Those women were brave and stood up for their rights. Just like the women in the upcoming film, The Help does. The Help is about the women of Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960s, right before the Civil Rights Movement went into full effect. Emma Stone stars as Skeeter, a recent college grad and writer. She nabs a job at the local newspaper as a house-keeping columnist. She decides to ask the maids of her friends for advice on house-cleaning. It is then that she realizes how disrespectful and terrible her friends treat the help. She becomes inspired to write a book from the perspective of the help.
However, in Jackson, Mississippi, finding a maid who will divulge the honest details of their work and employers is very hard. The white women of Jackson are completely ignorant of their racism. When they think they are being kind to their maids, they’re actually being cruel. So imagine how they would be if they weren’t being “kind” anymore.
Finally, Aibileen, a maid from one of Skeeter’s friends’ households, agrees to tell her story. Viola Davis plays Aibileen with quiet power. Aibileen has suffered a lot of pain and injustice in her life. She has grown to be bitter and just fed up with the way things are. This is what makes her finally agree to take the risk and tell Skeeter her story, in hopes that it may spark some change. Eventually, Aibileen’s best friend, Minny (Octavia Spencer) agrees to also share her story with Skeeter. Minny had work for Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard), probably the most abhorrent woman in all of Jackson. As circumstances become worse for the African Americans in Jackson, more agree to talk to Skeeter and get their story out there.
Simply, this movie was phenomenal. Starting with the cast, Emma Stone was excellent, and it was great to see her play a more serious, dramatic role. Viola Davis was incredible; I couldn’t help but feel her pain and frustration. Octavia Spencer was amazing and hilarious, playing the sassy and strong Minny. This was probably one of Bryce Dallas Howard’s best performances, playing the dreadful Hilly Holbrook. And if you didn’t know of Jessica Chastain already, you will now. Chastain plays Celia Foote, a very sweet and outgoing housewife, who is shunned out of society with the insistence of Hilly Holbrook. The scenes between Celia and Minny were some of my absolute favorites. They were delightful and touching.
My hat goes off to director/writer Tate Taylor for putting together this cast and story. The movie is based off the book by the same name, written by Kathryn Stockett. Stockett happens to be a friend of Taylor’s, which is how he became involved in the project. The movie deals with several topics. Obviously, discrimination is the prominent one. But also, sexism and disparaging relationships between parents and their children are present. In Skeeter’s case, she was raised by Constantine, her family’s African American housekeeper. Skeeter’s attachment to Constantine is strong and sweeter than her relationship with her actual mother (Allison Janney).
The Help is filled with laughs, tears, pain, happiness, and all the things that make up life. That’s what makes this movie phenomenal. Even though the story is fiction, the characters ring true to the audience. These women were brave, strong and finally decided to stand up to opposition. It seems that the South African Women’s holiday has been adopted internationally, since it remains a worldwide trending topic on Twitter. (For the record, there is an International Women’s Day on March 8th.) Go see The Help. It’s a movie for everyone; don’t let the predominantly female cast let you assume it’s a chick flick. It’s a simply a human story.
The Help comes out into theaters tomorrow, August 10th!
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Watch the trailer below!
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