scripture guide

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As an aid to reflection and prayer, the following companion explores some of the most important themes raised by Lee Daniels’ The Butler. It can be used

for personal study, post-movie family conversation or larger discussion groups. Its aim is to help relate the moving story of Cecil Gaines to our own

personal stories as we endeavor to live more authentic Christian lives.

A FILM COMPANION

i n s p i r e d b y a t r u e s t o r y

one quiet voicecan ignite

a revolution

forest whitakeroprah winfrey

john cusackjane fonda

cuba gooding, jr.terrence howard

lenny kravitzjames marsdendavid oyelowo

vanessa redgravealan rickmanliev schreiberrobin williams

clarence williams iii

AUGUST 16

A FILM COMPANION

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LEE DANIELS’ THE BUTLERHalf Page / 4C11” x 8.5” - TRIM (BI-FOLD)

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Inspired by a true story, Lee Daniels’ The Butler follows the life of Cecil Gaines, who served as a butler at the White House from 1957 to 1986. It is the story of a man who overcame a life of poverty, great suffering, and profound injustice and who struggled to navigate a rapidly changing world. In his life, we see the story of a whole nation grappling with what has been called the “original sin” of the American founding – slavery – and its aftermath. Cecil Gaines is a good man who has been taught to keep his head down and who has known from the moment of his mother’s rape and his father’s murder at the hands of whites what can happen if he doesn’t. The paradox of his story is that he is a good and hard-working father and husband who builds a life for his family that his parents could never have dreamed of, yet he struggles with alienation from that family as they strive, not merely for bread alone, but for the full human dignity of men and women made in the image and likeness of God. Gaines is not a perfect man and he makes mistakes that nearly cost him his relationships with his wife and children. But in the end, he does what is right and finds consolation in the changes that have marked the tumultuous history to which he has had a front row seat.

About this Companion Guide

As an aid to reflection and prayer, the following companion explores some of the most important themes raised by Lee Daniels’ The Butler. It can be used for personal study, post-movie family conversation or larger discussion groups. Its aim is to help relate the moving story of Cecil Gaines to our own personal stories as we endeavor to live more authentic Christian lives.

Inspirational Words from Cast and Director

“Gloria is every woman. She represents every mother, wife, sister, friend and daughter who grew up when women were the silent backbone for everything and everybody. Women who sacrificed their dreams and desires for the greater good of family and children.” - Oprah Winfrey

“In all things related to my life, both personal and professional, I pray that God’s will be done. I believe this prayer has led me to a string of roles that have touched people the world over through inspirational stories that share a common theme: to educate the world about where we come from as African-Americans. In this way God has brought me to this story, which will further inform the world as to how we as a country can come to have a black President. I feel Lee’s depiction of Eugene Allen’s life in the fictional character of Cecil Gaines is so truthful, hopeful and inspirational that it will surely leave people with an awareness that there is a Higher Power who watches over us all.” - Cuba Gooding, Jr.

“I find people and what motivates them fascinating. With everything that separates us, we are all the children of God. It may seem strange, but not only do I pray for family, friends and complete strangers, but I also pray for the fictional characters in my films. They become real to me. Prayer is free and freeing, a powerful, awesome gift to give. With Lee Daniels’ The Butler I pray that the audience will receive my messages of hope, healing, guidance, forgiveness, peace, and the ultimate, love.” - Lee Daniels

“At the heart of Lee Daniels’ The Butler is a father/son story reminiscent of the Bible’s ‘Prodigal Son’ story. The butler’s son leaves home to chart his own course in reaction to the path his father has chosen. Though the two don’t see eye-to-eye over many decades, a love that transcends their ideals draws them back together in a way that only sacrificial love can.” - David Oyelowo

I N t rOduC t IONINsPIr AtIONAL wOrds

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Lee Daniels’ The Butler is the story of a good man struggling to be good in a violent and unjust world where not only the sins of others, but his own imperfections, require the help of grace to see him through. Cecil Gaines believes in God and his Son Jesus and trusts him, but, like Simon Peter, he requires the grace of God to grow and change. Cecil, like Simon Peter, is not a perfect man, but he is a man who tries to live out what the Christian tradition calls the “cardinal” or natural virtues. These are the virtues that anybody, Christian or non-Christian, can display. They are Prudence, Justice, Temperance and Fortitude. They lay the foundation for a good and virtuous life, just as the foundation of a house makes the house possible. But at the same time, just as the foundation alone does not make a house, so the cardinal virtues do not make a complete life. And so Cecil must experience the difficult grace of God calling him further down the path to happiness than he might otherwise go if left to himself. Like Peter, he has to confront what he is made of, repent, and change in order to find the happiness God desires for him.

So, for instance, Cecil displays prudence—the clear-headed awareness of what is going on and how to navigate reality wisely instead of foolishly. He uses that prudence to overcome the poverty and bigotry of his childhood and build a life for himself and his family. But at the same time, his prudence is not enough. His focus on trying to live by bread alone makes him deliberately blind to the evils his son Louis sees and tries to fight. He has to be

Jesus, himself, living in an oppressive society in which any Roman soldier could grab any passing Jew and force him to carry his gear, tells his followers, “But I say to you, Do not resist one who is evil. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also; and if anyone would sue you and take your coat, let him have your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles” (Matthew 5:39–41). Cecil often turns the other cheek, as did Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Freedom Riders in their non-violent acts of protest that touched the hearts of both John and Robert Kennedy. Can you think of someone you know who has turned the other cheek and found it liberating? Have you ever tried to turn the other cheek? How did things turn out?

One of the striking paradoxes of Cecil’s life at the White House is that the people discussing what to do about the rights of black people in America often seem not to notice he is there. Similarly, Cecil himself fails to notice his wife Gloria or pay attention to his sons as he gets caught up in his duties. As a result, she is tempted to have an affair and he becomes estranged from Louis. Have you ever felt unseen and unnoticed? What was that like and what did you do in response? Have you ever failed to notice somebody else who deserved attention? What are you going to do about it? Can you think of a time you took special care to notice somebody? What was the result?

challenged by his wife Gloria and Louis to courageously confront the injustices and evils he has avoided facing. In the end, he rises to the challenge—just as Peter did and as we must do.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION:

Cecil is born and raised in a world where he has virtually no power: a world in which all he loves can be capriciously destroyed at any moment by those who do hold power. In such a world, it would be easy to simply become consumed with bitterness. But Cecil rejects that choice and instead chooses to build a life for himself and his family. Have you ever been faced with a choice to forgive a grave evil done to you and receive the grace to take the path of life instead? What was that like? Has there ever been a time in your life where you needed to be forgiven for hurting somebody? What happened? In what ways is it prudent to choose mercy instead of retaliation?

P r u d e N C e

SCRIPTURE PASSAGES TO PONDER:Does not wisdom call, does not understanding raise her voice? On the heights beside the way, in the paths she takes her stand; beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud: “To you, O men, I call, and my cry is to the sons of men. O simple ones, learn prudence; O foolish men, pay attention. Hear, for I will speak noble things, and from my lips will come what is right.”

(Proverbs 8:1–6) See also: Matthew 10:16; Matthew 5:43–45

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In many ways, Gloria and Louis are the voices of conscience and the virtue of justice in Lee Daniels’ The Butler. Everything in Cecil’s upbringing has taught him not to stick his neck out. That strategy works well for him to a degree.

But at the same time, his drive to make sure bread is on the table and a roof is over his family’s head tends to blind him to the injustice he and his people endure. Gloria more and more insistently becomes a force to resist that. She and son Louis express concern over the murder of a 14-year-old boy named Emmett Till and later Louis follows her lead, not Cecil’s, and becomes involved in the growing Civil Rights Movement. Gloria’s frustration over the personal injustice done to her by Cecil’s neglect results in her being tempted to have an affair. But that same sense of justice will compel her to remain faithful to Cecil. She reminds Cecil of his duty of justice to his people and to her. In the same way, Gloria’s sense of justice will also intercede on Cecil’s behalf when Louis, frustrated at his father’s slowness to embrace the Civil Rights Movement, speaks contemptuously of Cecil as a mere butler and lackey. She forcefully reminds Louis that everything he has is due to Cecil’s dedicated efforts.


Gloria’s virtue of justice is the catalyst that motivates Louis to care about the Civil Rights Movement and that calls Cecil beyond mere prudence. Have you ever been so focused on the things of this world that you forgot your duty to higher matters? Have you ever had to struggle with somebody who neglected you while you tried to maintain your faithfulness to them? Have you ever been caught in a conflict between two people you care about? How did it play out and get resolved?

Gloria is tempted to commit an injustice against Cecil by having an affair, but her sense of Justice calls her back to faithfulness. Have you ever been tempted to seek emotional consolation in some destructive way? How did you fight the temptation? Can you think of a marriage you have seen that has been tested by such strains and come through the challenge stronger, as Cecil and Gloria’s marriage does?

Louis and Cecil often sit in judgment of each other and treat each other unjustly as a result, while Gloria acts as a just mediator between them. Have you ever judged somebody or been judged? Can you relate a particular instance when this took place? How do you make the distinction between prudently weighing somebody’s actions and sitting in judgment of them as a person? Have you ever seen somebody reconcile with a victim of his or her unjust judgment? Have you ever, like Gloria, stood between two fighting people you love and tried to help them see each other as you see them? What happened?

J u s t I C e

SCRIPTURE PASSAGES TO PONDER:He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)

See also: Matthew 4:3–4; Isaiah 61:8

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Temperance is a misunderstood virtue in our culture. It means far more than merely moderation in drinking. Temperance is the understanding of how to rightly use the goods of this world. The Gaines family, as well as the world around them, struggles with temperance in various ways and learns the balance necessary to live temperately. For instance, Cecil is intemperate with his workaholic ways and neglects Gloria as a result. Gloria is intemperate in her use of alcohol and tobacco and often uses it to assuage her pain in moments of loneliness or crisis. But she eventually overcomes this and learns to avoid using these things as a way of coping just as Cecil learns to bring his attention to Gloria back into balance. And Louis too learns temperance of his anger as he confronts the danger of an increasingly radicalized Black Panther movement that is succumbing to the allure of violence as a way of trying to achieve their goals. He learns the importance of seeking justice by good rather than evil means.

At the same time, Cecil also learns the paradox that there can be a kind of false temperance in which he ignores his conscience and its demands for justice by his acquiescence to grave evil. True temperance involves not being a doormat and denying one’s God-given dignity as a person made in the image of God, but freely laying down one’s life in love, not servility. Both Cecil and his son come full circle as they reconcile and forgive one another, joining their voices to oppose the same injustices of South African apartheid that mirror the injustices they themselves experienced.


Temperance involves the right use of the goods of this world. It involves the recognition of balance, but also the recognition that all creatures are gifts of God that must be rightly ordered, not only in relation to each other (so, for instance, one’s wife and children are more important than one’s car), but also in relation to God. Learning that balance and those priorities is difficult and Cecil has to struggle to do it. Have you ever found yourself having difficulty knowing how to prioritize your loves and duties? What did you do? When have you seen somebody make choices that reflected rightly ordered priorities? When have you seen somebody place their love of God above the love of all his creatures and gifts? How did it make you feel?

Gloria is tempted to intemperance with both sex and alcohol, Cecil by the desire for safety, Louis by desire for power to right wrong. Throughout history, people have typically been tempted to intemperance in the pursuit of power, pleasure, money and/or fame. What steps do you see Jesus take to resist temptations to intemperate pursuit of these things in Matthew 4:1–11 and Luke 4:1–13? Where do you see places in your life where you are prone to weakness in temperance?

SCRIPTURE PASSAGES TO PONDER:Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well. (Matthew 6:31–33) See also: Philippians 4:11–13; 1 Timothy 6:6–8

t e M P e r A N C e

As members of the Body of Christ, we can build one another up with our gifts or tear one another down. C.S. Lewis notes that “opposite evils, so far from balancing, aggravate one another.” But in contrast, Paul says “But God has so composed the body… that there may be no discord in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another” (1 Corinthians 12:24–25). Likewise, Proverbs 27:17 remarks “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” Cecil and Louis sharpen each other, sometimes painfully, but ultimately they each become better people. Do you have somebody who sharpens you or who you sharpen? What is the relationship like? Who builds you up? Who do you build up? How? How do they help you find your priorities and put the kingdom of heaven first?

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Fortitude is what we commonly mean by “guts.” It is the courage to do the thing that needs to be done. It’s easy for us to think of fortitude only in terms of extreme situations such as storming the beaches at Normandy or running into a burning building to save somebody. And, to be sure, sometimes that is the sort of fortitude a situation might require. But for most of us, fortitude consists of little acts of courage and endurance over a very long period of time. Cecil embodies that kind of fortitude in his willingness to endure the casual bigotry of his culture for the sake of building a better life for his family. Gloria embodies it by her resolution to resist her temptations to infidelity and addiction. Louis also embodies fortitude in his courageous willingness to risk death with the Freedom Riders and to courageously challenge the status quo. The central conflict of the Lee Daniels’ The Butler is, in many ways, the failure of both men to see the particular kind of fortitude the other embodies. And the central image of fortitude that stands between them is Gloria, who holds the family together and courageously calls them to reconciliation while caught between their mutual hostility. Louis, in his youth, sees his father as a coward and is blind to the fact that, as his mother tells him, everything he is and everything he has is due to his father’s long efforts to build a life for them in a world hostile to them. Meanwhile, Cecil fails to see Louis’ fortitude in standing for what he believes is right. Healing comes for them both when they recognize the different ways in which they have courageously endured hardship for the sake of what they believed to be right.


Cecil has lived a life of quiet fortitude, putting bread on the table for his family and enduring a life in which every day he is reminded of being a second-class citizen. Have you ever known a “quiet hero” who lives a life of service to others and goes

unheralded for it? What were they like? Do you have any quiet heroes on your life? How might you go about better recognizing their sacrifices for others?

In a very powerful moment, Gloria tells Cecil that after their younger son was killed in Vietnam, Louis came to the house and found her passed out from drink and lying in her own filth. Like Cecil, Louis (quietly and without expectation of reward) cleans her up, puts her to bed and tells her she is the greatest mother in the world. It is a sheer act of courageous grace that looks past her weakness and builds up her strength without any thought of reward. Have you ever had a moment when you used your strength to build courage and fortitude in the heart of a person struggling with weakness? Has someone ever done that for you? What effect did that expression of love have on you?

Cecil and Louis finally come to recognize the courage and fortitude each has displayed in his own way. They are reconciled and Louis takes on the responsibility of family life like his father even as Cecil takes a more pro-active role like his son in, for instance, challenging the unequal pay between white and black staff at the White House. Have you ever experienced a moment of reconciliation with someone in whom you discovered something in common with that person? What was that like? Sometimes forgiveness and burying old grudges can take more courage than taming a lion. Have you ever struggled to summon the courage to say you were sorry or to forgive an old enemy? What happened?

SCRIPTURE PASSAGES TO PONDER:I can do all things in him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)

See also: Luke 18:21–22; Joshua 1:9

F O r t I t u d e

FINALTHEBUTLER_GUIDE.indd

i n s p i r e d b y a t r u e s t o r y

one quiet voicecan ignite

a revolution

forest whitakeroprah winfrey

john cusackjane fonda

cuba gooding, jr.terrence howard

lenny kravitzjames marsdendavid oyelowo

vanessa redgravealan rickmanliev schreiberrobin williams

clarence williams iii

AUGUST 16

grOuP sALes

This guiDe was creaTeD By aLLieD FaiTh & FamiLy.To get FREE copies for your church or organization, please email [email protected].

The Weinstein Company and the filmmakers of Lee Daniels’ The Butler want to offer you an exclusive opportunity to see the film before it opens in theaters nationwide on August 16.

Special group discounts are available for you to bring your friends, family, congregation, small groups, employees and colleagues to a theater before its official release.

Don’t miss out on this exciting opportunity! If you are interested in group tickets, please contact Jackie Papier at [email protected] or (310) 488-6003.

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