The Help

I read the book last week and saw the movie yesterday and here is a review of both.

The Book
The Help, written by Kathryn Stockett, was published in 2009 and tells about the conditions and every day life of maids in Jackson, Mississippi during the early 60's.  Three main characters tell the story of  a white woman trying to understand what it's like to be a colored maid.  There are so many touching moments ingrained in the story as well as historic events that hold it together. It's at times a comedy and a tear-jerker.

The Movie
I promise not to spoil it for you.
My movie experience began with the audience which consisted of elderly white couples. Maybe it was senior discount day or something.  I liked how the movie was true to the book, for the most part.  It was good to see the words on screen and to hear the sniffles of the audience when pictures from Life Magazine punctuated the death of Medgar Evers.  That was a WOW moment for me.  The ending had folks stuck to their chairs, still sniffling, and I walked out with a smile on my face and my head held high. Nice.

My Commentary
In a word, riveting.  But I've gone too far already.  Let me begin again.  My favorite line in the book and the movie is when the white female narrator says to the black maids -- and I'm paraphrasing --  "this is your story, not mine."  I think it's important to note that while this may be a white woman telling a story about black maids in the south, she was not trying to make up something or take anything away from it.  I think that we, as a society, should respect that when it comes to this project.

Inasmuch as the script was based on the book, there were several discrepancies that I thought were odd.  Cicely Tyson -- yes, Miss Jane Pittman was in the movie.  Who's idea was that?  I didn't get the impression from the book that her character was quite so...old.  It didn't go over well for me.  Also, there was no mention of Stuart's political family affiliations.  Interesting deletion.  Celia's cooking being edible -- that was a laugh out loud change.  Was it to save face somehow or give the story more of a Hollywood ending than the real-life ending that the book gave?  What about the Miss Myrna column and the real writer? Another interesting change.

But my main gripe is about the change of Constantine's daughter from a mixed race very light skinned girl (book version) to a dark skinned girl (movie version).   That was a questionable change given the times.  It resonates deeply within me the idea that we may not be ready to visually accept the realities of mixing races in our entertainment media -- though we've obviously accepted them in our everyday lives (think Obama).

I hear there is talk of an Oscar nod for Viola Davis and while I support her acting and think this was a great role, I disagree -- not that the Academy ever remembers to request my opinion.  In this film, with the exception of Octavia Spencer (Minny), she wasn't surrounded by actors of a quality that supported great acting.  (It was good seeing Sissy Spacek!) Think of a single red rose in a meadow filled with pansies -- it doesn't need to do anything to stand out and the pansies really want to be a rose.  Truth be told, this film was filled with bad acting and even some bad directing - but the story line may pull it through (think Hurt Locker).

Overall, I left the movie theater thinking about myself.  Yes, I was smiling and I had my head up and I thought "I don't have to be a maid anymore, thanks to those women."  I, being underemployed, would quickly accept that job today -- just to be frank.  But it also made me think about my talents, many of which I'm giving away for free, and focus on my life and my purpose.  $8 is a small price to pay for an ego boost.  I'm grateful.