I have been told by people who study these things that in all the stories ever told that there are only 36 plots. So the savior story is one we have heard before, a person, or group of person is in predicament from which they can not escape. Perhaps their situation is of their own making, perhaps it is the result of an malevolent other. What ever got them into this jam, they are on the road to disaster and do not have the internal resources to find a new way to redemption. A hero comes among them, and shows them the solution.
There are two variations in this story, the hero who comes from within the community. The story called "the Rabbis gift" is my favorite example of this variation, because the messiah turns out to be all of the monks -- they discover the savior in each other and in themselves. The other variation is when the hero comes from the outside, and shows the doomed community a new way that they could not have found on their own.
Which brings me to my question. Is it possible that a plot that holds up an outside hero saving a community perpetuates that communities disempowerment? I think of the white savior movie. We have seen the story in so many variations, remember the white teacher who comes into an inner city class room and through love and patience inspires her students to see themselves as bright and creative? The teacher gets resistance from the powers that be (principals, school boards, the other teachers) who do not believe that these kids can be taught. The empowering teacher is breaking the rules and she must show the authorities that she, not they are righteous.
These movies are often based on true stories. There actually was a white teacher who actually did help a bunch of young people of color discover their gifts and become a community of learners. There actually was such a person whose actions can be turned into "a white savior" plot for a movie. Such a person should be honored and held up, along with the thousands of teachers, parents, community activists, principals and young people of color who act within their communities to overcome serious problems and ways of acting that are bringing the community to ruin.
When the film maker takes one story out of thousands and makes a movie out of it, that is creating an artifice. It is reconstructing reality to tell a story, a story that has been selected, and presented for its impact. Hollywood chooses from among all the stories of people acting to make a difference the story of the good white teacher who makes a difference in some young people-of colors lives, and it is the movie, not the teachers original action that perpetuates the dominate cultures narrative of incompetent people of color being rescued by white people.
To turn this world we live in toward a just and sustainable community will take a lot of people, each of those people acting to empower each other. Let us honor all who act to create human community, and let us see films that tell those stories of mutual empowerment.
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