The upstairs the kids weren't allowed to venture up to could have been some freaky shrine to the class of 1985.
Or she could be planning to kill those kids so HER daughter (who exists in the film) could be as popualr as she was. Like a narcissistic mother, time and time again Horror proves crazy moms are some of the scariest things on this Earth.
*Ok, the spoilers are over lol*
"But Nikkie," you protest. "You liked Us."
Yeah, I do like Us, I like it a lot. But, there was balance in Us. A major theme of the film was the duality of (wo)man. I also don't think it is fair to compare Lupita, who has been considered as one of the most beautiful people in the world to Octavia Spencer. Lupita is younger, not African American, and most importantly, Red had a foil! There was no foil in MA. There should have been a more positive black female character that didn't (in my opinion) purposely invoke a certain kind of imagery. I finally saw The Divergent movies, because of Bill Skarsgard. And there were times Octavia was looking a little rough. BUT it made sense to the plot AND they also have her looking like her normal pretty self in it as well. All I want is balance when it comes to black women. "Red" was evil* and high key feral, but at the same time "Adelaide" was a good mom and was a little shy.
I think Octavia Spencer is beautiful, because I no longer look at beauty through a eurocentric lens. However, the "angry black woman" is still and thing and man, THAT was MA. Shame on Tate Taylor, who is a southern white man btw. Why not have Missi Pyle, another actress in this movie play Ma? Why not another person already cast in this movie, like Juliette Lewis. Both of those actresses are very capable of playing such a character. No need to answer. We know why and it's not cute. Now, Tate Taylor does not get ALL of the blame. Octavia Spencer has two Oscars. She should be like the mom in Everybody Hates Chris who was always like "I don't need this, my man has TWO jobs."
At some point Octavia Spencer has got to be like "I don't need this, I have TWO Oscars." Since The Help was what both put them on "The Map" maybe she saw it as a favor to him. That is my theory because Octavia knows how to pick roles.
My family is a family of civil rights leaders, so I personally thought Green Book was an abomination. However, the movie did very well. The Shape of Water was one of the best movies of it's year, and she is going to be in the remake of the Witches. Hidden Figures had such a profound effect on Black girls and women that so much of us are going into STEM based careers. Think about the image that Hidden Figures gave of Black women to the world. Now think about what MA is doing. It would be a totally different story if there was a foil to the MA character that was a black woman. And no. Her [redacted] does not suffice to me. This is not a good look. This is a Blumhouse Picture, they have Betty Gabriel on speed dial.
Either way, I didn't like Ma, but maybe I would like it better if Ma was white and this was a Netflix movie. I'm still glad I saw it because I think it's important to see horror movies in theaters so they do well. Even though this movie was a bad choice, I still want to see black women in film become the norm. As protagonists and antagonists equally.
*Red was right lmao.
I get that it was the 1960s, but I hate seeing black women in subservient/~magical negro~ roles, with nothing to balance it out. Yeah, it was difficult back then, but not every single black woman in the 1960s were disenfranchised and non-glamorous. I am one thousand percent over movies that deny black women a balanced femininity to non-black women.
Now, you're probably like "Nikkie, why does this even matter?" Well, The Help was the movie that gave Octavia Spencer and Tate Taylor their big breaks. Today, I watched another collaboration of these two called "MA". Going into the movie, I didn't expect it to be good, even though its stars a two time (and back to back) Oscar winner. As far as I am concerned, Octavia is the GOAT as far as supporting actresses go. I wanted to be excited about her having a starring role in a movie. This might be my own personal conjecture, but I feel like Octavia Spencer does have an appreciation for horror/thrillers/various spooky stuff. She had minor roles in Pulse, The Nines, Drag Me To Hell, Halloween 2 (Rob Zombie). Not to mention bit parts on the television shows Brimstone, Roswell, and The X Files. She has an Oscar for a Guillermo Del Toro movie. She was also in the first of the Sam Rami Spiderman films.
Honestly? Legends only.So, when I say the trailer for MA, I kind of felt this sense of impending doom in the pit of my stomach. Maybe it was a period pain, I'm not entirely sure. But I thought I was going to throw up. I knew what direction the movie was going to go in. I knew what was upstairs, I guessed why she was hanging out with them kids, and I knew something else almost immediately.
In cinema, Black women are not at the point where they can play these kinds of roles. Yeah, Octavia played the heck out of her role, but that role should have never gone to her. It was a lot of negative Black women stereotypes rolled into a B movie script. And you know what? MA wouldn't have rubbed me the wrong way if her backstory was a little different. How cool would this movie have been if Octavia played a "Psycho Biddy" character. Instead of some creep obsessed with white people.
*Spoilers Ahead*
Ok, so like MA was out to get those kids because their parents were the ~popular kids~ in high school and they tricked MA (Sue) into going down on one of them. They thought it was funny because she was dorky and "unattractive". If I made this film I would have had Octavia Spencer's character be the kind of person that peaked in high school/college and now wants "revenge" on the people that are perceived as popular. Or a popular student that like, got in an accident or something and all her friends ghosted her, so she was crafting "accidents" for their kids.
Or she could be planning to kill those kids so HER daughter (who exists in the film) could be as popualr as she was. Like a narcissistic mother, time and time again Horror proves crazy moms are some of the scariest things on this Earth.
*Ok, the spoilers are over lol*
"But Nikkie," you protest. "You liked Us."
Yeah, I do like Us, I like it a lot. But, there was balance in Us. A major theme of the film was the duality of (wo)man. I also don't think it is fair to compare Lupita, who has been considered as one of the most beautiful people in the world to Octavia Spencer. Lupita is younger, not African American, and most importantly, Red had a foil! There was no foil in MA. There should have been a more positive black female character that didn't (in my opinion) purposely invoke a certain kind of imagery. I finally saw The Divergent movies, because of Bill Skarsgard. And there were times Octavia was looking a little rough. BUT it made sense to the plot AND they also have her looking like her normal pretty self in it as well. All I want is balance when it comes to black women. "Red" was evil* and high key feral, but at the same time "Adelaide" was a good mom and was a little shy.
I think Octavia Spencer is beautiful, because I no longer look at beauty through a eurocentric lens. However, the "angry black woman" is still and thing and man, THAT was MA. Shame on Tate Taylor, who is a southern white man btw. Why not have Missi Pyle, another actress in this movie play Ma? Why not another person already cast in this movie, like Juliette Lewis. Both of those actresses are very capable of playing such a character. No need to answer. We know why and it's not cute. Now, Tate Taylor does not get ALL of the blame. Octavia Spencer has two Oscars. She should be like the mom in Everybody Hates Chris who was always like "I don't need this, my man has TWO jobs."At some point Octavia Spencer has got to be like "I don't need this, I have TWO Oscars." Since The Help was what both put them on "The Map" maybe she saw it as a favor to him. That is my theory because Octavia knows how to pick roles.
My family is a family of civil rights leaders, so I personally thought Green Book was an abomination. However, the movie did very well. The Shape of Water was one of the best movies of it's year, and she is going to be in the remake of the Witches. Hidden Figures had such a profound effect on Black girls and women that so much of us are going into STEM based careers. Think about the image that Hidden Figures gave of Black women to the world. Now think about what MA is doing. It would be a totally different story if there was a foil to the MA character that was a black woman. And no. Her [redacted] does not suffice to me. This is not a good look. This is a Blumhouse Picture, they have Betty Gabriel on speed dial. Either way, I didn't like Ma, but maybe I would like it better if Ma was white and this was a Netflix movie. I'm still glad I saw it because I think it's important to see horror movies in theaters so they do well. Even though this movie was a bad choice, I still want to see black women in film become the norm. As protagonists and antagonists equally.
*Red was right lmao.
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