Hacker Cinema
The Butler
2013 · Film · 132 min
Directed by Lee Daniels
Cecil Gaines was a sharecropper's son who grew up in the 1920s as a domestic servant for the white family who casually destroyed his. Eventually striking out on his own, Cecil becomes a hotel valet of such efficiency and discreteness in the 1950s that he becomes a butler in the White House itself. There, Cecil would serve numerous US Presidents over the decades as a passive witness of history with the American Civil Rights Movement gaining momentum even as his family has troubles of its own. As his wife, Gloria, struggles with alcoholism and his defiant eldest son, Louis, strives for a just world, Cecil must decide whether he should take action in his own way.
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2 comments on Hacker News
> She also points to recent publicized examples of black people being subject to poor treatment while engaging in normal activities.
The one about Oprah in Zurich is absolute bullshit. When you take in account that the boutique in question is one of Zurich's most luxurious (not for nothing they have $38k purses on sale) you can imagine the type of treatment any customer gets from the salespeople, who are used to see incredibly rich customers from any part of the world pop in for their shopping. If anything, the episode highlights exactly the hyper-sensitivity of some people (given that Oprah didn't just lie to publicise her then upcoming movie on the theme of racism, "The Butler").
> So the recommendation engine just has to come up with something you'd try to watch and perhaps enjoy.
Heck, if it did that I'd be happy. I don't even know why I still have my Netflix subscription. The selection is basically as good (bad) as Hulu and Crackle, the price is higher and the recommendations are laughable (right now they're pushing: Velvet, a TV series about a Spanish fashion house; Sense 8, the latest lameness from the Wachowski brothers; Elsa & Fred, aimed at old people, a Robert Pattinson vehicle, Orange is the New Black, The Butler and piles of other stuff I would never watch if you tied me to a chair).
Frankly, I don't believe they have a recommendation engine anymore: I think they just suggest whatever is cheapest for them to play.