The Butler
starring Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Robin Williams, John Cusak, Liev Schreiber, Alan Rickman, Jane Fonda, Mariah Carey, Terrence Howard, Lenny Kravitz, James Marsden, David Oyelowo, Alex Pettyfer, Vanessa Redgrave and Clarence Williams III
written by Danny Strong
directed by Lee Daniels
Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
Inspired by the story “A Butler Well Served by this Election” by Wil Haygood, The Butler tells the story of White House butler Cecil Gaines, from his rural Georgia boyhood in segregated America to his retirement in the 1980s. Of course most of the drama concerns the 1960s Civil Rights movement and Cecil’s observations of various presidents wrestling with race relations in America.
I generally try to avoid everything with Forrest Whitaker in it because he is such a horrible actor that he easily and immediately spoils anything he touches. But I wanted to see this story, so I rented it nevertheless. I must say that Whitaker did a good job, which is only the second time I’ve liked him (the first being his performance as Idi Amin Dada in The Last King of Scotland, 2006, directed by Kevin MacDonald). These two films are great successes for Whitaker because they are crafted to play on his weaknesses. So ironically they succeed precisely because he is so bad.
The civil rights movement not only caused great rifts in white America but in Cecil’s own home, as well. As a college student one of his two sons, Louis (David Ovelowo), joins the Freedom Riders movement which saw young people openly challenge segregation in southern businesses, and then later join the Black Panther movement. His second son accepted deployment to Vietnam, where he was killed. Louis saw his father as a kind of modern “house nigger,” working as a subservient colored man for the white man, doing nothing to help black Americans. But the film makes the point,
“The black domestic defies stereotypes by being hard working and trustworthy. He slowly tears down racial hatred by his example of a strong work ethic and dignified character. Now, while we perceive the butler or the maid to be subservient, in many ways they are subversive without even knowing it.”
I didn’t know it at first, but as soon as I recognized Vanesa Redgrave and Clarence Williams III (Linc Hayes from The Mod Squad) in the first ten minutes of the film I knew it was going to be an all-star ensemble cast. Mariah Carey was also featured in the first few minutes but I didn’t recognize her until I watched it a second time.
Cecil began learning his trade as a “House Nigger” from the white matron of the farm where he and his parents worked as cotton pickers. After his father’s murder at the hands of a white farmer the man’s mother (Vanesa Redgrave) declared she would take him into the house to train for domestic service. She taught him that “The room should feel empty when you’re in it,” which served Cecil very well after he landed in a White House job in the midst of presidents and politicians.
Cecil’s family life is torn by the civil unrest of the 1960s. One son goes to war for his country and dies in Vietnam. Another son goes to war against his country and fights at home for black civil rights. His family reflects the divisions within the country. It’s a neat little history lesson for people who don’t already know all about it - which is most people, I regret to think.