Film Review: The Help

The Help directed by Tate Taylor (Dreamworks SKG, Reliance Entertainment, Participant Media, PG-13, 146 minutes)

Starring Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, and Jessica Chastain

Jackson, Mississippi 

I visited Jackson, Mississippi last year during my spring break. I took a group of students to a small, entirely African-American suburb nearby to sing in churches, schools, and community events.

We stayed in a town that was literally divided by train tracks, and if you were on one side of the tracks, you were living on the African-American side of town. I was blown away by the rampant racial inequality still not only surviving but surging, in this community outside of Jackson. I even had breakfast a few mornings at a place where biscuits, grits, and gravy were standard, and mistakenly made the social faux pas of sitting on the “black side” of the establishment, which both shocked and saddened me.

This experience rather reminded me of The Help.

A Book about Racism

Adapted from the book of the same title by Kathryn Stockett, the story is about African American maids working in Jackson, Mississippi during the early 1960s. Skeeter (Emma Stone), one of the main characters, decides to write a controversial book about racism in the perspective of the maids who work for white families.

Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis) and Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer) are the two black maids who decide to help Skeeter out with her project. They, understandingly, are reluctant to help at first, as they fear they will lose their jobs should they share the uncomfortable situations they’ve encountered. Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard), meanwhile, is petitioning for her “Home Help Sanitation Initiative” which proposes separate bathrooms for the help, as black folks carry “diseases” because of their skin pigment.

The Capitol in Jackson, MS

Continuing to write the story, Skeeter tries to publish the book quickly, as her publicist believes that the Civil Rights Movement will be a passing fad. So, she publishes it quickly, but only after Minny tells her the story of the “terrible awful” in which she bakes her former employer, Hilly Holbrook, a special pie, with some special ingredients.

Minny, meanwhile sought employment elsewhere, where Celia Foot (Jessica Chastain) desperately needs a housekeeper. Celia treats her well, and in a tear-inducing scene, actually treats “the help” to a dinner saying “you will always have a job with me”.

The film, and undoubtedly the novel (I haven’t read it, so I’m not sure), portrays something of southern Mississippian society that is still sadly partially present today. There is a racial inequality present, but one individual who chooses to speak up can actually change it all. Though things in Mississippi may not be anywhere close to perfect, there have been huge changes in the culture overall since the Civil Rights movement, and someone like Emma Stone could change it even more if they were to arise and be bold.

The movie portrays a great deal of hope, and deserves the Oscar nods it received: two for best supporting actress—for Olivia Spencer, and Jessica Chastain; one for best actress—for Viola Davis; and one for best picture. I think if you’re in the mood for a good convicting drama, you should check out The Help.

Verdict: 4 out of 5

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Posted by: Andrew Jacobson

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Book Review: To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (New York: Grand Central Publishing, 1960. 376 pp)

Born in 1926, Harper Lee is an author best known for her Pulitzer Prize winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Although this novel was her only published work, its longstanding success contributed to Lee winning the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Lee attended Huntingdon College for one year before attending the University of Alabama. In the wake of success, Lee has accepted numerous honorary degrees. She currently splits time between New York City and Monroeville, Alabama.

Just Because We Can Share the Same Water Fountain Doesn’t Mean We Are Sharing the Same Water Fountain

According to a recent New York Times project, North Seattle is predominantly white while South Seattle offers a multi-cultural dynamic. Why is it that 47 years after the “I Have a Dream” speech, a city as liberal as Seattle is still segregated? For most white citizens, the ideals of equality have taken deep roots yet family and daily routines insulate individuals from actively practicing such virtues. On the surface, humanity is created equal but heaven forbid that ethnicities interact!

In light of recent evidence, Harper Lee’s classic novel remains relevant. Set during the Great Depression in a small town of Maycomb, Alabama, To Kill a Mockingbird is narrated by the protagonist, Scout Finch. Living with her brother Jem and widowed father, Atticus – a lawyer of high esteem – the books narrates a story of innocence lost and racial relations in the Deep South.

Those Were the Days When Kids Actually Played Outside

Scout and Jem spend summer vacations utilizing the neighborhood as a playground with their friend, Dill. Lee brilliantly channels the mind of youth in her descriptions of these summers. Fascinated with their reclusive neighbor, Boo Radley, the children continually devise plans to see the man in his native habitat and concoct expansive stories about the source of his reclusive nature. Reading these sections reminded me of my youth and the fear of jumping a neighbor’s fence to retrieve baseballs. With innocent minds, the most miniscule task could be infinitely dreadful, and dangerous actions seemed commonplace and of no need for worry.

Lee summarizes the children’s age of innocence well when she writes,

“For reasons unfathomable to the most experienced prophets of Maycomb County, autumn turned to winter that year. We had two weeks of the coldest weather since 1885, Atticus said. Mr. Avery said it was written on the Rosetta Stone that when children disobeyed their parents, smoked cigarettes and made war on each other, the seasons would change: Jem and I were burdened with the guilt of contributing to the aberrations of nature, thereby causing unhappiness to our neighbors and discomfort to ourselves” (85).

Racial Injustice

In the same season, the court appoints Atticus to defend Tom Robinson, an African-American man accused of raping a white woman from an abusive family not popular with many folks in Maycomb. In the racially segregated South, such actions became the talk of the town and eventually spilled over to the lives of Jem and Scout.

As the plot unfolds, themes of prejudice and injustice threaten to fracture the children’s innocence.

Throughout the story, the moral compass of Atticus Finch provides a beacon for his children. Despite the misgivings of the townspeople, Atticus not only educates his children on the importance of racial equality, he also allows his children to live out these ideals when they visit African-American churches and communities.

Incarnational Living

In an era ripe with continued underlying segregation, To Kill a Mockingbird reminds us of the importance of incarnationally engaging in relationships with all cultures. Despite the fact that the grievous injustices represented in the book no longer exist, the insulated, mono-cultured lives of most individuals reinforce the idea that other cultures ought to remain other.

How should someone engage with other cultures? Should people of one culture move into the neighborhoods typically dwelt by other cultures? Should people serve or work in multi-cultured organizations? While I am unaware of the perfect answer to that question, I realize it is important to do something.

To Kill a Mockingbird is a classic work worth every ounce of the label “masterpiece.” I am truly grateful to have read it at an older age because I believe I gleaned more from it now than I would have understood as a teenager. For those who have yet to read this book, please read it soon.