"The Help" is a 2011 drama film directed by Tate Taylor and starring Emma Stone, Viola Davis, and Octavia Spencer. The film is based on the 2009 novel of the same name by Kathryn Stockett, and tells the story of a young white woman named Skeeter (Stone) who becomes friends with two African American maids, Aibileen (Davis) and Minny (Spencer), in Jackson, Mississippi during the early 1960s.
The film is set against the backdrop of the civil rights movement and focuses on the themes of racism and social justice. It tells the story of how Skeeter becomes determined to write a book about the experiences of the black maids in her community, and how Aibileen and Minny become involved in helping her with the project.
One of the standout performances in the film is Viola Davis as Aibileen, a maid who has spent her life caring for the children of white families. Davis gives a powerful and emotional performance as a woman who is tired of being treated as a second-class citizen, and who finds the courage to speak out against the injustice and discrimination she has faced throughout her life.
Another standout performance is Octavia Spencer as Minny, a maid who is known for her feisty and rebellious spirit. Spencer brings a sense of humor and heart to the role, and her performance is both funny and poignant.
The film also features a strong supporting cast, including Bryce Dallas Howard as Hilly Holbrook, a wealthy and entitled woman who is determined to maintain the racial divide in her community, and Allison Janney as Charlotte Phelan, Skeeter's mother.
Overall, "The Help" is a poignant and moving film that tackles difficult themes with sensitivity and grace. It is a powerful reminder of the importance of standing up for what is right and speaking out against injustice, and is a testament to the strength and resilience of the human spirit.
The Help movie review & film summary (2011)
The chauvinism they display toward their wives or girlfriends sets up a chain reaction where the white women take their own insecurities and inadequacies out on the black help. Stone is amazingly vivid, at once blurty and brainy, and villainess Howard lifts her nose and slits her eyes with aplomb. The Help is a broad southern melodrama that implicitly frames the push for racial equality as the tale of oppressed African-Americans who are given their voice by a lone white do-gooder. Of course, there are other African American housekeepers out there who bear witness to the everyday crisis of their lives. These negatives behind this stereotype tell more about the alignment with slavery and the notion that domestic workers were grateful and happy with their arrangement, which could no farther away from the truth. Aibileen has spent her life as a nanny, raising little white girls.
The Main Issues Represented In “The Help” Movie: [Essay Example], 830 words GradesFixer
While Skeeter eventually finishes her book, the consequences are grave for many of the domestic workers, including jail time for some, and loss of employment for others. How could you find out more about this part of history? We are happy for the two white women, and a third, but as the film ends it is still Jackson, Mississippi and Ross Barnett is still governor. There will be weeping. THE HELP is well done, with a well-structured plot line. Emma Stone plays the perky white woman, Eugenia Phelan, nicknamed Skeeter, who returns from college to find her wealthy family's maid — who essentially raised her — gone under mysterious circumstances and her friends married with kids and black maids of their own. This was not the case for Skeeter, a white educated women frustrated by the sexist expectations society has of her. We don't always go to the movies for searing truth, but more often for reassurance: Yes, racism is vile and cruel, but hey, not all white people are bad.
The film traces the journey of these unique women, their ups and downs, and fight for survival and against injustice. Celia doesn't listen to Minny's counsel, however, when she attends a big local charity event for, yes, Hungry African Children , and the event provides the movie's comic centerpiece. But as racial tensions intensify and her snooty friends reveal their true segregationist selves, Skeeter prevails on Aibileen to give her more than household cleaning tips. THE HELP clearly has a liberal worldview with mixed elements. Soon after, many other workers open up and tell their stories to Skeeter.
However, bitterness has crept into her soul since the death of her beloved son. As a result, the movie exists within an emotionally charged landscape sometimes too starkly black and white — there is no room for ambiguity at this table. Still, this is a good film, involving and wonderfully acted. Former Los Angeles Times film critic Betsy Sharkey is an award-winning entertainment journalist and bestselling author. For example, a recently discovered letter written by Civil Rights activist Rosa Parks indicates that she, like many black domestic workers, lived under the threat and sometimes the reality of sexual assault. Davis and Spencer have such luminous qualities that this becomes their stories, perhaps not entirely by design.
THE HELP has some positive Christian content and positive underlying themes of respecting women and exposing racism. And so the 'cakewalk of a job' soon turns into a not-so-easy-task for the aspiring author -- the whites can't take all that criticism. This is an actress who willingly lets her jaw drop and eyes roll, but in the most natural of ways. As seen in the movie and during the civil rights era, gospels such as We Shall Overcome. Director Tate Taylor has a dull, square style with too many close-ups — but the faces we get close to are great ones. With a name like Skeeter, you can expect this 22-year-old to be a rebel and troublemaker. As mentioned in the article, Rape is not uncommon for black women.
The Help Movie Review {3.5/5}: Critic Review of The Help by Times of India
I believe one of the Ten Commandments says something about not taking the Lord's name in vain. Instead they always expected more of their hard working maids. For the maids of Jackson, whether or not to participate in the book becomes the test. The film is a social human drama, which is all about the triumph of human spirit. The moms trusted the maids to raise their children, this was despite the fact that the blacks were considered dirty, disease—ridden and having less intelligence than the average white person during this time period.
And yes, don't forget the tissues. I don't see that; I only see the bad in the white race. Then the major "get them back" theme is extremely crude, in my opinion. Laughter, which is ladled on thick as gravy, proves to be the secret ingredient — turning what should be a feel-bad movie about those troubled times into a heart-warming surprise. She left the newsroom in 2015.
But then there's a price Skeeter's got to pay for the desired fame and fortune. What changes did you like? They're hard, unyielding, with no giveback, softening only for the neglected little girl in her care. Elizabeth Leefolt walks in and demands for the table to be set while Aibileen is clearly busy. This paragon of virtue even plans to reject the New York offer and stay in Jackson in solidarity with the maids until two of them tell her they want her to go. One of the key elements in this film is centered around the poor working conditions coloured women faced. Movie Reviews - 'The Help' - Emma Stone and Viola Davis star in the film adaption of Kathryn Stockett's best-selling novel about a white woman who sets out to tell the story of black domestic servants in 1960s Mississippi.
This is seen when Aibileen is trying to get Mae Mobley to use the restroom. The Help is the highest form of middlebrow. Viewed as an airbrushed, Dettol-heavy fairytale, however, it's rousingly effective. It lingers a tad too long on the Colored Only signs and Confederate flags. It focuses on the maids in Jackson, Mississippi who begin to speak out against the bad treatment they receive from their white female employers. Yet her eyes speak volumes about the pain and anger she feels. THE HELP has a liberal worldview with mixed elements.
The white men may rule the world but not their own households so they are deliberately marginalized here. Parents need to know that The Help is an emotionally intense adaptation of Kathryn Stockett's best-selling civil rights-era novel. In this film specifically the maids were making 95 cents an hour. Also, none of the white families have true Christian faith and are seen as hypocritical in their faith. I concede the novel and movie are heavy-handed. L et's clear those caveats out of the way first.
