The landscape of media has changed for the better, but it still has problematic elements. Black actors made up only 11% of lead actors in films released from 2015 to 2019. We still see stereotypes showing up in film. We can look at the career of Octavia Spencer as an example. Spencer is an Oscar nominated actress, but she is no stranger to the modern equivalent of a “Mammy” role. Spencer has portrayed a maid, cleaner, or nurse 21 times. Her characters often exist to push forward to narrative of the white main character. However, certain roles have gone against this stereotype and allowed her characters their own narrative. In The Help, her character Minny is a lead in the movie, and the story does not attempt to create a romanticized relationship between her and the woman she works for, Hilly. Minny, in the later portions of the movie, stands up for herself against Hilly. Although she portrays a domestic servant in this movie, that may appear close to a Mammy figure, the character goes beyond this by having her own storyline.
Another occurrence of the Mammy figure is the Black best friend character. This character is not the lead character, but only shows up to support the white main character. They often make sacrifices for the white character, and sometimes do not have their own storylines. One example is Bonnie from The Vampire Diaries series. Although she has her own storylines, she constantly makes sacrifices for her best friend Elena, and her main role in the show is saving others. Another example is the High School Musical movie series, where Chad and Taylor are the Black best friends to Troy and Gabriella. They’re main roles in the movie are to be the comic relief and offer sassy lines, while also being supportive of their best friends.