Simply Perfect

People are voting emotionally.

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Not a fan of oprah or Mariah Carey but - phenomenal movie!!!! It got snubbed by oscars. As a history buff, I love this. But as a movie goer I LOVED this! Great casting. Great acting. Fantastic all around.

Lee Daniels', the Butler, is an amazing film that includes the right amount of playful banter to make it a light-hearted civil rights film, rather than a bash on racial segregation. The cinematography of this movie helps speak to the audience, evoking the emotions felt in the actual times of the civil rights movement. The graininess of the movie's quality adds to the mood, where it makes us feel poor and insubstantial, almost like African-Americans back then. In my opinion, it does a very good job explaining what things were like back then, and how they evolved with new presidents. It is interesting to start the movie in the late 1800's and move throughout time up until the late 70's. This film teaches about bigotry in an entertaining, yet mellow way where it does not feel like a racial attack or mockumentary. Overall, I highly recommend this movie to anyone who likes documentaries but cannot stand the basic, boring commentated kind.

The film, The Butler, showcases the life and times of Cecil Gaines (Forest Whittaker), a butler that served numerous US Presidents, and his family. Set in the 1920's post slavery South, the screenplay is loosely based on the real life of Eugene Allen, a man that served over thirty years as a butler in the White House. Beginning when Cecil was a child, viewers are shown a young precocious child that is loved and adored by his parents Hattie (Mariah Carey) and Earl (David Banner). After his mother is assaulted and his father is killed in cold blood, by her son, Thomas (Alex Pettyfer), Cecil is "taken in" by Annabeth Westfall (Vanessa Redgrave) and trained to serve in the house as opposed to working in the fields. Upon coming of age, Cecil starts his journey north with dreams of a better life. Along the way he encounters Maynard (Clarence Williams) after breaking into an establishment to steal food to eat. This chance encounter turns out to be life changing for Cecil as Maynard teaches him how to serve to high end clientele. Through Maynard's guidance and teaching, Cecil made the move to Washington D.C. which become his longtime home. While serving at a restaurant in Washington, Cecil met his future wife Gloria (Oprah Winfrey). He was recognized for his extreme work ethic and service and was offered a position with the White House where he stayed until retirement. Gloria and Cecil married and had two children, Louis (David Oyelowo) and Charlie (Elijah Kelley). Louis, while seeing the injustices that his father and others faced simply based off of the color of their skin, used that same work ethic that was instilled in him from his father, to combat social injustices in his own way, with the Freedom Riders, the Black Panther Movement and later through legislature and activism. Cecil worked extremely hard to not only advance but to also provide for his family. His work ethic proved successful when he was offered a position at the White House as a butler. This position allowed him to see a whole new world. Working at the White House was quite the opposite of working in the fields with sharecroppers as Cecil had done in his earlier years. Cecil's work ethic, however strong, also proved to be a detriment to his family life. While his intention was to provide a stable environment for his wife and children, he in turn alienated them and shielded himself from any emotion upholding his professional stance both at home and in the workplace. Due to this alienation, Gloria turned to alcohol to soothe her sorrows. She became distant and angry because she was longing for affection and support from her hardworking husband. Lee Daniels, the director of the film, does an excellent job of showcasing Gloria's ups and downs by using different lighting techniques and panning to emphasize her pain. For example, when Gloria is drinking, the lighting tends to be dark and the camera is showing her face close up. Viewers can see the pain in her eyes as well as how the drinking is affecting her. When Gloria is not drinking and is happy, the camera is usually pulled back to show her completely in her element. Whether that may be dancing around to music with friends or even a simple task of sewing. These techniques emotionally draw the viewer into the scene. Louis, Cecil's oldest son had the same tenacity and work ethic as his father but he chose to showcase his efforts in a different way. He chose to fight for human rights as this was most important to him. His father failed to see that same qualities in his son. He viewed his son's activism as defiance and a slight to the future that he intended for him. This begs the question, what is the true meaning of success? While this film showcases the will to and the price of success, viewers may find themselves asking what does success mean to an individual? How does one measure these accomplishments? Does success mean recognition from peers or having a successful family life? A strong work ethic can be beneficial in so many ways but if one fails to realize the accomplishments they've made along the way then the work ethic may not be as important after all.

In a time of segregation, we see America through the eyes of a black man who served as a butler in the white house for many decades. While working alongside the world's most powerful men, this butler suffers the injustice of being black and being underpaid. Not even in the white house, being black means equality. Meanwhile, his family breaks down as their son grows up to fight and join the black panthers and spends most of his life in and out of prison fighting for the rights of black citizens. This is key in the movie, as we see inside the same family, a completely different way of approaching the social injustices of America. More than wondering if the Butler is going to have a decent life as a servant in the white house, we are made to wonder if Father and son will one day see America with the same eyes. I was not expecting a lot from this movie, but I actually liked it a lot. Recommended!