( CNN ) -- Viola Davis got a nod for best actress from the Academy this year for her role as Aibileen Clark in `` The Help , '' and she must win , despite the controversy about the movie and the role she plays in it . If you believe what you read on blogs , black women long to be represented on screens large and small as rounded , complex characters , rather than wise , downtrodden burden-bearers and hot-blooded angry sex machines . Some say they want more black people telling black stories , which would be reasonable , if it were true . I have been black a long time , and I can tell you that black folks are a persnickety lot . To get consensus , things have to be done The Right Way -- but there 's no consensus on what that looks like . However , we seem to know what it is not . Lee Daniels ' `` Monster 's Ball '' and `` Precious '' contained the wrong message ( white people saving black people ) and `` For Colored Girls '' was tainted by Tyler Perry , a gifted director and storyteller given to more commercial fare , whom some saw as the wrong messenger . The Popes of Blackness rarely agree on anything . One thing is certain -- Davis takes on a difficult role and breathes life into a hero who is inspiring , enraging , familiar and extraordinary . It is odious that the nominating committee gravitates to black people playing into conventional stereotypes . Nevertheless , that is not Viola Davis ' fault . Given the state of the union , I think most any actor would be lucky to get work as a tree , forget about the layered role of a conflicted domestic in America 's civil rights-era South . It is an incredible part , and Davis nails it . Not everyone is happy about that . You may recall that back when the film was released in theaters , the aforementioned Popes espoused their disgust for a black woman acting as a domestic , which naturally made white audiences curious , turning both the movie and the novel it was based on into something of a sensation . I 'm not sure why white folks loved `` The Help '' so much -- maybe because many of them grew up with an Aibileen of their own . Films outside the comfort zone of mainstream black audiences seem to attract mainstream patronage en masse . Not that it matters , but from `` Birth of a Nation '' to `` The Color Purple '' and `` Glory , '' black outrage often translates to box-office gold . Maybe mainstream audiences are more willing to confront difficult stories objectively , as opposed to bringing all their discontent and political baggage and such while shouting expletives at the movie screen . I do n't know what some black folks want from a film -- the Hollywood machine is an ugly marriage of art and business , propaganda and entertainment . People going to the cineplex in search of edification or some ethereal , cathartic moment of spiritual actualization should be in school or church -- because they expect more than they reasonably should from a movie . Author Kathryn Stockett once referred to her novel as `` civil rights fiction , '' which sounds more like bad PR coaching than a claim to take too seriously . The film , like the novel , is not about civil rights -- it is about prejudice , privilege and the price of dignity . It is about the things you learn about people when you step out of your comfort zone . The actress Octavia Spencer does her part , but Viola Davis carries this film on her back . Some may be discouraged to see a black woman get an Oscar nod for playing a house cleaner -- never mind that women in their 40s of every stripe are having a hard time everywhere in Hollywood . Viola Davis is a gifted actor -- smokin ' hot ! -- but not buxom , biracial or conventionally beautiful . She already has a truckload of Tony and other theater awards , just got a SAG award , and works steadily . Her nomination pushes an opening door even further , soliciting an appreciation for the beauty of dark skin , full eyes and lips , and a new beauty aesthetic for Hollywood to consider . `` The Help '' is decried for being a work of white liberal guilt porn , schmaltzy and sentimental -- which it is . But so what ? There are flaws in the film , but Viola Davis is not one of them . Join the conversation on Facebook . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of jimi izrael .
Viola Davis is nominated for an Oscar ; jimi izrael says she must win . Comment: He says Davis ' role might be stereotypical , but she breathes life into it , makes it extraordinary . izrael : Some may complain , but Davis may be opening the door wider for blacks in movies .