Review of The Help (2011) by Outsidein — 09 Apr 2012

Sweet Black Angels.

Telling the story of the end of segregation in the American South through black maids in Jackson Miss. makes this film moving, personal and a tad superficial. Much has been made of the patronizing structure-a young white woman, Skeeter, leads the women to contribute to her book -showing the strong, stoic black women as incapable or unwilling to stand up for themselves. Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer give stand out performances as the maids, and wring all the audience sympathy you could imagine. Of course, given that this is a feminist tale, all the men are bastards or invisible, most of the women on the right side of the argument are brave and wonderful, and the women on the wrong side, poor deluded fools. Allison Janey -of West Wing fame- plays Skeeter's mother - the only 3D character in the piece, a genuinely confused character, and is a core part of the story of redemption.

This book and film is really about current US politics. The fight between right (Obama, the first Black President) and wrong (the same Southern fundamentalist racists we see today) is plain to the viewer, and like the historic 1960's battle, the audience is invited to support the right cause.

I liked the film despite its flaws, as I was on the right side of the argument then, and I still am. By the way, though I lived in NY in the sixties, I had a black maid when my mother went back to work in 1961. My own saint, Annabelle (who looked just like Minny) was fired in 1964 for stealing money after drinking a bottle of whiskey she pilfered from our house. I loved her anyway.