[ ABSTRAK
Makalah ini menjelaskan bagaimana peran aktor Afrika Amerika di dalam film The Help (2011), sebuah film karya Tate Taylor, merepresentasikan Magical Negro sebagai perbuatan yang digunakan untuk melegitimasi diskriminasi rasial serta stereotype terhadap kaum kulit hitam Amerika di bawah kekuasaan kulit putih. Latar belakang film ini adalah saat terjadinya pergerakan sosial di Mississippi pada tahun 1960an. Film ini bercerita tentang Skeeter, seorang perempuan lulusan Ole Miss yang baru saja kembali ke kampung halamannya untuk menjadi seorang penulis dengan bekerja sebagai jurnalis dan penulis kolom di sebuah koran harian setempat. Saat bekerja sebagai jurnalis, Skeeter bertemu dengan Aibileen, pembantu salah seorang temannya. Dengan bantuan beberapa pembantu kulit hitam, Skeeter memulai proyek pembuatan buku yang menceritakan diskriminasi rasial di Jackson, Mississippi. Makalah ini menganalisa representasi karakter Magical Negro dan juga adegan di dalam film yang melegitimasi keunggulan kaum kulit putih melalui akting dari pemeran film The Help. Makalah ini mengidentifikasi sebuah kontradiksi yang mencolok di dalam film. Di satu sisi film ini secara jelas mengangkat isu diskriminasi rasial, namun di sisi lain film ini semakin menegaskan keunggulan kaum kulit putih. Kesimpulan dari makalah ini adalah film The Help menggunakan konsep Magical Negro untuk melegitimasi keunggulan kaum kulit putih atas kau kulit hitam.

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ABSTRACT

This paper examines how African American actors’ roles in The Help (2011), a movie directed by Tate Taylor, represent Magical Negro as an act to legitimate racial discrimination and black American stereotype under white supremacy. The setting of this movie is during social movement era in Mississippi around 1960s. The story is about Skeeter, an Ole Miss graduated woman, who returns to her hometown to become a writer and to work as a young journalist and columnist for a local newspaper in house cleaning section. During her work as a journalist, Skeeter meets Aibileen, her friend’s black maid. With the help of several black maids, she starts a book project about racial discrimination in Jackson, Mississippi. This paper analyzes representation of Magical Negro characters and the scene which legitimates white supremacy through actions of the characters. The paper reveals a stark contradiction in the film. On one hand, the film explicitly raises the theme of racial discrimination, but on the other hand, it reinforces the ideology of white supremacy. Reviews on previous researches about the same issue are analyzed as well as character and scene analysis from the movie in order to reach objective. This paper concludes that this movie uses Magical Negro concept to legitimate white supremacy towards black people., This paper examines how African American actors’ roles in The Help (2011), a movie directed by Tate Taylor, represent Magical Negro as an act to legitimate racial discrimination and black American stereotype under white supremacy. The setting of this movie is during social movement era in Mississippi around 1960s. The story is about Skeeter, an Ole Miss graduated woman, who returns to her hometown to become a writer and to work as a young journalist and columnist for a local newspaper in house cleaning section. During her work as a journalist, Skeeter meets Aibileen, her friend’s black maid. With the help of several black maids, she starts a book project about racial discrimination in Jackson, Mississippi. This paper analyzes representation of Magical Negro characters and the scene which legitimates white supremacy through actions of the characters. The paper reveals a stark contradiction in the film. On one hand, the film explicitly raises the theme of racial discrimination, but on the other hand, it reinforces the ideology of white supremacy. Reviews on previous researches about the same issue are analyzed as well as character and scene analysis from the movie in order to reach objective. This paper concludes that this movie uses Magical Negro concept to legitimate white supremacy towards black people.]