White Saviourism: No, You Didn't "End" Racism
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Photo by Ivan Samkov from Pexels
I remember being in the eighth grade when my French teacher made us watch Freedom Writers for class. I suppose it was his fun little way of teaching us about prejudice and discrimination. Considering school rarely taught this kind of stuff, my young and impressionable brown self thought it was a very well-thought-out film.
It wasn’t until less than a year ago did I learn about White Saviourism, and now my views on Freedom Writers have completely changed. Despite not knowing any better at the time, I feel personally responsible for misinforming my entire class.
For those who don’t know, White Saviourism, also known as White Saviour Industrial Complex, is when a white person aids a non-white person in a self-serving manner. You can tell it’s a white saviour movie if the protagonist is a white person who is selfless, compassionate, and they “don’t see colour, they see people”. The concept of racism alone is shocking to them, and to find out the BIPOC character is dealing with such oppression motivates them to help. The non-white character tends to be either helpless or passive when it comes to the discrimination they face, and it’s the white protagonist that jumps in to save the day. Whether it’s because the black woman can’t go use the “Whites Only” bathroom or the poor Latina student has no role model, the white character throws on a cape and plays the hero. The racists in the film are so in-your-face to the point they’re inaccurately portrayed. Finally, the movie usually ends with the white “hero” ending racism, or, at the very least, making the world a bit of a better place.
The Help is a textbook white saviour movie. Claiming to be based on a true story, the film is about a white woman wanting to write a book about the hardships black maids face during the Civil Rights movement. Finding out her childhood maid faces oppression is what motivates our “hero” to write about these problems in the first place, making the black women in the story appear passive. In reality, black people were more than willing to share their stories back then as well as today. In fact, Ablene Cooper, one of the maids who worked for the author’s family, sued the movie for its “humiliating” portrayal.
This, of course, wasn’t the only movie to disappoint BIPOC. Dr. Don Shirley’s family condemned Green Book’s portrayal of him, as they made him appear estranged to not only his family but black culture as well. At one point in the film, the white hero (a racist white taxi driver) had to tell Shirley that it was Lil’ Richard playing on the radio. This was one of the many times the protagonist would imply that he was invested more in black culture than the queer black composer. “I live on the streets, you sit on a throne. So, yeah, my world is way more blacker than yours!”
In Gran Torino, our protagonist is seen as a hero when he helps out his Asian neighbours. However, at the same time, he himself is unapologetically racist. He does not grow as a person, nor does he realize his words are still harmful despite “defending” the Asian family. Instead, his casual racism is seen as a quirky personality trait, implying that as long as you have good intentions and do the right thing, you can say whatever you want.
These movies tend to reduce the BIPOC characters to their struggles while they give their white “heroes” character development and depth. White directors and white writers tell these stories from the lenses of white people, only to receive awards from other white people. Racism isn’t talked about on a systemic level; white people merely view it as prejudice, a problem they can solve with kindness and unity alone. This is their way of speaking about racism without making themselves uncomfortable.
Racism is not a comfortable subject. If minorities have to experience it, then white people should be able to stop prioritizing their fragility and comfort. Stop patting each other on the back for being a “good ally” when you’ve been dismissing the voices of the people you claim to be helping.
Shireen Agharazi-Dormani
An artist with strong opinions, a fear of social interactions, and one hell of a sweet tooth. Needs at least 10 hours of sleep and lots of hugs. Handle with care: very sensitive.
