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The Butler Vs The Help Gender Matters Analysis

734 Words3 Pages

“White America”, “magical negro”, and “WASP.” Film, literature, and just media in general coin such terms in order to portray a writer’s perspective of a reality that is apparent in society. Helena Andrews and Matt Zoller Seitz attempt to depict a notion of gender and racial inequality in their respective articles: “The Butler vs. The Help: Gender Matters,” and “The Offensive Movie Cliché That Won’t Die.” Both writers incorporate gender and racial imbalances in American film however; Seitz has a more convincing argument that makes his ideas more lucid. Matt Zoller Seitz is able to convey a more compelling insight about American media with his ability to integrate many examples, and by branching out to real world situations.
Seitz is able to …show more content…

Her misguided assumption causes an inadequate explanation of her examples. It is difficult for an audience to relate to films that they are not knowledgeable about. This cycle of misinterpretation creates a flaw in the arguments presented. For example, Andrews quotes: “The most obvious difference between Davis’ Abileen and Whittaker’s Cecil is the characters’ gender” (Andrews 353). Although Andrews does continue to explain her notion, she assumes the audience is familiar with the films, which clouds the path of her ideas, and a reader’s …show more content…

Associating ideas with the real world is a vital technique in engaging the audience to comprehend a viewpoint and understand where the narrator is coming from. However, the absence of these current events in Andrews’ article enables a stronger argument in that of Seitz’s, where these connections are present. To put this into perspective, Seitz quotes: “…Clinton’s unprecedented (un-presidented?) Comfort with African American culture…there was a sense, even in the pre-Internet era, that the white man either wasn’t in control anymore or soon wouldn’t be” (Seitz 359). Seitz uses a concept of inequality between races, and illustrates it with a circumstance in former president Bill Clinton’s presidency. There were little to no instances in Andrews article that used this tactic whereas, there were numerous examples found in Seitz’s article that linked to real life events or

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