MovieChat Forums > The Butler (2013) Discussion > I don't care about inaccuracy, there're ...

I don't care about inaccuracy, there're bigger problems with this film

posted 10 years ago by user-153
11 replies | jump to latest

Principally that the film struggled to know what it was: was it about his relationship with his oldest son, or about his relationships with a succession of presidents?

They tried a kind of 'Remains of the Day Meet Forrest Gump' and in my opinion failed. We didn't see enough of him as a butler to the presidents, and we certainly didn't see any development of his relationship with any of them, which (i) was disappointing and (ii) what I thought the film was going to be about.

What we had instead is a better-fleshed out but less interesting story of his son's involvement in the civil unrest that led to black equality in society. Now, this subject can be fascinating and has been done brilliantly elsewhere (unfortunate how some of those better films were name-checked during the film). So we're left with a film that was too long and confused about its own purpose.

And it had Mariah Carey in it. Which frankly is offensive.

[–] Tomatish 10 years ago

I completely agree.

Edit: Except for the part about Mariah Carey. I know nothing about her other than her being a singer, and since she hardly got any lines, I didn't really notice her. Why did you find her casting offensive?

[–] Black_Lies_Matter 10 years ago

When your intention is to pimp propaganda, story sort of takes a back seat.

[–] thready85 10 years ago

Can you please kill yourself Holder_Eric. You are trolling this movie's boards because you are mentally ill and you have no life.

[–] Black_Lies_Matter 10 years ago

There goes that famous lefty tolerance!

[–] marlee-4 10 years ago

I disagree. I think the clue to the theme of this film is the advice he gets from the man who trains him. He says that he needs two faces; one for the 'white folks' and his real face. It's about how he starts out as someone who would rather keep his head down than fight but in the end decides that even the actions of individuals can have a massive effect on history.

[–] user-153 10 years ago

I get that - that's the development of the story concerning his son.

My point is that there are other ways one can make an impression on history, and being a butler to a succession of Presidents puts our protagonist in a good position to do the same. Ok, so the idea is he keeps his head down (very 'Remains of the Day') and choses not to do so, but there's little point in his being the butler to Presidents when his interaction with them as shown in the film is minimal and largely of no consequence. I would not have downloaded the film if I had known it was simply another American movie looking to assuage America's conscience about its treatment of the blacks in the latter part of the 20th century. It's a well trodden path. The film had a chance to do something different, and gave the impression that it would, but it didn't.

[–] FooserX 10 years ago

I 100% agree with OP.

This movie was a failure on so many levels. It just didn't know what it wanted to be. I watched it expecting it to be about a Butler's relationships with different presidents. Instead, there was zero interaction with them for the most part.

On the other plot line, his son was going through life fighting for civil rights. Which would have been fine, but that was not done well either. Everything was so predictable. It was like a cheap Forrest Gump - meeting MLK, riding the freedom bus, etc. There was no character development for Butler's son.

I just hate watching these types of movies, when they only serve to keep rehashing all of the racism from the past. I get it - whitey was awful...can we move on now? And even if they WANTED to portray what life was like back then...at least have an interesting story to tell the viewer. Showing us blacks getting raped, beat, and called the N-word isn't a story.

X

[–] susanemccool 10 years ago

I completely agree, as well. I kept expecting Cecil to become more "emboldened," if you will, and at least give stronger replies when asked questions by presidents. And, of course, I expected more interactions with them! They should have called this "The Butler's Family." Not that the real butler had a son who was a Black Panther, or one who died in Vietnam.

[–] jadedmystery 9 years ago

Completely agree with everything you said. I was paying attention to the film maybe 60% of the time because it felt like a rehash of a history book. I knew all about Vietnam, the Black Panthers, the Civil Rights movement with MLK, the assassination of JFK, the lives of slaves on the plantations... Knowing from the beginning that this film wasn't going to add anything to those topics that hasn't already been covered I just kind of glossed over it. Definitely a poor man's Forrest Gump that didn't even focus 100% on The Butler. I would've rather they put more of the focus on the son as there could've been a really good storyline there of a kid going from the civil rights movement as a teen to running for political office.

Veronica Sawyer: Why do you have to be such a mega-bitch?
Heather Duke: Because I can be.

[–] Cali7 10 years ago

I could not agree more, user-153. I was expecting a certain type of story based upon the title and marketing of the film but was given something entirely different. Kind if disappointing...although I did appreciate the acting efforts of Whitaker and Winfrey.

[–] pepperprentiss 10 years ago

I think the director tried to do a earnest effort of mixing the life of a White House butler and the Civil Rights Movement. Both are depicted but should have been more detailed.