The Help took home three honors for acting at tonight’s 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards. Octavia Spencer was named Outstanding Female Actor in a Supporting Role and Viola Davis took home the Actor for Outstanding Female Actor in a Leading Role. The cast of the film won the award for best ensemble.
What does this mean for this year’s Academy Awards? Well, tonight’s winners were determined by the votes of SAG members, who also comprise a large proportion of Oscar voters. It could be a sign of things to come if the actors prefer Viola over Meryl Streep’s Iron Lady. It will surely be a close race between these two for Best Actress.
Tonight’s top honor also demonstrates that the actors preferred The Help to the silent, black-and-white French film The Artist, which many have predicted to win Best Picture. Since actors make up the largest voting bloc over at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, don’t be surprised if The Help sweeps (no pun intended).
Despite criticisms of the film promoting the “white savior complex” or white-washing the civil rights struggle, it still presents a welcome opportunity for discussions of racial justice in America. Even when accepting the award tonight, Viola Davis said, ”The stain of racism and sexism is not just for people of color or women. It’s all of our burden. All of us.” It would certainly be nice to hear a similar message on Hollywood’s biggest night.
