White saviour complex. Have you noticed it in movies and among white feminists and SJW's?

[Anonymous]

I ask because I've started to notice a theme within Hollywood movies in which the lead charcter is a young pretty strong independent white woman who with a non-white side kick saves people of color from an evil white supremacist or solves all their problems. Even this trailer the Nutcracker and four realms is the same.

Updates

+1 y

White savior
White savior refers to western people going in to “fix” the problems of struggling nations or people of color without understanding their history, needs, or the region’s current state of affairs.
Invisible Children aims to hold the solutions of three American filmmakers above the African activists who have lived and worked in the affected communities their whole lives. Talk about white saviors.

[KAF87]

This is a loaded question to be sure.

I think at home (within first world countries) there is a drive to volunteer. The desire is to fix things for the underprivileged and try to undo some of the inequality for minorities.

Some of these people do have a savior complex. They like the glorified pat on the back. They enjoy the attention of being a good person. Others though, just realize they have life good and feel compelled to give back.

Over seas, you have glory hounds, good PR hunting exploiters, and well meaning charities. It may seem like the west ignores African culture and activists, and that may be true. However it is hard to combat things like large scale over population. Backward technology. Poor education. Lack of infrastructure. Corrupt governments.

There are lots of positive solutions, they are just difficult to implement. It is also made harder by a lack of trust.

As for movies, I feel like having a minority or just non-white side kick is an attempt to be more multicultural. I think there needs to be more movies that the lead rolls are non-white. However we are getting there (just too slowly).

I see this change strongly in video games. (old games had bimbo female characters, and all white men) (L4D1 had 1 female, 1 male black, and 2 male white) where (L4D2 has 1 male black, 1 female black, and 2 male white)

[Anon-ymous1]

This is a good answer.

[dantetheexplorer]

Dances with Wolves, Last Samurai, Avatar, Blood Diamond, The Help, and many more. I've not seen The Great Wall, so I'm not sure about that one.

It's almost as if non-white people cannot save ourselves. White people enter into different non-white cultures, and they immediately get a level-up: they become more Native American than Native Americans, more bad-ass samurais than bad-ass samurais, more Na'vi than the Na'vi.

[dantetheexplorer]

*It's almost as if we non-white people cannot save ourselves.

[Asker]

I agree. Not sure about the great wall though because it's a chineese produced movie with a mostly Chineese cast with a chineese director that basically hired Matt Damon as their token white guy to sell the movie to the west.

[Jackblue]

Avatar was a terrible movie, about aliens, in the Last Samurai Tom Cruise saved nothing the samurai all had a very bad experience with a gatling unless I am mistaken.

[Asker]

@Jackblue didn't Tom Cruise save part of Japanese culture in the last Samurai as it was being replaced by western culture and saved the emperor?
https://youtu.be/yx5aWtDZcTE

[Asker]

@Jackblue the star wars prequels too had loads of aliens thst were eventually racial stereotypes

[Jackblue]

To some extent yes regarding the Last Samurai, but the Samurai were still all dead. In the Star Wars prequels it is the the Jamaican like Gungans who save the "white people" of Naboo not the other way around. There were some other aliens with racial stereotypes, but none needed "saving."

[Asker]

@Jackblue the hunt and were on the run for their lives near the end of the phantom menace, they were there to draw out the droid armies so Padme and the Jedi could capture the viceroy and send pilots to knock out the droid control ship. In the end Padme captured the viceroy single handidly and Anakin saved the day in space.

[Jackblue]

Padme and Anakin would have been easily captured when they entered the Naboo capital if the Gungans had not checked the droid armies. And the Gungans were fighting to save the Naboo.

[Asker]

@Jackblue true but they didn't save anyone, they were just cannon fodder (a running theme in white saviour movies), it was the white people that did the overall saving. If Padme and Anakin hadn't done the saving they'd have been wiped out.

[Jackblue]

At least the Gungans died as soldiers, the pitiful Naboo were all placed in camps were many likely died (admittedly not shown).

[Asker]

@Jackblue the hung and died running for their lives, they refused to stand and fight. The fled the battlefield while the naboo people were fighting to defeat the trade federation

[Jgirl532]

Yeah, this is definitely a theme I have seen in movies. We really need some great, empowered POC main characters. I think the worst example of the white savior complex is a Spanish soap opera I watched called La Esclava Blanca. It means “the white slave.” So, if you can’t already tell by the name, it definitely had that theme. She tried to save the slave family and village that took her in throughout the entire movie, and although that seems like a nice plot from the way I said it, it is clear that it is more based off of a white fantasy of what slavery was.

[Leafpool2]

It's an incredibly common and incredibly ugly trope. It also usually makes White people the main characters in stories that are supposed to be about the stuggles of non-white people.

[Jackblue]

I am no fan of social justice warriors, but would you prefer white people did not help people of color, it saves lives either way even if you have convinced yourself these people are somehow arrogant. As for photographs of whites with children in third world countries, believe me it is often the children who want to take those photos, when I was in India in a study abroad program (nothing to do with philanthropy), we were touring a temple and a high school was on a field trip there and several students wanted to take a photograph with me, I simply obliged.

[RationalMale]

Let nonwhites act like civilized people and help themselves. Or do we not believe they are as intelligent as whites?

[Berethor]

Feminists are part of SJWs, and racism of low expectations is even more common among SJWs, especially when they turn a blind eye to islamic valence and sexism.

en.wiktionary.org/wiki/racism_of_low_expectations

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3NDeyR_1-U

[Cammy137]

Don't watch them then! I mean I disagree with your point entirely but even if it were the case, so what? Don't watch them.
Hollywood doesn't have to pander to whatever you consider to be acceptable and entertaining. It is possible that people enjoy a certain type of film.
I don't see the issue!

[shephardjhon]

YES. Definitely a thing.
Meanwhile about 300 years ago: aeon.co/.../why-american-revolutionaries-admired-the-rebels-of-mysore
by the way, the black or native friend and/or mentor is also a trope.

Good or bad, treat us like people. iZombie and Silicon Valley are good examples.

[mynesterion]

Hollywood will save the world one special interest at a time and if their bank accounts are fattened in the process who are you to question. How dare you?

[kojikurac]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XebG4TO_xss

[Slave-man]

I like female supremacist feminist women who want to humiliate and swear at me.

[Slave-man]

İf you are a dominant woman who want to humiliate and swear at me, don't hesitate to write me. I will worship you. I will do everything for your happiness. :)

[RussianHacker]

(((Hollywood))) is always pushing these fuckin' retarded memes.

[RationalMale]

Looking at any city in the USA with a majority black population, it appears Africans indeed need a white savior.

[Asker]

No they need to get off the democrat plantation and do it for themselves

[RationalMale]

Do democrats make them shoot each other en masse? Is that why wherever you go, the African part of town is the high crime area?

Think about it. Did socialist Europe have much street crime before mass immigration? Was all white norway and sweden dangerous before mass immigration? They are way more left wing than bernie sanders.

[RationalMale]

And here's the thing. Blacks are happy living in high crime, African cities. Atlanta, memphis, detroit, chicago, st. Louis... They would far rather have 60 people shot every weekend than do what you want. 60 people shot per weekend is fine with them. One police officer shooting a black gangbanger is outrage.

[Asker]

Black people did better in the 60s and 70s than today despite institutionalised racism, it was only when they started elected democrats that their neighbourhoods went to shit

[RationalMale]

The 60's and 70's also had a lot of violent black race riots that drove the whites out of the cities.

Isn't it probable that democrats main impact is to let Africans live the way they want? Every city in the usa with a decent sized black population has high crime. Can you really blame democrats for that? Especially since in most cases, it's black democrats being elected in black cities?

[RationalMale]

Seriously. How do you think the GOP would make blacks behave, aside from heavy policing and sending a half their population to prison? Detroit and Chicago are how blacks wish to live, no matter what state or town or country they are in.

[Asker]

Exactly because in the 60s blacks went with the democrats.

[RationalMale]

Explain please. How come black democrats make blacks shoot each other en masse but not neither white nor black democrats make whites into thugs?

Oh and even before 1950 blacks were still commiting crime at a much higher rate than whites.

[LongShlongSilvr]

Oh Jeez us. Not everything is about race. It's a movie, they cast people who they think will help sell the film.

[Asker]

Actually it's usually about race especially when the movies are about race.

[LongShlongSilvr]

It's funny how the people that are so busy finding racism in everything are usually the real racists but are so self absorbed in their mindless social warrior quest to know any better.

[Asker]

Half of all Hollywood movies are about some white person coming along and saving non white people.

[AynonOMouse]

White people shouldn't help non Whites. That would be much better. :)

[Bluedream13]

lol yeah paving the road for white sjw idiots to think they are smart

[MarketData]

We have to give them something in return for stealing their country's natural resources.

[Servus09]

We left, now China is taking their natural resources. For whatever reason they refuse to build their nations up themselves and flood the rest of the world looking for a better life. So wouldn't it make sense to bring all of Africa into the modern world with the rest of us so they can stay where they are?

[MarketData]

@Servus09 Of course, and that's how globalisation is supposed to work.

[Asker]

So we give them movies often about themselves and their plight where a white woman saves them?

[MarketData]

Sure, I guess. If it sells tickets.

[bubble_tea]

I like the fact that white people who want to do good things with their money and time are ridiculed by hedonists for having a white saviour complex. I suppose it's the English term for Gutmensch.

[Asker]

The White Savior Complex is not about justice. It is about having a big emotional experience that validates privilege

[Asker]

The White Savior Industrial Complex is not about justice. It is about having a big emotional experience that validates privilege

[Jackblue]

" The White Savior Industrial Complex is not about justice. It is about having a big emotional experience that validates privilege" so apparently you can read their minds and you have not even met them, you should share your skills with the world.

[bubble_tea]

So you want people to stop being altruistic.. because it gives them fuzzy feelings in the heart region as a side-effect while doing non-egotistical things in life?
Yeah, I too think only people should help who absolutely hate every minute and every penny they were forced to spend on altruistic stuff that solely benefits others. Each organization would probably have more money and members than right now.

[bubble_tea]

@Jackblue Yeah, please do share your secrets with us.

[ElloElloElloEllo]

blindside, kingkong, empire,

[Asker]

Dangerous minds, freedom writers...

[Anon-ymous1]

So... this is nothing new. At all.

[Anonymous]

LOL at this.