It’s a short task to number the films about ordinary black people and civil rights – from well-meaning narratives from a white perspective that play in mainstream cinemas (a group that includes To Kill a Mockingbird, and more recently The Help) to more authentic films of black experience like Nothing But a Man or Killer of Sheep which rarely play outside festivals. Then there are a handful of biopics of extraordinary individuals like Malcolm X or the forthcoming Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. But extraordinary is the key word there. The Butler then, just by existing, is a triumph. It places centre stage that most peripheral of players, a domestic servant: Cecil Gaines, a black man born on a plantation in 1926, goes on to be a member of the White House staff under ei
21 November 2013, The Tablet
The Butler
Cinema
Get Instant Access
Continue Reading
Register for free to read this article in full
Subscribe for unlimited access
From just £30 quarterly
Complete access to all Tablet website content including all premium content.
The full weekly edition in print and digital including our 179 years archive.
PDF version to view on iPad, iPhone or computer.
Already a subscriber? Login
User Comments (8)
His latest rant that the EU is fundamentally evil because it promotes inequality sounds to me like the perfect description of the Tory Party. As every single survey has shown, the poor get poorer and the rich remain protected under Conservative policy. IDS was responsible for the lunatic policy of the "bedroom tax" which is about as stupid as "government" ever gets.
Is it possible to be a Tory and a Christian?
I think not.