My Movie Review of "The Help"

Rarely do good books become good movies, and The Help is no different, except that even though aspects of the plot leave gaping holes in providing depth and understanding of the characters, this is a likeable movie and may even be nominated for picture of the year!
The characters’ stories, (for which I would strongly recommend that you read the book first), because if you’ve read the book you will understand the depth of these women’s lives and be more forgiving of the shallow portrayal created by screenplay reductionism. The story takes place during the 1960’s in Jackson, Mississippi.

Historically, this was the time of the Civil Rights movement in the USA. The plot centers around the lives of African-American maids working for white families, and one young white college-graduate from Ole’ Miss, named Skeeter, seeking to establish her life as a writer.
Skeeter has returned to her family’s plantation after graduating from university and because her friends in Jacksonville are mostly her sorority sisters from college who make up the Junior League* Skeeter faces the uncomfortable challenge of trying to fit in with the crowd.

Unlike her sorority sister friends, Skeeter is tall, has frizzy-curly hair, has rarely dated, and aspires to be a writer.
The story opens with one of the Junior League’s most influential members, Hilly, proposing a new health and sanitation initiative which would proposes that African-American “help” have their own separate toilets.
Two of the maids, Aibiline and sharp-tongued Minny, form an unlikely alliance with Skeeter as they secretly meet and tell her their stories about their experiences working for white folks. While today this might not seem like such a “big deal”—it was a violation of the laws of the time for meetings between the races to occur in Southern Mississippi in the 1960s.

The acting is superb, as Viola Davis, who plays Aibiline, opens the movie with that look in her eyes that tells it all. Emma Stone’s performance as Skeeter is completely believable, and Octavia Spencer’s portrayal of the sharp-tongued Minny sets the tone for the tensions that ensue. Viola Davis deserves an Oscar for her performance!

While I can understand that screenplays have to reduce an entire book into a manageable movie, and, therefore, need permission to take liberty with interpreting events into something a movie audience can interpret in a few split-seconds, I do think the screenplay missed opportunities to establish just how risky it was for Aibiline, Minny, and Skeeter to meet and write their stories. By not fully including the racial tensions of the day, this movie has missed an opportunity to add historical value so often provided by historical fiction accounts.
Even so—my recommendation? Run and go see this movie!!!