The Help (Dreamworks/Disney)
Rated PG-13 for thematic material.
Starring Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Emma Stone, Bryce Dallas Howard, Mike Vogel, Allison Janney, Chris Lowell, Jessica Chastain, Sissy Spacek, Ahna O'Reilly, Brian Kerwin, Leslie Jordan, Dana Ivey, Cicely Tyson, Anna Camp.
Written by Tate Taylor, based on the novel by Kathryn Stockett.
Directed by Tate Taylor.
GRADE: A
REVIEW
The fact that segregation was around when I was born sometimes escapes me. It's true that when I was born, blacks were considered second-class citizens in many parts of the deep south, where "Jim Crow" laws governed where people could associate, eat and even urinate. We've come a long way in terms of government-mandated segregation in my lifetime, and still have a way to go with regards to racism. The early 1960s is the backdrop for The Help, the film adaptation of Katheryn Stockett's novel about the secret lives of housemaids and the children they raised during the last years of segregation in 1960s Mississippi.
Emma Stone stars as Eugenia ("Skeeter"), a young college graduate raised on a cotton plantation near Jackson, Mississippi. When she returns home from college, she discovers that the family's domestic maid Constantine (Cicely Tyson) is no longer there, supposedly because she'd quit. Skeeter gets a job writing a housekeeping advice column for the local paper, and rejoins the society of her old childhood friends. Most, if not all of Skeeter's friends are privileged white women who were raised by maids who worked for their parents, and have now inherited the same women as hired hands of their own, cleaning homes, cooking meals and caring for children, all for less then $100 per month.
Two of those maids are Abileen (Viola Davis) and Minny (Octavia Spencer), both of whom work for women who are more than happy to continue using them as hired help, but less than eager to accept them into white society. Minny's employer Hilly (Bryce Dallas Howard) is especially rigid in her segregationist ways, and goes so far as to monitor the sheets of toilet paper used in her own bathroom, for fear that a black woman might use the same toilet she does. Hilly, who lives with her mother (Sissy Spacek), even commissions new governmental standards that would require white employers to provide "separate but equal" toilet facilities for black domestics outside their homes. When Minny is caught by Hilly using the family bathroom, she is fired and can only find employment with Celia (Jessica Chastain), a woman cast out from Hilly's circle of friends, considered to be "white trash."
Meanwhile, Skeeter gets permission from Abileen's employer Miss Leefolt (Ahna O'Reilly) to consult with her on housekeeping advice. As she meets with Abileen, Skeeter sees first-hand how awful the maids are treated, and decides to write a book on their secret lives. Skeeter's motives are also born from the lost relationship she had with Constantine, who she saw as much more than hired help, but more of a mother that she adored. Skeeter's real mother (Allison Janney) loved Constantine as well, although she often chose to allow her to suffer to keep up appearances among her white friends.
As Skeeter meets in private with Abileen, she eventually convinces Minny to open up about her own abusive relationships with employers, and later more maids come forward to tell their stories as well. Skeeter turns a corner when she discovers what really happened to Constantine, and gets her tell-all book published. When the book is released, the white women of Jackson recognize some of their own embarrassing stories, but none more embarrassing than Miss Hilly's.
The Help is a wonderful film that captures the heartache and struggle of women subjected to some of the worst of times, from those who lived as domestic help and those who were willing to have the courage to change things. The ensemble cast is perfect, with great, Oscar-worthy performances from Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Jessica Chastain, Sissy Spacek, Cicely Tyson and Allison Janney. Two performances do stand out among the rest, including Octavia Spencer as Minny and Bryce Dallas Howard as the villainous Hilly. Both women steal the show and deserve all the honors they are sure to get.
The Help is a socially-relevant film that takes a hard look at a time not so long ago when people were judged solely by the color of their skin, and how difficult it was to have the courage to change that perception. The adapted script stayed true to Stockett's book, and allowed for moments of civil reflection, tragedy, and several light-hearted moments that bring down the house with laughter.
The great performances in The Help should not overshadow the historical fact that the civil rights movement was not specifically driven by the mistreatment of housekeepers, and that the battle over segregation was not pretty. The film is set in Mississippi, where civil right workers, black and white, lost their lives for the cause, and where lynchings, beatings and other violence were commonplace. While The Help offers a glimpse of such things, it should not be considered as an entirely accurate depiction of a time when the KKK ruled in secret, and would still be doing so, if not for pressure from the federal government.
Even so, The Help is perhaps one of the best films of the year, and is a beautiful reminder of how humanity and friendship can trump hate and ignorance.
