Oscar Winner 'The Help' Rises Above Controversy

For my final Oscars-related selection, I have picked The Help, a movie that I loved when I saw it over the summer.  Based on a very popular and fantastic book by Kathryn Stockett, The Help is not a movie without problems. 

First, one of its major problems is the story.  It’s about blacks and white in early 1960s Jackson, Mississippi.  But, not just any blacks and whites--black maids and their white employers. 

Stockett’s book took a lot of this heat when it came out, but because the movie is on a broader scale, the controversy only increased when The Help hit the theaters.  Many people claimed that this story should not be told since this is a period in history we would all like to forget. 

Some felt like this story just emphasizes that some whites still see blacks as subservient.  My mother is from the South (New Orleans) and I can tell you that there are some whites that would wish these times to return.  But, these clueless, highly misguided people are in the minority and most people no longer see race as dividing people in any way. 

Saying that, let’s get back to the movie…which is a powerful, tough film, tackling a controversial subject head-on.  Nominated for four Oscars, including Best Picture, The Help focuses on a young Southern girl, Skeeter, who is more interested in her potential journalism career than with boys or getting married, much to her mother’s chagrin.  Skeeter makes a contact with an editor in New York who tells her she will read her writing if she comes up with an interesting story to tell. 

Skeeter decides to write about the “help” from their own point of view.  At first, she cannot get any maid to talk honestly with her…it would be dangerous for them to do so.  But, eventually, the maids decide to tell their stories. 

This very well might be one time the movie is better than the book.  While the story of The Help sticks closely to that of the book, the film sets itself apart in the acting.  Three performances were nominated for Oscars: Viola Davis (nominated for Best Actress) as Aibileen, the maid who starts the ball rolling and gets the others to follow; Octavia Spencer (WINNER for Best Supporting Actress) as the feisty maid who speaks her mind; and Jessica Chastain (nominated for Best Supporting Actress) as a white woman who is as out of place in Jackson society as the maids are.  See it for the story, LOVE it for the performances. 

The Help: 2011, PG-13, 146 minutes, directed by Tate Taylor, starring Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jessica Chastain, Cicely Tyson, Sissy Spacek, Allison Janney and Mary Steenburgen.  The Niles Public Library owns this title on DVD.