Post by StevePulaski on Aug 11, 2011 13:50:45 GMT -5
Emma Stone and Viola Davis.
Rating: ★★★½
The Help depicts a brutally honest time in American history where whites were superior and the blacks were inferior. Right around the Jim Crow era where the typical white family lived in a sizable house, with kids, and some of the richer families had a black maid to look after the kid(s). The black maid was forced to drop everything in her home life to cater to the, sometimes cruel, white family. They were expected to be fast, friendly, and honest. They were the help.
The film is based on the novel by Kathryn Stockett, who was raised by a black woman because her mother was working a lot of the time. The Help shows how some maids became the mother of the child, and at some point, they were even called "mom." Reminds me of a Hank Williams song My Son Called Another Man Daddy. Only difference is the mothers in this didn't seem to mind the maid being called the mother. They were too busy to notice.
The story is about two African American maids named Aibileen (Davis), a middle-aged woman who has been taking care of white kids for nearly her entire life and just lost her son. And Minny (Spencer), the mouth of the two with an abusive husband, but a great sense of humor. She provides much of the comic relief to this story.
Jackson, Mississippi, the town of the film, bribes blacks of their freedom of speech and their rights. They literally have no say in anything. A woman was beaten for going down to vote, and some have even been killed. Brave aspiring-journalist Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan (Stone) has just been hired by the Jackson Journal newspaper, and is set to write an article, which turns into a novel, with the help serving as the voice of the book. Skeeter wants people to know that these humans have their own lives, but spend their time taking care of other children, being forced to work under whatever circumstances and limitations they have, while being the subject to verbal abuse by their employers and racial segregation in the household.
To the whites, the blacks might as well be mannequins that can do work. The don't care about their feelings or their opinions just as long as they work efficiently and clean up after themselves. The characters, on the other hand, are introduced at hyper-speed, but the story cleans up after itself and takes time to introduce them one by one, giving proper and worthy character development to each.
Emma Stone is charismatic, while the maids are hilarious in portions of the film as well. Even in the films darkest hour, it manages to keep a sunny disposition and not get bogged down by painful scenes and a depressing feel. Sure the end credits to leave room for some tears, but scattered scenes across the movie brought the audience I was accompanied with to cheers, screams, laughter, clapping, and sadness, it's all realistic and honest.
To wrap up the summer, The Help is a gem. A break from all the comedy, romance, and talking animals. It's sure to be overlooked by a younger audience, when it shouldn't. This is an important film, that needs to be seen by many. It's good things like this come out, reminding the public of the past. Those who don't know history are likely to repeat it, and we need films like The Help to prevent that. No one likes repetition. Especially in reality.
Starring: Emma Stone, Bryce Dallas Howard, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Mike Vogel, Allison Janney, and Chris Lowell. Directed by: Tate Taylor.