Comments on: Arthur Lewin; Subliminal Messages In The Help…

By: Arthur Lewin

Arthur Lewin — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:24:29 +0000

Thank you, Nicholas, for bringing this to our attention. From what I have been able to find out about Morris Dees he seems to be a great fighter for civil rights. However, this film was set in the year 1963 in Mississippi, and I noted that those whites deeply involved in the civil rights movement at that time, as far as I could tell, came from the North.

The earliest civil rights suit I can find Dees being involved in was in 1969, five years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act and four years after the Voting Rights Act. This is not to take anything away from Mr. Dees. This is only to say, again, “if you can cite white individuals in the Deep South during the height of the civil rights movement who stood up against Jim Crow, please let me know.”

I hope that you can, and I will trumpet them. Please note that I never got into this discussion to bash any group of people. And I never called the author of the Help a racist. All I said was that her book, and the movie, gave a misleading impression of American history.

By: Nicholas

Nicholas — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 05:03:54 +0000

I cite Morris Dees, Southern Proverty Law Center, he is clearly white and Southern, born Alabama 1939, University of Alabama Law school 1960. He has arguably stood against Jim Crow.

By: Arthur Lewin

Arthur Lewin — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 04:29:52 +0000

Me, one can go through life just looking at the surface, or one can choose to look beneath. Many people think, for example, that a dream is just a dream, but psychiatrists understand that anything the mind constructs reveals hidden information about that mind. I think that psychologists are right.

Take your letter for example, you said that I said all white people are racist. I did not. I said, “Yes, white women and men worked and died in the movement, but didn’t they come from the North?” And note I posed it as a question. So if you can cite white individuals in the Deep South during the height of the civil rights movement who stood up against Jim Crow, please let me know.

I also noticed that you begin your comments with, “You people.” And of course I should not read anything into that. Doubtless, you are a fair minded objective individual. But if you are why did you say that I said all white people are racist when clearly I did not?

By: Me

Me — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 01:35:22 +0000

Wow. You people can find subliminal messages in anything, can’t you? Seriously, the book is fiction. Furthermore, it was meant to entertain, not persuade or be used as a historical reference. Really, I found both the book and the movie quite entertaining. I might have given more credit to your article if you hadn’t started with the sevens bit. I highly doubt that the number had any significance. If a four year old child were to die in a movie, would you jump to the conclusion that, because the Chinese word for ‘four’ sounds like ‘death,’ she was destined to die? Of course not. That would just be absurd.

Furthermore, in case you didn’t notice, it wasn’t a ‘white heroism’ story. As you might remember, the main villain (Hilly Hollbrook) was white. And only one of the three main heroines were white. Really, isn’t saying that ‘all whites hate African Americans’ more racist than a book having a white character stand up against prejudice in defense of an African American character? In other words, you’re saying that it’s racist for there to be a white person standing up against racism, but it’s not racist for you to say that all whites hate blacks. Yep, that makes a lot of sense to me.

By: Arthur Lewin

Arthur Lewin — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 20:38:48 +0000

Yes, it is. It is the latest in a long line of films stretching back to Tarzan.

By: Eleanie

Eleanie — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 20:21:34 +0000

“Meanwhile, Dreamworks, the company that made the film, in association with Home Shopping Network is now selling a line of frying pans, and assorted cookware, what it calls “one of a kind items inspired by” The Help.”

Wow! That’s interesting.

I have yet to see the movie. I however, wonder if this was another movie about white folks saving the day. I’ll have to watch the movie and read the book first before offering my opinion.

By: Patsy

Patsy — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 05:25:31 +0000

This message is for md: “Most movies are political”. Believe me, the Jewish people know it. You will never see in a film one of them in prison with a kipa. It is time that our people wake up and smell the coffee by ending to be modern minstrels.

By: Arthur

Arthur — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 01:23:44 +0000

Thank you. Yes, the same is also true of Dances With Wolves, The Last Samurai, The Matrix, etc. Maybe we should discuss Avatar next.

By: Sharon Mahony

Sharon Mahony — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 01:03:51 +0000

I had the same thoughts about Avatar, which seemed to mirror the confrontation between whites and Native Americans. The fact that it was a human who saved the natives in Pandora from being conquered by his own people created an undertone of paternalism in that the savior came from the would-be conquerors. Beautiful movie and a great story, but there was that strange dynamic to it that you describe.
I haven’t seen The Help yet so I can’t comment on specifics, but I get you.

By: Arthur

Arthur — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 23:19:52 +0000

Brother Willis, I tried to be objective and stick to the facts. I do not believe this film to be historically correct. The South may have come a long way, but during the battle over integration, they way I remember it, local whites in the Deep South did not confront segregation. If I am shown to be wrong, then I will stand corrected. People are certainly free to make up stories about the past as are we to point out where they deviate from fact.