The Zodiac

Lee Daniels’ The Butler (2013)

Lee Daniels’ The Butler (2013)

[rating=4]

When I first saw the trailer for The Butler, I knew I’d have to see this in the theaters and finally had my chance opening night. I’m glad I did. My biggest focus wasn’t so much on the storyline but the significance of the events and the way the director portrayed them.

The Butler starts in the beginning of Cecil Gaine’s (Forest Whitaker) life of him taking a photo with his mother and father in the cotton field when the plantation owner’s son decides to rape his mother and kill his father when he confronts him with a simple “hey!” Cecil is taken in by the plantation owner as a servant inside the house and that’s when he’s taught something every Black person in America has been taught – the art of the two faces. The subject rarely comes up but in a White-ruled/owned America, Blacks have had to have two different faces: one they show each other and one they show White people…many times to avoid being subjects of stereotypes. (YouTube “TV reporter turns ghetto in 3 seconds for an example).

From there, he grows to not only learn how to serve but to be invisible to the ones he’s serving. He leaves the plantation to go out on his own in a racially-charged America only to break into a house, due to hunger, and run into the house’s butler. The butler teaches Cecil the ropes of being a butler and from there, he grows into his position mastering his skills. When the older butler is offered a job in Washington DC, he reccommends Cecil instead and the story of his life begins. Cecil waits on a particularly unlikable politician who spouts out racist Jim Crow nonsense and Cecil serves without showing indifference. This impresses the politician who passes word to the White House looking to refill a butler position. Cecil marries Gloria (Oprah Winfrey), has two boys, and is hired for the job. He hangs with friends, one being the wild character played by Terrence Howard who winds up being a backstabber.

The story touches on certain issues that shape American history almost through the eyes of Cecil but without involving him. It’s complicated but the subtle touches on history through either the news or conversation were a good touch. It reminded me of my parents and how they must’ve grown up in this country as well as how family talks went on in our household. The movie spoke of Emmit Till, the murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, The Freedom Riders, Bloody Sunday, Sit-ins, Black Panther Party, the power and racism of the word “nigger” (nigga) and a lot more through Cecil’s serving of eight Administrations.

Some of the casting took me aback as I didn’t expect them to show up and….there they were. Liev Schreiber as Lyndon Johnson, Robin Williams as Dwight Eisenhower, John Cusack as Richard Nixon…But they all did a pretty good job in their short roles. Without going into detail, stand out roles were suprisingly by Lenny Kravitz, Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Cecil’s son Louis Gaines played by David Oyelowo, who was loudly doing what Cecil was quietly doing.

The end of the movie tied up nicely showing through one man’s life what was necessary at a time to help the progression of Blacks. It had a lot of Field N!666er vs. House N!666er themes and methods used where one would be portrayed in that manner: Louis Gaines vs. Cecil Gaines, Malcolm X vs. Martin Luther King, jr, Party Gloria vs. Sober Gloria, Revolutionary vs. Butler…The two faces. See this movie and come out knowing what some people had to go through just to improve conditions so many today seem to turn a blind eye to believing “the past is the past”.’