Bryce Dallas Howard: Don't Watch 'The Help' To Understand Civil Rights, Black Lives Matter Movements
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Bryce Dallas Howard, one of the stars of the Oscar-winning film "The Help," says people interested in viewing civil rights-era movies should watch something else.
The actress says she is grateful for the friends she made while making "The Help," but that it is a fictional story told from the perspective of a white character, produced by predominantly white storytellers.
Civil rights-era films like "Selma," "Just Mercy," and "13th" have become must-watch movies on streaming services in the wake of George Floyd's death in Minneapolis. Floyd, a black man, died after being held for more than eight minutes by the neck under the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer who has since been fired and charged with murder.
Floyd's death sparked protests across the country and has spurred people to seek out films to better understand the Black Lives Matter and civil rights movements. The unrest has also prompted a second look at possibly problematic movies and TV shows. The long-running police reality show "Cops" has been canceled, and HBO Max pulled one of the most popular films ever made, "Gone With The Wind," because of its racist undertones.
"Stories are a gateway to radical empathy and the greatest ones are catalysts for action," Howard wrote in her Instagram post. She then recommended several other films and TV shows for people to watch to learn more about the civil rights movement, lynchings, segregation, and Jim Crow laws, including "I am Not Your Negro," "Malcolm X," "Say Her Name: The Life And Death of Sandra Bland," and "When They See Us." She also invited her followers to suggest other films in the comments to the post.