By Brianna Benozich

Last October, comedian Bill Burr hosted Saturday Night Live. He's a proud, controversial comedian, and everyone was bracing themselves for whatever Burr was going to target in his opening monologue. To the surprise of many, his number one target of the night was white women. ‘The woke movement was supposed to be about people of colour not getting opportunities... finally making that happen. And it was about that for about eight seconds. And then somehow, white women swung their Gucci-booted feet over the fence of oppression and stuck themselves at the front of the line,’ he joked to the crowd. While some were offended (mainly white women), many were quick to point out that Burr has a good point. Do white women have a tendency to make themselves the face of every movement? 

After the murder of George Floyd at the hands of the police and as Black Lives Matter marches took to the streets, The Help became the most-viewed film on Netflix. The obvious irony here is that the film white people watched to try to understand better the Black Lives Matter movie is one of the prime examples of the ‘white saviour’ trope. ‘The white saviour’ trope is based on the idea that not all white people participate in racism, that simply not all white people are bad.

While there isn’t anything inherently wrong with showing how not all white people participate in racism, these films choose to focus on these characters as the heroes, as the main characters, while sidelining people of colour in their own stories. It is the sacrifices white people make by showing kindness that are explored, them being nonconformist and ostracised from their racist communities. This aspect of the white saviour is often explored because that is what many white audiences want to relate to. Instead of learning about the experiences of those not privileged like themselves, white people want to see themselves in the film as the nonconformist who ‘saves the day’. 

The protagonists in The Help are not the maids, they are sidelined as the supporting cast. The protagonist is the white reporter, Eugenia ‘Skeeter’ Phelan, who wants to write a book about their experiences. The film tries to tell the story of the Black experience through a noble white person’s perspective, the white saviour who is about to be the voice for the voiceless. While the racism the maids experience is relegated to side stories, the main arc is of Eugenia rebelling against the racist housewives of her hometown by saving the black women they mistreat. While the film was a commercial and critical success upon its release, it has since received some blowback, even from one of the film’s stars, Viola Davis, who has said that the film was ‘created in the filter and the cesspool of systemic racism’. Despite the blowback that the film received, it was still one of the most rewatched films of the summer and white saviour films still exist. 

The Help is nowhere near the only white saviour film, many films have even distorted reality to fit their narrative around the white saviour. The film Hidden Figures made up the role of Al Harrison, the white director of the Space Task group. The scene where he destroys the Colored Ladies’ Room sign never happened in real life. When asked about the reason for the scene, white screenwriter Theodore Melfi said, ‘There need to be white people who do the right thing, there need to be black people who do the right thing, and someone does the right thing. And so who cares who does the right thing, as long as the right thing is achieved?’ In this example, a real-life story was turned into a white saviour film, altering reality and history so that it could appeal to a white audience and be relatable to it. 

While the white saviour trope can be seen in popular films, can the white saviour trope be applied to people in real life? In 2012, Nigerian-American writer Teju Cole discussed what he calls the ‘White Savior Industrial Complex’. In a series of tweets, he discussed the idea of rich white people helping people of colour and charities solely for recognition and the feeling of being a good person. ‘The white saviour supports brutal policies in the morning, founds charities in the afternoon, and receives awards in the evening’ he said, adding ‘The White Savior Industrial Complex is not about justice. It is about having a big emotional experience that validates privilege’.

It is as if many white people equate fighting for social change with personal fulfilment. In one of the classic lines from the white saviour film, The Blind Side, when Sandra Bullock's character is told she is changing Michael Oher’s life, she replies, ‘no, he’s changing mine’. There is a self-satisfaction that can be felt when white people, especially those who are upper middle class or higher, believe they are helping those less fortunate than themselves. 

Many white people, in real life and especially those that can be considered white feminists, tend to try to act as the white saviour, whether knowingly or not. White feminists have a tendency to not only show support for movements but to make themselves the champion of said movements. To almost try to prove how much they already get it before listening to the voices of those who the issue affects. To be the one to single-handedly create the change, to be the face of the movement. We often saw the negative aspects of ‘hashtag activism’, like white people taking selfies while on the streets this summer, and the countless Instagram stories with screenshots showing how much rich white girls donated every time a white photography student took an ‘artsy’ shot of the protests without blurring out anyone’s faces. Obviously, it can be easy to equate actions like these with the self-satisfaction that social movements give them rather than the want for justice. 

This, of course, isn’t to say that every white person for the cause is a white saviour (the person writing this article is very white and Jewish), but there are ways that white people, especially white feminists, take part in movements that can contribute to the trope, from trying to sideline people of colour to make yourself seem like you’re doing the most, to making your voice the loudest. Instead of sidelining people of colour, push them to the front, especially the activists. Only stand in front of them if it is to protect them from a police officer, use your privilege to shield them, not speak for them.

Instead of taking selfies during the marches, put your phone down so you don’t capture anyone’s identity, thus jeopardizing their safety and security. Instead of trying to make your voice the loudest, listen and help amplify the voices of the voiceless. Use the megaphone to introduce them, not to talk over them. Think to yourself, are you part of the movement because you want to actively be part of change or because of the personal satisfaction you feel from “doing good”? If it’s the former, then you are moving in the right direction but if it’s the latter, then you might have a white saviour complex.