24 White Savior Films We’d Love To Rewrite

Cool Runnings (1993)

It’s difficult to pick apart the unsavory aspects of childhood movies like this one, but Cool Runnings is not innocent in this conversation. The movie did the black athletes a severe disservice, portraying them as goofy people and relying on stereotypes. John Candy’s character, a white man, is the one to pluck them from their low-class lives and help them rise to their potential and find great success. Like in The Help, the white hero is nothing but the catalyst for the black characters’ success, not the driving force in their success. Sadly, much of the script would need to be changed to rectify this story, starting with the superficial depiction of the athletes.

The Greatest Showman (2017)

The Greatest Showman relies on the white savior trope to make the lead character likable, and he’s not the only one to act as a hero toward the minority characters. While we get glimpses of the minority perspective, most of the movie follows the white men’s narrative and how wonderful they are for accepting minorities. A scene or two address Barnum’s performative and shallow acceptance, but by the end, all the minority characters are thanking him. Zac Efron’s character has his white savior moments, too. The only paths we see to redemption for The Greatest Showman are to take the narrative away from Barnum or to give a more honest depiction of his abuse.

Hidden Figures (2016)

Hidden Figures is the story of three black women at NASA. The movie depicts these women well, showing their brilliance and innovation but not their courage or steadfastness. The worst example of white saviorism in the movie is the white male boss “saving” the black female employee, Katherine Goble Johnson, by allowing her to use the conveniently located white-only bathrooms. The narrative here isn’t great, but it becomes unacceptable when you know the real Johnson used the white-only bathrooms without asking for permission or hesitating. To avoid the white savior trope, all this movie had to do was tell the true story. Instead, they added heroic moments for white characters, taking away the power of the black characters.

The Legend of Tarzan (2016)

Making a movie based on Tarzan is tough without falling into the white savior narrative. Բայց The Legend of Tarzan seemed to embrace it. At the film’s end, Tarzan frees the black slaves, unites the tribes, and saves the Congo. The movie simultaneously holds up Tarzan as the white savior while giving the viewer a remedial history of the oppression of black people. It’s like they think acknowledging the oppression makes the movie progressive despite the rest of the narrative. We’d love to rewrite this movie, and maybe all Tarzan movies, to show Tarzan as the one who needs help.

Lincoln (2012)

This one is tricky because President Lincoln did make great efforts to help black Americans. While Lincoln aims to be historically accurate, it paints Lincoln as a righteous man fighting tirelessly for justice. The reality is a little different, as Lincoln has a hidden history of violence toward other minorities. The movie strongly supports the imaginative version of Lincoln, which many of us have been taught, using black characters as mere props and inspiring reminders for the main white characters. Rewriting this film to drop the white savior trope would involve an earnest and controversial dive into the real Lincoln, which many people would reject.

The Matrix (1999)

Many white savior movies are glaringly obvious in their lack of self-awareness, but we want to highlight some of the more subtle white savior narratives. The Matrix is an excellent example of a white savior movie we often forgive because racial issues are not at the forefront of the film. But Neo, the white hero, being the only one who can save the minority characters in need of help, is blatantly white saviorism. The black characters seem expendable and are in awe of Neo, who they plead with to rescue them. Recasting the movie with minority actors is one solution, but another is to rewrite the black characters as more than just sideline supporters of the white savior.

The Principal (1987)

The Principal is another classic white savior movie with a white teacher who rescues a bunch of inner-city minority students. A white screenwriter and a white director came together to show their idea of the inner-city school and person of color experience, two things they seem to know absolutely nothing about. The lead character is reminiscent of Eastwood in Gran Torino, as he saves the minority characters with a gruff demeanor and wise, no-nonsense attitude. The white saviorism here is plentiful, and the best way to redeem the story would be to remove the white savior characters completely. A narrative shift to tell the story of the students would be impactful and compelling.

Radio (2003)

Radio has similar issues as The Blind Side, with the main black character being unintelligent and hopeless without his white hero. The film simultaneously patronizes black people and disabled people. Ed Harris’ character is practically a saint in the movie and becomes a hero by helping Cuba Gooding Jr.’s character. The movie tries to be progressive, but the black characters become props for the white characters to pat themselves on the back. To fix this movie, we’d have to start by editing out all the harmful stereotypes, which might leave us with 20 minutes of content.

The Soloist (2009)

As gripping as this film is, it fits the bill for this trope perfectly. A white man plucks a struggling black man from the depths of despair to change his life for the better. The story is anything but original, and the white character’s righteousness is overwhelming at times. We think Jaime Foxx’s acting chops were completely neglected here, and the obvious fix is to switch the narrative from the white character to the black character. It’s truly incredible that anyone would hear this story and immediately see the white man as the main character when the black man is the inspiring, impressive, and unique one.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

The intense racism and offensive stereotypes in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom are disturbing. Even while putting aside these unfair depictions of people of color, we can still criticize Indy’s role as the rescuer of these uncivilized people. His character is even painted as an angel because he chose not to steal artifacts from these communities. We believe this movie could be rectified but with a lot of editing. Indy needs to get off his high horse of privilege, and Spielberg needs to do literally any basic research on other cultures so we can ditch these ridiculous and dangerous stereotypes.

Blood Diamond (2006)

This brutal film positions Leonardo DiCaprio’s character to swoop in and rescue the struggling black characters. DiCaprio’s character is bad enough, comfortably fitting the white savior mold, but the depiction of black characters is the worst part. They are all either victims or villains, while DiCaprio plays a character who falls in the middle. This narrative is particularly horrible because it manages to dehumanize, villainize, and infantilize an entire race of people all at once! Frankly, rewriting this movie to drop the white savior narrative would be easy. You just have to develop the black characters to be actual characters and not just background props.

Dances With Wolves (1990)

One of the most famous white savior films, Dances With Wolves, is about a white man who joins the Lakota Sioux tribe. You probably know where this is going: he accepts these uncivilized folks and saves them all through his sacrifice. The native representation here is pretty disgusting, while the white characters are lifted on pedestals as their saviors. The film implies that the native characters don’t have the reasoning or orderliness to resolve their issues. Instead, they need a random white guy to show them his ways of peace and justice. The movie could be saved by making the white lead more of a bystander to the native’s conflicts.

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