The White Savior Film: Content, Critics, and Consumption

Since the 1980s, Hollywood has released a spate of so-called "white savior" films, in which heroic white protagonists liberate persons of color from dangerous and decayed environments. In this title, Hughey (White Bound: Nationalists, Antiracists, and the Shared Meaning of Race) provides a systematic study of the messages these films convey, as well as how film reviewers and audiences receive them. Hughey employs a qualitative and quantitative approach to contend that white savior films reflect and reinforce normative ideas about white paternalism and the need to rescue nonwhites from social dysfunction. Moreover, while responses from critics and viewers can vary widely, they nonetheless often identify with the so-called "commonsense" ideas about race that are present in pictures such as The Blind Side and Gran Torino. The author's analysis is sound, and he ultimately offers a convincing critique of how these movies seek to maintain the racial status quo.