The Help

Few films have the power to make me cry. There are the rare ones out there that have made me misty, sometimes even managing to encourage a tear or two to roll down my cheek. There are also few films adapted from books I've read of which I've not been disappointed by the result, however small or great. A film's impact, however, becomes abundantly clear when the audience remains in their seats in poignant silence nearly ten minutes after the end credits have started rolling, so moved by what they've seen that they take that much time to reflect and/or regain their composure. This is the point at which film transcends it medium and becomes art. Laughter, tears, and catharsis - this was my experience seeing "The Help". Adapted from author Kathryn Stockett's mega best seller of the same name, "The Help" tells the story of the impenetrable and time-tested bonds between women and the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, setting it against the backdrop of the Civil Rights movement in the sweltering summer temperatures and racially-charged atmosphere of Jackson, Mississippi. Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan (Stone) is the film's central character, an Ole Miss graduate who instead of aspiring to marriage and children like all her friends before her dreams of making a name for herself as a journalist and author. Brought up in an era where African-American housemaids and field workers were commonplace (she was raised by a black housekeeper herself), Skeeter sets herself apart from the rest of Jackson's residents with her staunchly liberal views. Confounded and opposed to the treatment that friends and family bear upon the help, she is even more horrified when her best friend Hilly Holbrook (Howard) issues a "Household Sanitation Initiative", a proposal which strongly recommends that a separate bathroom for blacks be a requirement in every white home. Fed up with the unrelenting bias of nearly everyone around her, Skeeter embarks on a radical and risky project - to document the stories of black housemaids and share their viewpoints in the effort to open people's minds. Starting first with veteran housemaid Aibileen (Davis) and growing to more than 30 different women over time, Skeeter's book attempts to rip the blindfold of ignorance from everyone's eyes and spur a collapse in Jackson's longstanding racial divide. Written and directed for the screen by Tate Taylor, "The Help" serves as his directorial debut and considering the actors with whom he worked he had an easy time about it. The cast is superior - Emma Stone is golden as Skeeter, a less than stellar beauty who shines nonetheless with ambition and integrity, a woman who stubbornly pursues the truth while battling quietly with uncertainty. Octavia Spencer is uproarious as the feisty Minnie; Bryce Dallas Howard manages to incur all the intended hatred for the character of Hilly, her high nose and icy stare masterful; Jessica Chastain is delightful as the ditzy and buxom Celia Foote, her squeaky giggles, flirtatious prancing, and high, timid speech seeming to spring directly from Stockett's pages. It should serve as no surprise that Academy Award nominee Viola Davis gives the film's most arresting performance, able to detain a viewer's heart with one raw and penetrating look, one succinctly delivered line. The film's final scene is the most heartrending, Aibileen bidding both fond and hard-edged farewells alike as she walks down a long suburban road, one that serves as a symbol to the long road that many African-Americans have walked in their pursuit for equality. Bottom line: Though a few things have been changed for dramatic effect (a commonality for adaptations), "The Help" is a movie of which readers of Stockett's novel should be proud. Despite its obvious invitation to controversy, the film packs an emotional punch with its historical backdrop, stirring story and bravado performances. To all the women in the audience: be it a tissue or a shirt sleeve, you will find yourself at a loss for words and wiping away tears when all is said and done.

This movie is set in 1960s Jackson, Mississippi and tells the story of an aspiring young Southern journalist who wants to tell what it is like to work as a housemaid/domestic helper from the black woman's perspective. Skeeter, whose friends are busy spending their days in a privileged world of playing bridge, serving in the Junior League, and entertaining, wants nothing more than to gain experience as a writer so she can go to New York and work for a large publishing company. Skeeter's friends are married and living in their perfect world of owning the right house, in the right neighborhood, having babies, and depending on their black maids to do the work of raising their children, cleaning their homes, doing their shopping and cooking their meals. Skeeter doesn't date or have a boyfriend; her goal is to become a writer, which is an embarrassment to her mother, and scandalous to her friends. Despite the times, Skeeter has a deep sense of how wrong the blacks are treated and she is both liked and respected by those who work for her own family as well as those who work for her friends. This is not the case with the snobby Miss Hilly and Miss Elizabeth, who both view their maids as less than human because they are black. Miss Hilly draws up an initiative to require all households who employ black help to build a special toilet for them because "they carry different diseases from us". This was a time when blacks were prohibited from using the same public toilets as whites, and were also forbidden from drinking from the same water fountain, as well as many other discriminatory practices that made Mississippi such a shameful bastion of racial segregation and discrimination. Aibileen and Minnie are the two maids that work for Miss Elizabeth and Miss Hilly, and are best friends who share their personal sorrows with each other. After Miss Hilly catches Minnie in her bathroom during a violent thunderstorm that prevents her from going outside to use the toilet, she fires Minnie and spreads lies that will insure Minnie is unable to find employment anywhere else in town. Aibileen tells Minnie that Celia Foote, an outcast from Hilly's social circle, and the woman who is married to Hilly's past boyfriend, is looking for help. Minnie, desperate for a job to support her children, swallows her pride and goes to work for Celia. It turns out Celia lives in a huge old mansion that her husband's family have owned for generations. She is a simple and sweet girl raised on the wrong side of the tracks who wants nothing more than to find a place in the world her husband was born into. She accepts Minnie as an equal, something that immediately raises Minnie's suspicions because of the prevailing racial prejudices in the Deep South against blacks. Both of them being outcasts from the circle of the Miss Hilly's world, and with reputations that are tarnished by Miss Hilly, they forge a bond slowly that will benefit them both in unique ways. Aibileen is approached by Skeeter to tell what it is like to work as a maid and, although at first resistant to the idea, she reluctantly begins to open up about the things she has experienced over many years working in the homes of white women and raising their children. It is a dangerous thing for both Skeeter and Aibileen in the climate of racial prejudice that exists, and they must keep their project secret. Skeeter has promised that she will never use Aibileen's real name, nor her own as the writer, and encourages Aibileen to see if Minnie might be willing to also tell of her perspective as to what it has been like to work as a maid for white families. Minnie is bitter over what she has suffered at the hands of the cruel Hilly, and grudgingly agrees to share as long as her name isn't used. Before long their trust in Skeeter and the years of resentment they have felt over their treatment leads Aibileen and Minnie to give up the secrets of the white women of Jackson as Skeeter sympathetically listens and pens their stories for a book titled "The Help". Minnie's desire to get revenge on Hilly leads her to carry out an act she calls "the terrible awful", something that is so outrageous that she is ashamed to ever tell anyone what she has done. It also is hilarious, and Hilly's slightly senile and forgetful mother witnesses it and laughs uproariously at Minnie's revenge, but this leads Hilly to put her mother in a nursing home because she is afraid she will tell everyone in town what happened and make her the laughing stock of Jackson. Eventually when racial tensions and injustices, including the murder of Medgar Evers, lead to the brutal treatment of one of the maids in Jackson, it serves as the catalyst that encourages the other maids of Jackson to open up to Skeeter about the way they have been treated over the years while working for white families, and they agree to spill their secrets, some of which are terribly sad, some of which are bittersweet, some of which are hilarious, and some of which are damning for the white families. Minnie tells Aibileen about "the terrible awful" she did to Miss Hilly and each maid knows that they have "insurance" to protect them since Miss Hilly would never let anyone believe the stories are set in Jackson once they are published, because Minnie's story of "the terrible awful", which is included in the many stories that will come to be told in "The Help", would make Hilly the joke of Jackson if anyone ever knew what Minnie did to her. As their stories are written, Skeeter prepares to include her own story of Constantine, the black maid who raised her from infancy, and how Skeeter's mother betrayed the loyalty and love Constantine had for the Phelan family, especially for Skeeter. Once finished and sent off to the publishing house in New York, the manuscript is hastily published to coincide with Dr. Martin Luther King's march on Washington, something that will bring the civil rights movement to the forefront of America as the struggle for racial equality tears at the fabric of the Old South, revealing the humiliating treatment of blacks which has been kept largely untold in other parts of the country. Skeeter's book comes at a time ripe for the telling. Once it hits stores in Jackson, everyone is buying it and wondering where the stories were originated because they seem to divulge things that fit with events among Jackson's white families although no mention is made of the author (simply "anonymous") or the town where the stories took place. As more and more interest in the book develops, Hilly buys it and when she reads about "the terrible awful" she knows Skeeter has written the book, but she tells everyone the book can't possibly be about Jackson. She confronts Skeeter about the book but Skeeter stands her ground and tells Hilly she can't prove anything, and Hilly can't - unless she wants to make herself and every other white family in her social circle look bad and expose the secrets which they had assumed would always be safe in the climate of white superiority, where the lives of their black maids could be ruined for the slightest reason. Now everything has changed and the tables have turned! Finally, Celia Foote decides to make an appearance at the annual Christmas Junior League gala so she can tell Miss Hilly that she never stole away her old boyfriend, because she believes this is why Miss Hilly hates her and has deliberately excluded her from being in the Junior League and the circle of wealthy white women that form Hilly and Elizabeth's coterie of friends. Little does she realize that she is about to make herself look like a fool among the snobby women of Jackson, even though she is married to the influential son of an old monied family. She is also about to discover that she will never be accepted, even if she tries to tell Hilly of her innocence in Hilly's breakup with Johnny. Although it makes for a sad and yet funny scene, the wheels are set in motion for everything to change as the The Help's stories circulate among Jackson's citizens and expose the terrible secrets and the injustices toward blacks that have been buried in secrecy for so long Throughout the movie are moments of extreme hilarity and moments of great sadness as the story unfolds, but the ending is one that provides redemption for Skeeter, Aibileen, Minnie, and even Celia Foote. The strength and empowerment that comes to those who have never known anything but powerlessness is the redemption, and the beginning of hope for a better life in the changing times of the civil rights movement. Having grown up as a white child in the South during the time this story takes place, I remember so vividly how racial segregation was - the signs that separated the use of public facilities for blacks and whites, as well as a time when blacks were not allowed to ride anywhere except the back of buses. It is a time that is burned into my mind and makes me deeply ashamed of the degrading treatment blacks suffered at the hands of whites. Even as a child, I remember the downcast eyes and the role of subservience that defined how blacks were expected to behave in the presence of whites. There is no exaggeration in this book as to the black experience in the Deep South. The ending of the movie was so uplifting as I'm The Living Proof is sung by Mary J. Blige! It is simply a marvelous movie. I highly recommend it!

It isn't often that I reach the end of a book and want to read it again. I had seen this book in the bookstore for so long and never wanted to read about the perpetuation of segregation in Jackson, Mississippi in 1962. Yet, the preview of the movie adaptation of this book inspired me to pick it up, and I am so glad I did! We are quickly introduced to a group of young white women, Skeeter, Hilly, and Elizabeth, who have been friends since childhood, and two African-American women, Aibileen and Minnie who work as the women's "help." The book is told from the perspective of Aibileen, Minnie, and Skeeter, who just graduated from college and is attempting to figure out what to do with her life. As a woman, it is very difficult for her to obtain employment as anything other than a secretary, and her mother wants her only to be married and have a family. Skeeter is provided a unique opportunity to write and submit a book that a publishing company might publish. Determined to address the racial injustices around her, Skeeter enlists the help of Aibileen and Minnie to publish a collection of stories from them and other women about their experience as "the help." At times, the women's involvement with the book threatens their livelihood and their lives. But they are determined to continue. The racial tension in the town is described early on. A discussion among Skeeter's friends describes their fear of catching diseases from African-Americans by using the same toilet seat. To remedy this fear, Hilly, a domineering woman who fully supports segregation, suggests that her friend Elizabeth build a bathroom in her garage just for the help. When Elizabeth builds the toilet, Aibileen is forced to show her approval for it, though the author does an excellent job of portraying the utter humiliation she feels. Later in the book, I was shocked with the story of an African-American man who is beaten blind because he used a bathroom for whites only, even though there wasn't a sign that the toilet was segregated. The author does an excellent job of crafting voices for the women that are individual to them. While the book tackles a very serious subject, the story is full of humor and warmth that leaps off the pages. We also see how Aibileen does small things to teach the young girl she takes care of that all people are equal regardless of the color of their skin. Hilly is an antagonist we love to hate and in the end, she will get exactly what she deserves! At times the plot was a bit predictable. Take for example, the relationship between Skeeter and her boyfriend. We know his political father supports segregation and that Skeeter's book and opinions will not be tolerated by her boyfriend. Skeeter is also shunned from her organizations and loses her friends because her stance on desegregation is not understood. A funny part in the book is when Skeeter reluctantly includes Hilly's add for building toilets for the help in a monthly women's group newletter, and to show her opposition to the idea, she tells everyone to drop off any unwanted toilets on Hilly's front lawn. As you can imagine, Hilly is furious when there are dozens of old toilets in her yard! The process of writing the book and its ultimate publication has a deep and lasting effect on everyone involved with the project. The stories in Skeeter's book show how the women are not even paid minimum wage and are often mistreated. But there are other stories that show that the friendships forged between the white women and their help which were genuine and cherished. The publication of the book forces the white women to examine their help and themselves. Skeeter's generosity is displayed when she shares the compensation she receives for the book evenly with everyone who gave her a story for it. Ultimately, Skeeter is more self-assured, leaves for New York, single, and ready to take on the world. Aibileen takes over a column in the newspaper answering domestic questions, and Minnie finds the strength to leave an abusive husband. I would recommend this book to every woman I know. I don't think men would be as excited about the book's content, but anyone who enjoys historical fiction, a determined protagonist who challenges social norms, and humor in unlikely places will enjoy this book!

This movie was really good. I love a movie that makes you deep cry with little moments where you are rolling on the floor laughing. This movie did just that. I am not old enough to have been alive during this time. I've heard stories from my mom about how things were back then. My parents are both white. My mom had a friend at work who was black and male. She had asked if he could give her a ride home one day and he would not do it. He said it would not be safe. He was not referring to him being a male. My mom was very young and naive and did not realize there would be anything wrong. He was afraid to give her a ride because of how it would look and how people might treat my mom and worse him. When she told him that she did not care to be seen in a car with him, she did not realize that was not a luxury he did not have. She did not realize that just by accepting a ride from him that it could put him in danger even if she saw only a friend. I can't imagine living in a time like that and what it must have been like for both POC and the white people who could not do much to make change because they could be risking their own life and the lives of the black people just for being kind to them or accepting their kindness. I really loved the funny scenes in this movie. I actually laughed out loud more than once with some being belly rolls. The acting was suburb by every single actor and actress. I also think they made perfect casting decisions with this movie. Every role was played by the right person.

Although I didn't read Kathryn Stockett's The Help Deluxe Edition book, I found Tate Taylor's movie THE HELP very touching and entertaining. The movie does touch on racism in the south during the 60s, but it isn't necessarily about racism; the film is really a moving tribute to the real women who were the "help" by giving them a voice. In a nutshell, the movie is told through the words of "Aibileen Clark" (played by Viola Davis) as she tells her story to "Skeeter Phelan" (played by Emma Stone) who wants to become a reporter and finds the perfect angle to a story: getting the point-of-view from the perspective of the maids. Skeeter also gets stories from Aibileen's best friend, "Minny Jackson" (played brilliantly by Octavia Spencer), but it isn't just to get a job: Skeeter's own nanny/maid "Constantine" (played by Cicely Tyson) suddenly disappears without saying a word and leaves Skeeter with a broken heart and many unanswered questions. For those of us not born in the South, I think that it's not so unusual for white children to be brought up with black nannies. I have a friend who was born in the south and a black woman raised him, although he had both parents around, and in the special features, both Stockett and Taylor (director) grew up with black nannies. So it seems unusual to me, but perhaps it isn't that unusual at all. Anyway, the movie also touches on the friendships that happens between the women, regardless of color. I wouldn't go so far as to call it this generation's The Color Purple (Two-Disc Special Edition) , but there are shades of it. Remember, the movie (like TCP) is a snap shot of a time and place, and isn't meant to be a criticism or analysis of people but rather showing the human spirit as it is able to rise above the challenges of life. ***** SPECIAL FEATURES ****** "Making of The Help: From Friendship To Film" -- 23:25-minutes Featurette Interviews with the director, Tate Taylor, author of the book Kathryn Stockett, actors Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Emma Stone, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sissy Spacek and others, and private homeowner Jack Johnson whose house was used in the movie. This featurette explains the trajectory from idea to book to movie. Taylor, Spencer, and Stockett were friends before the book ever came about; Taylor and Spencer met in the 90s, and Taylor and Stockett grew up together, and the author explains why she got the idea to write the book. "In Their Own Words" -- 11:51-minutes Featurette Spencer and Taylor interview real women who were the "help" including the woman who raised Taylor. Deleted Scenes -- 09:36-minutes "play all" Five deleted scenes with an intro by Tate Taylor. Mary J. Blidge -- 05:09-minutes Music Video "The Living Proof" Digital Copy Of Movie -- not Ultra Violet Downloadable copy of the movie for either iTunes or Windows. I thought I should mention this since they are charging for the digital copy edition in the price of the 3-Disc Combo Set.

Great movie!!!

Great Movie. Highly Recommend.

After hearing about the incredible reviews that The Help was getting in theaters, I decided I should probably read the book then see the movie (which is what I usually do). First off, I LOVED the book! It has become one of my favorite books of all time. I loved how it is written in the POV of the three main characters, Aibileen, Minny and Skeeter. Such detail and so much history goes into the book of what really went on in Mississippi in the 1960s. Now on to the movie. Of course there were pieces left out of the book (which always happens...and I really don't like that), but in this case, it worked in a way because some of the scenes from the book were in different places in the movie which I thought worked rather well (i.e. Minny telling Skeeter & Aibileen about the "special pie" for Hilly before telling Celia). Other than that, I personally adored the movie. The actors are amazing and everyone fit their roles perfectly. Although I adore Meryl Streep, I really think that Viola Davis deserved the Oscar for her performance as Aibileen. She was just...I can't even put into words how incredible she was! She really brought the character to life and I just loved the way in which she narrated the movie. Until Doubt in 2008 I didn't really know who Viola Davis was; now she is up there as one of my favorite actresses! Octavia Spencer who plays Minny was GREAT! She truly deserved her Oscar for her role. When I was reading the book, I kept picturing her as Minny. I already knew that she played her in the movie, but it was just so easy to picture her in the book as well. She told the truth and didn't care who heard her! My favorite scene was definitely when she brought Hilly the pie...that special pie just for Hilly. I won't say any more just in case people have not seen the movie or read the book; but if/when you do, you will just burst out laughing! Emma Stone was brilliant as Skeeter (Eugenia). I had never really seen her in anything serious like this before. She has mainly been in comedies so at first when I heard she was in this movie, I will admit I was a little skeptical. I am so glad I was proven wrong. Emma portrays Skeeter to a "T" in my opinion. From her insanely curly hair to her charm to the way she would mouth off at Hilly or her mother at times was great. I do wish that we got to see a few more scenes of Skeeter and Stuart though. And I wish we got to see her telling him about the book instead of his reaction. But all in all, Emma gets an 'Easy A' (haha). Allison Janney...oh my goodness. I think that the role of Charlotte was made for her. She was really lovable at times and then you just wanted to yell at her (especially when you find out about Constantine). I do wish that there was more of a build up to Skeeter finding out about her mother's condition rather than it being known to her already, but I guess that's what you have to do in movies. Still, it was quite effective. Especially their talk towards the end. And then of course there is Bryce Dallas Howard. Oh Hilly. Bryce was simply brilliant in portraying the villainess here. She was just as sarcastic, rude, and stuck up as she was in the book. I do wish that there was a scene (I think there may have been but it was deleted) where she convinces Elizabeth (the woman Aibileen works for) to get an outdoor bathroom for Aibileen. However it was mentioned in another scene after the bathroom was put in. Bryce really sold the character here and really made you hate her. At times I forgot I was watching a movie! I cannot recall their names, but the two little girls who played Mae Mobley (or Baby Girl as Aibileen calls her) were terrific. They could not have been more than 3 years old when this movie was made and they were simply adorable. Like the title of my review, that is my favorite line she says with 'Aibee'. If you loved the book, chances are you will love the movie too. Of course the book has a lot more detail, but this is just a magical movie that is both dramatic and comedic at times and really tells the stories of what it was probably like for maids in the 1960s in the south.