Important Elements In Lee Daniel's The Butler

Three very important elements of any film are the exposition, setting, and the characters that are involved within the movie. In fact, these elements are so important that every movie has them. The exposition of a film or story takes place at the beginning of the movie and includes background information as well as the setting and usually introduces the characters of the movie. Setting describes the time and place in which a story occurs. The setting of a movie is very important to understand in order to fully comprehend the plot. Characters are essential to every narrative film because they are the ones that convey the story and act out the plot. Without characters, the movie would most likely be very boring, and would resemble a documentary. …show more content…
In many movies, including Lee Daniel’s The Butler, some of the issues that occur throughout the film can be attributed to the setting. Therefore, the setting usually has a major impact on the characters. A majority of Lee Daniel’s The Butler, for instance, takes place in Washington D.C. during the civil rights movement and continues throughout the Vietnam war. While the film does continue all the way up to Barack Obama’s presidency, most of the movie focuses on the time period previously discussed. Because the story takes place during this time period, it is easy for audience members to understand the struggles that the Gaines family has to go through. During that time, discrimination and segregation were very common, so it makes sense to the audience that Cecil’s family is treated differently than others. Also, Louis getting arrested all of the time can be attributed to the setting, and the strained relationship between him and his father is a result of this. If this story had not taken place where and when it did, the audience would not understand the plot because few to none of the events would have taken place if the setting had been different. For instance, if Cecil had not grown up as a servant in the south during this time, he would never have broken into the bake shop, became a servant at a hotel, and thus never would have been a butler at the White House. If he had never been a White House Butler, his family might …show more content…
It is essential to get the viewer to connect with certain characters in order to effectively portray the story. As stated previously, Lee Daniel’s The Butler centers around the Gaines family, consisting of Cecil, his wife Gloria, and their two sons, Louis and Charlie. Throughout the movie the audience experiences the life of Cecil Gaines, the main character. Cecil is an African American man who grew up working in cotton fields and went on to a life of servitude while trying to provide for his family. The beginning scene that was discussed earlier in the chapter gives the audience a reason to sympathize with Cecil right away. After witnessing this traumatizing event in Cecil’s life, the audience feels that they can understand on a more intimate level. Additionally, the audience sees most of Cecil’s upbringing as a house servant, which provides insight as to why he is so complacent as an adult. Not only does this information introduce the audience to Cecil’s thought process, but it also helps the audience understand why he reacts to his son’s role in the civil rights movement the way that he does. Because he is the main character, audience members relate the most to him and tend to side with his opinions throughout the movie. Cecil is portrayed as a hardworking man that would do anything to provide for his kids, as exemplified in the quote “I made sure