"The Help"… I don’t even know where to start. Honestly, this movie was amazing. It's about a girl who is determined to become a writer. In order to do this, she decides to reveal the truth about what “the help,” or the black maids, in a town in Mississippi were going through. This creates so much controversy and problems in the town. This girl's name is Skeeter, and the first maid to comply with Skeeter’s request was Skeeter’s best friend’s housekeeper, Aibileen. From there, Minny, the ex-maid of Hilly, the antagonist of the story, joined. Then, after one of the maids was arrested, many of the other maids in the town decided to risk getting caught, and allowed themselves to be interviewed and help Skeeter write this book. The story was full of harsh actions and racial tendencies and over all, it was a fantastically put together movie.
As I stated before, the story is full of segregation. In the beginning of the movie, the bathrooms were segregated and one maid, Minny, was fired because of using the bathroom for white people. Aibileen was raising Elizabeth Leefoote’s daughter instead of raising her own kids back at home. This caught my interest. I knew this happened, but just the very thought that women raised someone else’s children, and not their own is just so interesting to examine. The reason is the bond between this white child, black woman and the mother of the child. The situation is this; this black woman, who isn’t even allowed to use a bathroom inside and is a maid who puts up with all the crap that is thrown at them (both words and physical abuse) raises this child, this white child. The mother of the child trusts this black woman (who she calls dirty and, by using the same toilet as them or living in the same space, says that she will get a disease), to take care of her own flesh and blood. It’s just fascinating that these people, who these white woman think are “disgusting,” are the ones taking care of their children.
I also notice the abuse, and not just the physical abuse. Let’s start with Minny. This maid used the inside bathroom because there was an extremely harsh storm outside, and she was too scared to go outside. Hilly fired her because of this. She fired her just because she used the inside bathroom. It’s honestly inconceivable to me that one human could be that insensitive to another living being, and it makes me so frustrated when I see people treated this way. The whole movie, I was very annoyed at Hilly, which made the movie even better. To draw so much emotion while watching a movie is the goal of director, actresses and actors. Hilly acted very well in the fact that you could see the disgust she had for the black maids. This was a success on the actress's part.
Now, about all the maids in general and what Skeeter was doing for this book. Back then, it was illegal what she was doing, talking to a black maid outside of her house, in the black community, it was jail-worthy illegal, not just paying a fine. That wasn’t even the worst of it. If anyone found out, each maid that helped and Skeeter herself could have been harmed by the community, especially by Hilly and her crew. This just shows the racial aspect, that, back then, race was such a big separator. These black woman couldn’t have lives. They couldn’t change their fate, and their children had the same fate as their mothers. It was an endless problem that wasn’t fixed until later in 1964 when the Civil Rights Act was passed.
The whole story was honestly fantastic. It pulled on my heart so much. The fact that these woman were so mistreated and they had to deal with it, or else they wouldn’t have a job to provide for their families, was so upsetting. The fact that these woman risked getting their houses burned down to tell their stories of abuse and pain that they went through their whole lives, it’s so inspirational. The fact that Aibileen raised this little girl for so long and then was forced to leave when she was fired at the end of the movie, and the little girl was screaming in the window and pounding on it for her “real mother” to come back, was heart wrenching. But, the best moment of the movie, the most inspirational, was when Aibileen, the first maid to volunteer to be interviewed for the book, walked into her church and everyone stood up, clapping in honor of her. It was a heartwarming moment to know that this woman was getting appreciated for the giant risk she took when talking to Skeeter. That was the best moment of the whole movie and when my tears really started flowing.
The movie was so amazing, and not just because of the acting or setting or film, but because of the strong message it had about what black women had to deal with back then. It shows how different today’s society is compared to back then. How black woman are treated now-a-days is completely different than from back then. It’s amazing to see how a couple of decades changed the world, and how segregation isn’t a problem anymore. In today’s society, you can be a black executive director or the President of the United States. The possibilities are endless. You can serve with the military equally with the white men, and serve on the police force and you can be a servant, or you can become a very successful business man or woman.
Segregation doesn’t exist, what still exists is racism. Racism between whites and blacks still exists, but it is so much less then back then. That’s the reason why this film is important. It shows how much the Americans have changed. The United States has gone downhill before, so if it ever goes downhill again, there is hope.
