The Help

The Help was an emotional and heart wrenching movie about the way affluent people treated African American maids in the south.  Emma Stone plays Skeeter, who in her quest to become a great writer, wrestles to gain understanding and truth regarding the lives of help. She attempted not to rock the boat with her friends including Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard) but her quest for the truth leads her to become an outcast. She could not understand why the help was treated with disdain. Also, she identified there were secrets within her family regarding their maid, Constantine (Cicely Tyson). Skeeter enlists several maids including Aibileen (Viola Davis) and Minny (Octavia Spencer) to reveal their experiences with the families they served. During the process, she discovers the help was treated as if they were a piece of property. She empowered the maids to expose the injustices within their profession. As a result, the women became confident and took a stance against their employers, abuse, and their past. Also, Skeeter obtained the truth about Constantine. The love and bond the women shared triumphed and they were vindicated in a way that was not just physical but spiritual.    

Film critic, Jason McKiernan states, “Clearly, prejudice and subjugation were common threads during this period of ignorance in our country's history.” This may be true but the hidden prejudices were at the forefront of this film. Although the women were called maids, they were slaves to the wives. Truth be told, the wives were enslaved to a family image. They were so busy trying to portray a perfect life they lost themselves. However, one of the wives, Celia Foote (Jessica Chastain) was considered an outcast. She embraced Minny as not just a maid but a human being. The bond of respect improved their relationship and she became a great wife to her husband. The ultimate vindication was Minnie making a chocolate pie (filled with stool) and watching her former employer eat it. I don't recommend anyone to this but it made for good entertainment.

The overall design of the film was spectacular. Director, Tate Taylor felt it was very important to capture this moment in time. The color of the maid uniforms were a simple gray color, short balloon dresses, bouffant hairstyles, houses, and cars were a reflection of 1950’s and 60’s. However, there were a few mishaps. Emma Stone’s hairstyles and costumes were not reflective of the decade. She looked very contemporary for the time period portrayed in the movie.

Overall, I loved this film and will view it for sheer entertainment next time.