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By Teresa
Based on the true story acted by Oprah Winfrey, Mariah Carrie, and Forest Whitaker, The Butler is a heart-felt and educational movie that brings us back to the 1900s, when the American Civil Rights Movement took place. Growing up in a family of slaves Cecil’s (Forest Whitaker) mom (Mariah Carrie) was repeatedly raped by her slave master. After one of the incidents when the slave master came out, being young and naïve, Cecil ran after the man. His dad grabbed him and said “NO.” Cecil looked at his dad and asks, “Well aren’t you going to do something?” When his dad spoke up, his dad got shot. Seeing that the boy’s father was being killed right in front of him, the white grandmother of the main house pulled Cecil aside and trained him to be a house slave rather than a field slave. After so many years of being a house slave, he escaped for a better life. Many years later, he became The White House butler and served several terms, 9 presidential terms to be exact.
Having one kid that was actively involved in the Civil Rights Movement and one kid that joined the army, Gloria (Oprah Winfrey) Cecil’s wife struggled being alone and never having someone around. She almost cheated on her husband, but then soon realized it was wrong and she got help. Cecil tried so hard to give his family a better life and keeping them from having the life that he did.
At the end, the scene that stood out to me the most was the ending. I’m not going to give much away here so if you haven’t seen it yet, it’s okay. Cecil and his family were all sitting on their porch with Obama’s propaganda posters taped all around the house. This was a momentous part in the movie because Obama is now the first black president. Looking back, we all achieve so much liberty and freedom. This movie is one of the best movies I have ever seen, that is why I recommend this movie for anyone, especially those of you who are in U.S. History because it gives you a better understanding of what happens and what people went though during the Civil Rights movement.