Set in Jackson, Mississippi, in the early 1960s, The Help chronicles the writing of a book meant to tell the stories of African-American domestics working in the homes of whites. Based on a popular novel, The Help follows three white women (Emma Stone as the writer, Bryce Dallas Howard as the casually racist socialite, and Jessica Chastain as a woman from the lower class who married up) and two domestics (Viola Davis as the experienced, quiet maid and Octavia Spencer as the more assertive cook). As the domestics help Stone write the book, the tension in town rises along with major national events such as the murder of Medgar Evers and the assassination of John Kennedy. The book is eventually published and has significant effects on life in Jackson.
Many of the performers, including all of the above mentioned women, are excellent in the film, and the civil rights era South has never looked more handsome (although I understand that the photography underwent significant digital enhancement). The men in the film fade into the background with the African-American males portrayed as preachers or domestic abusers and the Caucasian men portrayed as largely subservient to their wives. The heroes and villains are pretty well spelled out and most of the African-American women are portrayed in a completely positive light. This costs them depth of character and it is only the actresses’ fine efforts that redeem the parts. In spite of being about the domestics and clearly having sympathy for them, it is the white writer (Stone) who gets to have a romance and a bright future (in New York, as an editor). While getting out of the South probably remains the only solution to the ingrained social problems that remain rampant there, the film’s inability to give such depth or dimension to its African-American characters is a major flaw. The film reminded me of Precious in some ways and, while I also believe that Precious is flawed as a work of art, its narrative is far more compelling than the whitewash of The Help. ✰ ✰ ½.
MJM 12-25-2011
The Help was the last movie I saw before I began this website, so it just missed getting reviewed by me. Like Psychdoc77, I found it a mixed bag. It is generally well made, except for perhaps its most notorious scene — the commode scene. That scene gets huge laughs and serves as a deserved comeuppance for the haughty Bryce Dallas Howard character, but the inevitable consequences of such a stunt are completely ignored. She would never, I believe, forgive or forget this public humiliation, and it would be the talk of the town for weeks, if not months. However, it is only mentioned one other time in the film, and treated as relatively insignificant. But it isn’t. It is an important moment, one which should define characters and their relationships for the rest of the story. Instead, that moment is relegated to a one-time, throw-away gag by director Tate Taylor. Such a waste.
As far as being a black story with a white protagonist, this is how social equality message movies are made in Hollywood. Someday perhaps things will be different, or at least balance out, but the studios continue to believe the only way such a story will be popular and profitable is to tell that story from a white person’s perspective. This approach, they feel, draws in audience members who might feel uncomfortable viewing a purely black perspective, and serves as a window into what is sometimes perceived as a different world.
Historically this approach works, whether the subject being covered is racial, as evidenced by Glory (noble black soldiers in the Civil War), Windtalkers (noble Navajo soldiers in World War II), Lawrence of Arabia (noble Arabs), The Last Samurai (noble Japanese warriors), Dances with Wolves (noble Sioux fighting to survive), and many others too numerous to list; or physical, as in Children of a Lesser God (deaf people). The outsider, usually a white male, is the focal point to contrast the familiar to whatever relatively unfamiliar subject is being explored. I’m not saying this approach is good or bad — it’s unfortunate that it is used so often, although some great movies have resulted — I’m just demonstrating how widespread and accepted this approach has been and still is today.
As for Precious, I appreciate the ferocious artistry of its performers and blunt honesty of its drama, but it’s not my type of movie. If Precious is felt to be representative of the black experience in America, then I’m not surprised studios don’t make movies like it, because it was hellish to witness such abuse. Is it, as Psychdoc77 suggests, “more compelling” than The Help? It is certainly more sensational. Here’s the difference between the two films that each earn ✰ ✰ ✰ in my eyes: I would watch The Help again tomorrow. Precious? I’ll probably never see it again. 27 Dec. 2011.
Thank you for the comments. In the end, I think we aren’t that far apart. Commercially, the value of crossover appeal cannot be overstated.