Londonderry News

This is a repost, because the movie was nominated for several Oscars, including Best Picture. This begins our annual winter series of reviews of Oscar nominated movies, to be continued with new reviews in the weeks to come.

“The Help”, based on a book by the same name, is set in 1960’s Jackson, Mississippi.  The upper class side of Jackson, to be exact.  We’re introduced to Skeeter, a 23 year old college graduate who just got a start-up job as a newspaper columnist, writing about housekeeping advice.  All of the girls Skeeter knows are married and have babies, but they don’t raise them themselves, just as they were not raised by their own mothers.  They were all raised by black maids rather than their own mothers, maids who also cleaned and cooked, for less than minimum wage.

This story is told both through the eyes of Skeeter – who out of all the white characters is one of the few who isn’t racist – and also through the eyes of Aibileen (Viola Davis) and Minny (Octavia Spencer), maids in the houses of Skeeter’s friends.  Skeeter’s family has a maid as well.  It’s apparent from the start that Skeeter doesn’t have the same feelings about the help (as everybody calls their maids) as everyone else does.  She doesn’t appreciate the efforts of her peers to have legislation passed to make it so any white home employing a black woman to provide a separate bathroom because it’s not proper for her to use the one in the house.  Skeeter decides to write a book from the perspective of the help (a dangerous thing to do for everyone involved, not to mention being against the law), and begins to interview all of the maids in town.

It’s never clear why Skeeter is sympathetic to the hardships these women had to go through on a day to day basis; that is one of the few flaws this movie had.  The few white characters who weren’t racist didn’t have any obvious motives as to why.  I found myself wondering how these few people could see what every other character couldn’t; I’d have liked a bit more background on that, but I suppose it is probably in the book.

Skeeter’s book is only one portion of the movie’s plot.  Minny has a side story about a new family she works for, the only other two white people in the movie who treat the black characters equally, but again without an obvious motive. I realize that they shouldn’t need one, but I just needed a reason why these people weren’t acting the same way as what was considered normal in that time period.  The scenes Minny and her new employer Celia share are some of the funnier ones in the movie.  There is also of course, Aibileen, who’s got a story of her own, and who narrates the movie.  Both of these characters are acted wonderfully, helped by the writing.  Those two women, and Skeeter, are the most well written and well acted of the characters.  Skeeter is played by Emma Stone, who never ceases to amaze and delight.

I could tell that this movie was based on a book because there were some portions that weren’t as fleshed out as others.  I’ve heard nothing but good things about the book and intend to read it myself, and I would recommend it to all of you if you go and see this movie.  I have to say that both my dad and I thought this movie was rather difficult to watch at times; it’s incredibly sad to be reminded how we once treated other humans, or still do in parts of the world.  If you see it, remember that this took place within the lifetimes of people we know, or are (something I was rather shocked to remember).  We may have come a long way since it happened, but we still have a ways to go.  Anyway, this movie was worth seeing, and I’d say it’s one of the best I saw this summer.

My Londonderry NH net rating, 3 seeds.  

Images The Help a Dreamworks Pictures (c) courtesy

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