The Help: A Non-Review (No Spoilers)
Sunday, April 24, 2011 at 12:11PM This is weird for me to write. I haven’t read The Help, but I did see it. I’ve been asked not to write an official review as it doesn’t come out in theatres until August (what's written below contains limited details about the fllm and no specifics). But with the trailer already released and so many sites speculating on what The Film is, I’d be remiss not to address what people are talking about.
For those who don’t know the plot:
The Help is a 2009 novel by American author Kathryn Stockett. It is about African American maids working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi during the early 1960s.
The novel is told from the perspective of three characters: Aibileen Clark, a middle-aged African-American maid who has spent her life raising white children and who has recently lost her only son; Minny Jackson, an African-American maid whose offensive behavior towards her employers exacerbates her desperate need for work as well as her family's struggle with money; and Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan, a young white woman and recent college graduate who, after moving back home, discovers that a maid that she has known since childhood has mysteriously disappeared. The stories of the three women intertwine to explain how life in Jackson, Mississippi revolves around "the help"; yet they are always kept at a certain distance because of racial lines.
Let me jump to what you want to know: The Help is worth seeing. Yes, even though Viola Davis, one of the most talented actresses of our generation is playing a maid. (Cisley Tyson, one of the greatest actresses ever also appears in the film, and yes, she is a maid of the extraordinary broken English variety as well.) The idea of Black women playing maids on film (and too, being over-celebrated for such) draws some angst among Black folk for various reasons.
Over on Loop21.com Jamilah Lemieux broke it down:
There is so much that is uncomfortable surrounding the black domestic worker. We first took this work on during our enslavement and in many instances, it was a continuation of the relationships we had with whites on the plantation. We nurtured the children of others, while not having the resources to spend the same amount of time with our own. We endured undignified treatment and coddled employers who seemed largely unable or unwilling to complete basic adult tasks on their own. I give respect to the women who did this work with their heads held high, but this is the last place I want to go to for entertainment.
Lemieux also poignantly notes that Black people have seen this film in different incarnations a million times over:
I don’t need The Help after Gone With The Wind, Driving Miss Daisy, Corrina, Corrina, The Legend Of Bagger Vance, Gimmie A Break, Webster, Diff’Rent Strokes, Clara’s Heart, The Green Mile, Dangerous Minds, Houseguest, Bringing Down The House (never bought the ‘satire’ claims, btw), Freedom Writers, The Blind Side, The Secret Life Of Bees, Invictus …
Now that, that’s been said that, let me tell you why (in general) it’s worth seeing, despite the very valid reasons you may not want to given the occupations of the Black women depicted and that time in Black history. But in order to do that, I have to go back.
I was sitting in a staff meeting of senior editors once brainstorming about how we would address an anniversary of Roots: The Saga of an American Family, which led to a discussion of the film. I sat silently alert listening to my co-workers talk. Why? Because I’ve never seen it. It came out two years before I was born and in the more than thirty years since, I’ve not got around to viewing it. When I embarrassingly confessed that, I was met with blank stares. Finally someone in the room asked the obvious question which was, “How could you have never seen Roots?!”
Uh…
I asked Mum why she never sat me down and had me watch it as a kid, which seems to be a bonding/education ritual of sorts among Black families (my father isn’t the teachable moment via film type.) “Well, it’s so long… “ she began, before getting to the real reason. “Watching all that stuff just makes you angry,” she explained. Mum watched Roots during the initial airing of the ABC mini-series along with 130 million other people. “Do you know how hard it was to get up the next morning and go to work after that?” She couldn’t relive the process and too, she didn’t want to infuse me with that level of anger.
From graduation till ten-plus years later, Roots, a classic mini-series if ever there was one, just wasn’t on my horizon. But sitting in the movie theatre watching The Help, I thought about Roots along with Mum’s apprehension. There were points in The Help where I was just pissed at the stereotypes of Black women, the incredible, dignity-sucking, soul-defeating sacrifices women made just to earn a living, and the just plain ol’ ignorance of the white folk portrayed. I’ll skip the details of the film (since I was asked by its PR not to write about it), but let’s get to one of the driving plot points in the book: separate bathrooms for black domestics. Like it’s okay for a Black woman to cook all of your meals, and kiss up, cuddle on, nurture, and protect your kids (obviously better than you can), but she’s not good enough to, literally, sit on your toilet?! Like even white sh*t is superior to Black women’s?* (Oddly, there are two recent articles BY Black women on Black sites that seem to support this notion. Click Here and Here.)
Despite the fundamental angst The Help causes, it’s actually good film. (And I say that as a woman who didn’t read the book and went to the film expecting not to like it because of the premise.) If you take a deeper look at the cheery, chick-flick sheen of the commercial, you’ll find it’s more drama than comedy and it tackles the issues of race, racism, class, ignorance, hope, loyalty and revenge (The “terrible awful” committed by Minny is terribly awful… and hilarious) with a heavy dose of depth. And of course, Viola Davis (Aibileen) and Octavia Spencer (Minny) are amazing actresses.
The Help is also even-handed… or as even-handed as a movie based on a book by a white woman about Black people (one of which is currently suing the author) can be. In the long list of Magical Negro movies that Lemieux lists (add Ghost), I can’t recall any of the storylines (maybe The Secret Life of Bees) actually bothering to find out who the Black supporting characters are when they’re not suffering from an injustice imposed by White people or revolving in a White person’s orbit. The Help does; its Black heroines are as three dimensional as its White one.
And while, again, I haven’t read the book to know if it’s a change, the Black women really aren’t delivered from discrimination by a White savior, as is the common charge against the film. Skeeter is consistently rebuffed (her idea to write a book is technically against the law) and it’s not until the middle-class social circles present an idea so absurd (the toilets thing) that Aibileen seeks Skeeter out to say, “hey… that interview you mentioned? I’m in.” It’s done as much as opportunity for truth-telling and having a voice as it is a means of revenge on their employers (as heard in the commercial.) The rest of the domestics volunteer to tell their stories after another set of unforgivable circumstances occurs with one of their own. And they do so for the same core reason as Aibileen.
As with any film, depicting people of different colors, especially when it’s set in the South in the 1960s, there’s a justifiable and logical Black woman battle cry, “this is a another film about inequality and race!” And The Help is. But there’s also a whole ‘nother side of the film that’s speaks to the issues of being a woman of any color, almost anywhere at any recent time. The main White character went to college instead of seeking a husband, and with a degree in hand, her current dreams are more about career than the guy her friends keep trying to hook her up with. Umm… sound familiar? Also addressed are the issues of aging/ill parents, mothering, domestic violence, infertility, sisterhood (both functional and dysfunctional), upward mobility/ class, dismissive husbands, and control issues (largely displayed as White women seeking power over those they employ to make up for the power and respect they don’t get from the people that pay the bills.)
The Help is an imperfect, controversial film for the reasons I listed and certainly a few more. The version I watched was over two hours , which means it's going to get cut and hopefully it will lose some of the more "WTF?!" moments. But even if it goes out as is, give it a chance to win you over. If you can avoid solely getting caught up in the dimension of race (and a few stereotypes), you can find some enjoyment in a story about domestics... but only on the surface.
Discuss.
Reader Comments (32)
I loved the book. Every word from beginning to end. I'm most excited to see how they conceptualize the Terrible Awful as it is THE BEST MOMENT in the entire story. I didn't take offense to the book, perhaps because I am a fan of the written word. It happened. There are more people in this generation Y who don't know their "roots." I''ve been a teacher for 10 years now and in this day and age, the idea of Saturday morning cartoons are as ancient a history as these kids (of ALL backgrounds) understand. Maybe it would give them a reason to be more appreciative of how far we've actually come.
As an aside, I did have the parents who made me sit and watch Roots from beginning to end from the time I was 10 to the time I was 17. I was born 2 months after the movie first aired in January '77 and as a direct result, I got a decidedly more Afro-centric name. But that's another post, for another time:)
PS....If ever there needs to be a book recommendation, I HIGHLY suggest Perfect Peace by Daniel Black. Probably the best book I've read in all 34 of my years. And I am bibliophile to the 1000th degree. It's a good book to balance with your review of The Help.
I read The Help during a weekend where I was hiding from the world, and I literally could not put it down. I know others find it problematic, but I really enjoyed the story & the dichotomy between not only the individual characters, but also how this highlights the overall issues going on in America at the time.
Most likely I'll be going to see this film.
Thank you Belle. I have every intention of seeing 'The Help'. I read the book, which I loved. I also viewed Roots (Original and Next Generation) and a few of the movies listed above. What I didn't see was For Colored Girls and Precious, although I loved both books. I did not need another 'affirmation of our victimization' as my male friend put it, which many of the movies listed in your piece provide.
I've read some of the negative commentary on this film, from people I respect. I can appreciate the vigilance over our culture; I share the same concerns. This book didn't give me that at all. In fact, to me, the white women come off looking cartoonish in clip. Is there an outcry about that? The clip comes off with a different tone than I expected. Lighter. All said, If a movie or play is well written, well directed and well acted, I'll give it a shot. I don't know that I'd go to a theater, but I will see it.
As a black woman I feel our biggest cause for alarm is our deep lack of care and respect for self and one another.
P.S. Have you seen Roots yet? It's worth the anger because it will also fill you with immeasurable pride.
"The main White character went to college instead of seeking a husband, and with a degree in hand, her current dreams are more about career than the guy her friends keep trying to hook her up with. Umm… sound familiar? "
You beating a dead horse for single women/feminist and the destruction of our family structure it entailed?
yeah, real familiar.
Wow, that's the same reason I haven't gotten around to watching Roots, yet, either. Although, I believe Queen and Rosewood (I've seen those) will make you mad for a lifetime (I'm still not over those).
I love movies like these because it not only shows where we used to be and do but shows how far we've come and how far we still need to go. They are great teaching tool to younger generations who don't know anything about the past and what blacks in this country have been through other than the lessons they received 1 out of 12 months of the year on the same people. movies like this (a long walk home, pride, radio, mississippi burning, ruby bridges, etc) show not only how blacks were treated, but also how they fought back as best they could within a system that has never cared about them or looked at them as innately human. I see these movies and I see strong black men and women fighting, taking power back little by little. They show a contradiction between how whites saw blacks (the laziest people who don't do anything but want to have the same priveleges as whites) and how blacks saw themselves (strong, the backbone that white privelege was built on, deserving of the same treatment for all the things they've done for this country).
My problem is that as great of an actress that Viola Davis is, she has never been the lead character in any of her movies, always a supporting actress. That pisses me off. And she's not the only one.
I had a friend, who was driving me home, say that she wishes that she was an intellectual like me (whatever that means) but she couldn't take African American studies because those classes only make you angry. But what people don't understand is that Anger is a great emotion because if used in the right way can serve as motivation for change (within ourselves, our community, and our society). If you aren't angry, if you aren't outraged, if you aren't pissed the hell off at the treatment you receive, you won't see any reason to change anything. People continue to stay in unhealthy situations everyday because they aren't tired enough, aren't fed up enough to do something about it. These stories are always two-fold, they make you angry, but they also give you a sense of hope (that something can be done). But some only want to see the negative (that blacks play roles that no one else wants) but they don't see that even in these roles blacks still are strong, have pride, fight, and their skills shine through in roles like these, often making the movie greater than it would've been without them. You can hide a star in the bathroom cleaning toilets but you can't extinguish their light. you can only pretend it doesn't exist but for so long. looking forward to seeing this movie!
p.s, I didn't see roots either, was born in 87, and raised in the caribbean. but I read the book 2 years ago (all 800+ pages). it only made me angry when the kunta gave up running away. and one other part but i don't remember exactly.
My mom gave me "The Help" this past summer saying it would be a book that touched me in some way. And by the book's end I was moved to tears. I literally felt invested in the characters and could not put the book down. Although I understand the valid reservations of writers/critics who think the film is problematic, the story is an authentic one both historically and currently. When I moved to NYC I was shocked and a disheartened (to a degree) to see so many women of color caring for white children. Everyone shuffled around the city as if this was a way of life. And it is. Being from the South I saw this as problematic for obvious reasons. But it did make me wonder about the women caring for the children. Not only as domestic workers, but as women, human beings. With that said everyone I know who read the book AND saw the early premiere of the movie was put off by the film. So I'm not expecting much, but will go see it. I wonder if you read the book would this totally change your perspective of the movie?
I believe I have personal stock in seeing the film. My grandmother came to this country and worked as a domestic in the home of a family on Long Island for all of her working days. Growing up, I had no clue what Granny did for a living. Once I found out, I was outraged, and it angered me to know. I used to have adverse reactions to films listed in the post due to the many issues posed: specifically class and race in the human condition. I would love to say I no longer feel as I did...Granny, along with Granpa raised 12 children here and retired comfortably, still splitting their time in the US and back home with no shame (or at least none expressed to me). However, I still feel a way about seeing black women in the domestic service industry.
I plan to see this movie. The book, I'm unsure if I will take the time to read it.
I haven't read the book but I plan to see the film. It sounds interesting.
@Belle
Roots really isn't that bad. I've seen the whole thing and read the book. I first saw it as a very young child before I could understand history. It did give me nightmares (especially the part where Kunta was beat for not giving up his name and when the lady was forced to take off the white man's boots before he raped her), but once I watched it as an adult it wasn't that bad. The ending was great! I enjoyed it. I think every African American should see Roots at least once in their life.
1. I haven't seen the roots and I'm pretty sure my mom hasn't either. No perticular reason why though..maybe I should put that on my netflick que
2. I have never heard of this book, im anxious for the movie to come out now. I will try to read the book before I see the movie.
3. There is a movie called "Chance" from Panama that is very funny but touches slightly on some of the same points. Two maids hold their employers (the entire family) hostage. Check it out.
I cant with this blog anymore..or maybe it's some of the comments. We have a 24 year old being referred to as an intellectual and a friend "wishing" she was an intellectual like you..huh?!..talk about "blank stare"...maybe because i'm older, but at least from your comments you sound like a Belle Stan who constantly nods in agreement and TRIES to sound intelligent and analytical..there's a difference.."Wishing she was an intellectual like you" huh? LOL...I'm completely thrown by that so much that I cant even comment on the post..I just cant today.
correction, I'm 23. and I'm glad you find my comment so amusing that you decided to write a mini paragraph about my person instead of staying on topic. thank you for wasting 5 minutes of your life throwing shade my way. *smooches*
you muuuust read the book Belle!
Im sure the movie doesnt hold a torch to it!
it was so riveting in so many ways..I couldn't put it down!
The actress playing Minny is Octavia Spencer
Nope, likely won't see this film. After hearing and seeing this story played out a million times on the large screen, the small screen, and in real life, I refuse to pay for it anymore. I really dont understand why black people will gladly spend $ on crap like "The Blind Side" but refuse to spend a dime on a Tyler Perry film. Just doesn't make sense.
There isn't a marketing skill in the world that could trick me in to a seat to see this.
Oh, and as far as the Roots thing goes, its a must see. My mother made my brother and I watch the entire series one long-weekend. I was in the 2nd grade, being bussed from the inner city to the burbs for school. Seeing the movie made me very angry and it caused emotions I wasn't acurately able to describe at such a young age. I'll never see Roots again, and I don't think it should be shown to young children like myself, but I do agree that its a must see.
@ Ms. Niki-- I agree totally. If you're not willing to look at the world and get ANGRY, Passionately pissed about the injustice and BS you see in the world, then you might as well lay down and die.
@Domm - as painful as it may be this is a part of our history.we must embrace it and move on
The Help has no similarities to a tyler perry movie at all
I'll go see the movie because I read the book. The book was okay. Kind of slow at first, but was very good from middle to end. Not sure I would recommend it to someone though.
My Roots experience: Senior year, 1997, a white male teacher(old as dirt and a part of the Italian Mafia, or so he told us) and 30 students watching Roots for the entire first quarter in African American History with a worksheet here and there. Do I remember it, not particularly. The book The Help is a very good read and again, it is up to you to dissect and take from it what you need to whether reading critically or for pleasure. I am hoping (fingers crossed) that the film is as tastefully done as it possibly can be with such a delicate subject matter. We should all just get pissed and watch Mississippi Burning for good measure.
I wrote a comment earlier today and I don't know what happened to it. But I liked the book so much and have been eagerly awaiting this movie that I will write (the gist) over.
There were people (Black women, even!) who had never even heard of For Colored Girls, much less read the book or saw the play, who were very very critical and swore they would never see it. Can you really critique something you haven't seen? It's one thing not to have an interest in the genre. (I had no interest in seeing Avatar...at all). But you can't bash something you haven't watched or read.
I don't think Skeeter was trying to "save" anyone as much as she was trying to get an explanation for her own questions and then get their story out. She knew her book was not going to "save" them. Maybe put a little change in their pocket, if that, but not save them. If anything, it endangered them. So the White savior think doesn't stick to me here. But I haven't seen the movie so it might look like that there. The book is not just written in Skeeter's voice.
I hope the same thing doesn't happen with The Help. It takes a lot for a novel to hold my interest. I couldn't put this book down. The elder women in my family, in their 60's, 70's, and 80's, loved this book. They liked it because it was an accurate representation of life in the South (my family is from South Carolina) in the 60's. No, its not a happy and none of my aforementioned relatives worked as domestics but of course they knew plenty of women who did. They also couldn't get over the fact that the book was written by a White woman....that a White person could write about the South like that. I'm a lover of historical fiction but this was just a good story, period. I didn't like the end and I hope the end in the movie is a little different. It was one of the best books I've read in recent memory. Cane River is another one, and its author is Black. Which makes me wonder if The Help was written by a black woman if "we" would be more accepting of the story.
The trailer seems a little to happy for the book...the book was more melancholy. I'd rather have a Black lead character playing a maid than as the sidekick friend cracking jokes in a cast of white faces with 2 scenes in whole movie. A great actress can act anything out and I'd watch Viola Davis play a stop sign.
I've only seen bits and pieces of Roots. I don't think it would have as much of an impact on our generation as it did our parents because we have had plenty of other representations of slavery in movies and books.....I feel like I'm good, I know how it went down! But Roots was like a first for our parents.
Eh, maybe I'm the only one, but I was not impressed by the book. i gave 3 stars on Amazon because I honestly didn't feel the Black characters were three dimensional - AT ALL.
Because I'm lazy as all I get out, I'm just gonna copy what I wrote on Amazon lol.
"She barely managed to avoid a Mammy stereotype with Aibileen by giving her a more in depth story about her son, but I would have liked to see her more fleshed out - I mean, did Aibileen have a love life? What about her friendships? We're given all sorts of details about Skeeter and her life outside of the book, but Aibileen and Minny only scratched the surface and really, isn't this book supposed to be about them? Skeeter is only a vehicle, yet, she is the most thought out character in the novel. I guess I shouldn't say Skeeter is only a vehicle. It took a lot of courage to do something that would cost you your friendships and life as you know it. I won't deny that.
I just feel that Stockett fell into the same trap that most Southern white writers do - trying to write about the black perspective but end up really writing about how the white characters are changed and better for it, while we're left wondering about the black characters - what life do they have? How are they changed? What choices are left for them? How much did they lose? What did they gain? Just freedom? Right.
I was also a little upset over her only portrayal of a black husband was an abusive drinker - but I'm really appreciative of having a Civil Rights era story revolve around black women who didn't sit at lunch counters - but had the courage to continue to work in a hostile environment - women like my grandmothers.
That said, I couldn't put the book down - which says a lot about her writing. I became attached to the characters and I must say, this story makes me appreciate my grandmothers, great aunts, and older cousins that much more. I'm constantly amazed at how black folks were able to love, live and laugh in face of so much hostility, humiliation and despair. If I gained anything from this story, is that humans are resilient creatures - and thank God for it."
I'm gonna see the movie - if only to criticize it. I feel like it will be another Secret Life of Bees - I really don't see any difference between the two books.
I know that many of you don't want to revisit one of the most poignant, violent and controversial periods in our history, but sometimes we must remember to honor our past in order to have a future. We've got our education and some of us forget that many of these same women put their children through college from the wages they earned as domestic workers in the Segregated South and even in other parts of the USA. Their children opened the doors that we all now walk through and on their shoulders we now stand.
These same domestic workers in a collaborative effort shut down the transportation systems throughout the south to protest segregation. These same domestic workers financed the Civil Rights movement in many forms with their low wages without any type of recognition. I seriously doubt we could ever do anything in this day of that magnitude. We don't have to see or read the book, "The Help" but don't think that these women deserve shame for the jobs that had to take in order to provide for their children and maintain their homes.
Here's an interesting article definitely worth reading in The New York Times that pertains to maids->http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/24/theater/theresa-harris-a-black-actress-who-left-an-impression.html?_r=1&src=recg
My parents always taught us that regardless of the job, there's dignity in it and to be the best at what you do. These women didn't let their jobs define them as human beings regardless of the circumstances, they did what they had to do in order to survive.
so true @Dom
"I just feel that Stockett fell into the same trap that most Southern white writers do - trying to write about the black perspective but end up really writing about how the white characters are changed and better for it, while we're left wondering about the black characters"
@Sharla, do you think that it is possible for a white writer to ever fully write from a black perspective? I know a story can be written and well rounded if the writer looks at the black characters as human and writes it from a general human point of view. but to actually write it as though from the eyes of a black person? please let me know if I'm not making sense.
@Ms. Niki
That made perfect sense. You know, I go back and forth on whether an outsider can accurately write from another's perspective. I honestly don't know. I lean towards "no" because there are so many nuances - how could it ever be completely accurate?
I think my main issue with many white authors that write these types of stories, such as The Help and The Secret Life of Bees is not so much the accuracy in perspective, but the use of black folks as "spiritual enlightenment". And really, that's all this book is about. It's presented as if this story is about the maids but this is about Skeeter and white womanhood. The maids are simply a means for Skeeter to come into her by defying cultural norms.
So, that's my biggest complaint - not necessarily perspective but presentation. Don't present this as a story about black maids and their experiences when this is really a coming of age story. And yes, I know that those two themes can coexist - I just found one to be lacking in depth.
LOL, I know I rambled a bit and forgive me if I repeated myself - it's bedtime!