“The Help”

Movie poster for the book by Kathryn Stockett

The book was published in 2009, and the movie was released this August.  If Priscille had not read the hardback, I might never have gotten to see its dramatization in the theatre.  It seemed like a good afternoon to get out and to take in a movie:  I asked Pris if the book was good and, when she responded “Yes, it was,” I suggested that we go see the movie.  

We drove into the parking lot of the Reading Cinemas in Manville for the 4:00 pm showing.  (It’s also playing at the Bridgewater Commons Mall.)  

Set in the Mississippi of the 1960’s, this is a movie about the hard core remnants of slavery – the lingering effects of segregation in the south – before the passage of the Civil Rights Act during the Johnson Administration. 

However, it is not a broad brush view of the topic, but a highly targeted treatment of the demeaning impact upon African-American women working as domestic help in the private homes of the privileged, and of how these women were marginalized.

It is a drama dominated by the lives of people thrust into their roles by circumstances, and of how a young college graduate comes home to find herself very uncomfortable with the culture of the times, and of how she decides to do something about it when she joins hands with one of the African-American domestic ‘help’.

The acting of Emma Stone who plays the role of the college grad, and that of Viola Davis who plays the role of one of “The Help” merge into a very compelling depiction which powerfully reflects the harsh realities of those years in American life.

Men play a secondary supporting role in this screen play.  The underlying theme revolves around the difficult interaction between women living under very different conditions, yet in close social proximity to one another on a day-to-day basis.

It is a story of pain and solace, one which I highly recommend.  In the end, some difficulties are solved; others are not.

Thanks for reading.