Rated
PG-13 (Thematic Material)
Running
Time: 2 Hours & 26 Minutes
Cast:
Emma
Stone-Eugenia 'Skeeter' Phelan
Viola
Davis-Aibileen Clark
Octavia
Spencer-Minny Jackson
Bryce
Dallas Howard-Hilly Holbrook
Jessica
Chastain-Celia Foote
Ahna
O'Reilly-Elizabeth Leefolt
Allison
Janney-Charlotte Phelan
Sissy
Spacek-Mrs. Walters
Mary
Steenburgen-Elain Stein
Anna
Camp-Jolene French
Chris
Lowell-Stuart Whitworth
Mike
Vogel-Johnny Foote
Ted
Welch-William Holbrook
Aunjanue
Ellis-Yule Mae Davis
Cicely
Tyson-Constantine Jefferson
Directed
by Tate Taylor
 |
| The cast deliver great performances but "The Help" ultimately plays it too safe with its themes. |
Looking
back, it’s surprising to see that only forty-three years have passed since the
end of the African American Civil Rights Movement yet it would be naïve for one
to think that racism has been eliminated. Formal racial discrimination was
effectively banned in the U.S. in 1964 but its ugly legacy continues to
permeate all facets of modern American society from socio-economic inequality
among minorities to racial stratification in areas such as employment, education,
housing, lending, and government. Hollywood and mainstream media in general,
has perpetuated racial stereotypes and continues to do so. People will always harbor prejudices against other
races. This is simply the reality of the world we live in. Now we have “The
Help,” a film based on Kathryn Stockett’s best-selling fiction novel of the
same name which explores the racial discrimination faced by African American
maids living in Jackson, Mississippi during the early 1960’s. I must admit, the
initial previews failed to impress me as it came off as one of those
emotionally manipulative, lightweight dramas that Hollywood sees fit to recycle
every year so I decided to hold off on reviewing it until the Blu-Ray was
released. However, the strong word-of-mouth combined with the surprisingly
positive reviews from critics made me change my mind. Although bolstered by
strong performances from Viola Davis and a lively Octavia Spencer, my initial
impressions of “The Help” weren’t that far off as ultimately the film plays it
too safe by not fully exploring the ugliness of racism that pervaded America in
the time period it depicts.
Recent college graduate Eugenia ‘Skeeter’ Phelan
(Emma Stone) returns home to Jackson, Mississippi in 1962 with aspirations of
being a writer. She manages to land a job at the Jackson Journal newspaper writing the ‘Miss Myrna’ housekeeping
column and reconnects with her old friends, Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard)
and Elizabeth Leefolt (Ahna O'Reilly). All of the wealthy white households
employ at least one African American maid and Skeeter asks Elizabeth if her
maid, Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis), can help her with writing the Miss Myrna
columns. Elizabeth reluctantly agrees on the condition that it does not
interfere with Aibileen’s duties. Hilly is currently lobbying for a bill dubbed
the ‘Home Health Sanitation Initiative’ which would require all white
households to build a separate bathroom to be used solely by the ‘colored’ help
and requests Skeeter to advertise the proposed law in the Jackson Journal as soon as possible. Meanwhile, Skeeter’s sick
mother, Charlotte (Allison Janney), repeatedly chastises her daughter for still
being single and unmarried. Skeeter confronts her family about the whereabouts
of their former maid, Constantine Jefferson (Cicely Tyson), the woman who
raised her as if she were her own child and suspects that she did not quit by
choice. While reminiscing about Constantine and viewing first-hand the way the
Leefolts treat Aibileen as property rather than as a human being, Skeeter gets
an idea and calls Elain Stein (Mary Steenburgen), the editor of Harper &
Row Publishing, about writing a book from the point of view of the help. Stein
agrees that she’ll take a look at whatever she writes if she can get one of the
maids to be interviewed. At Hilly’s house, her maid Minny Jackson (Octavia
Spencer) needs to use the bathroom but is unable to step outside due to a
raging storm. Although Hilly’s mother, Mrs. Walters (Sissy Spacek), says she
can use the bathroom in the house, Hilly absolutely forbids it and fires Minny
when she catches her using it. Skeeter asks Aibileen about being interviewed
for her book but she refuses, afraid that she will lose her job or face
violence for speaking out against her white employers. Aibileen eventually
relents after being inspired by a sermon in church and begins to tell Skeeter
about her experiences and true feelings about working for the Leefolts. Her
close friend, Minny, decides to contribute as well but makes it clear that what
they’re doing is crazy and dangerous. Minny manages to find a new job working
for a wealthy naïve woman named Celia Foote (Jessica Chastain) and bond due to
their ostracized status.
In his own review, Roger Ebert admits that he enjoyed
watching “The Help” despite it being ‘a feel-good fable, a story that deals
with pain but doesn't care to be that painful.’ This is the main issue with the
film as it handles its racial themes of prejudice and discrimination in a way
that is too simple and safe, as if afraid to offend anyone. At times, the film
almost seems self-congratulatory about the progress America has made in
achieving equality, making it seem like racism is now a thing of the past. One
scene that really captured the fear that gripped all African Americans living
in the Jim Crow-controlled South is when Aibileen and another man are ordered
off the bus by a police officer as someone has been murdered. This ‘someone’ is
Medgar Evers, a civil rights activist who was assassinated outside his home on June
12, 1963, just hours after President John F. Kennedy’s speech on national
television where he proclaimed his support for the civil rights movement.
Aibileen runs home in fear of being violently accosted because this was the reality of the world she, and
all African Americans, lived in. Unfortunately, these moments are few and far
between as director Tate Taylor spends much of the film tiptoeing around its
themes, exploring them in broad strokes without any shades of grey as
characters are depicted either as idealistic, saintly, or prejudiced that
border on being overly cartoonish. The film’s tone is often too saccharine to
the point of being emotionally manipulative. Scenes involving Constantine are
especially guilty of this as is the unlikely bond that develops between Minny
and Celia. To a lesser extent, “The Help” also touches upon the limited opportunities
of women and their imposed role as housewives by a patriarchal society where a
woman getting a job instead of settling down was considered shocking. In
addition, wealthy women are presented as unfit mothers because they rely on
their maids to do the child-rearing so much and are unable to provide the love
their children needs.
As an adaptation of a 544-page novel, Taylor’s script
could have used some streamlining as many of the subplots are extraneous at
best and contribute nothing but a bloated, two-and-a-half hour running time. We
certainly did not need the romance subplot involving Skeeter and Stuart
Whitworth (Chris Lowell) and the interactions between Minny and Celia is
disconnected from all the other characters save for a few scenes. It seems to
have been included as a way to reassure audiences that ‘not all white people
are bad.’ To the film’s credit, it does
boast some solid laughs, especially from Octavia Spencer’s Minny as a
sass-talking maid who’s unafraid to speak her mind. She has a scene with
Howard’s Hilly involving a pie baked with a secret ingredient that drew guffaws
from the audience. Ultimately, “The Help” has its heart in the right place but
its exploration of racial discrimination in the early 1960’s, combined with its
thinly-drawn characters, is just too superficial and safe to make the emotional
impact it wants.
The cast manages to be the saving grace of the film,
especially from Viola Davis, who deserves to be nominated for an Academy Award
for Best Supporting Actress. Davis, looking worn and tired, is a woman simply
trying to survive but there comes a point where self-preservation isn’t enough
and that for the sake of herself and everyone she has to voice her opinion, no
matter how dangerous it is. Her character is the heart and soul of the film and
I believe “The Help” would’ve been much better off just focusing on her.
Octavia Spencer serves as comic relief with her exaggerated behavior and comes
dangerously close to being a stereotype but the laughs she provides is simply
priceless. She may very well end up competing with Davis in the same category.
Although she receives top-billing, Emma Stone isn’t as integral to the plot,
even if the film tries hard to develop her character. She is simply just the
‘glue’ that holds all the disparate plot strands together. Stone’s performance
is fine but it is neither her best nor her most memorable role. Bryce Dallas
Howard really makes you hate her as two-faced and hypocritical Hilly Holbrook
but she ends up being a one-note character. There’s no attempt to explore why she is the way she is. Hilly is a
racist, plain and simple. Finally there’s Jessica Chastain as a bubbly and
easily excited airhead, which I found adorable.
Released on August 10, 2011,
“The Help” has received surprisingly positive reviews with 74% on Rotten
Tomatoes. Critics agreed that that the film is ‘arguably guilty of glossing
over its racial themes, [but it] rises on the strength of its cast—particularly
Viola Davis, whose performance is powerful enough to carry the film on its own.’
Although it had an opening weekend debut of $26 million ($36 million when
including Wednesday and Thursday grosses), coming in at #2 behind “Rise of the
Planet of the Apes,” the film leaped to #1 in its second week of release, which
is a rare feat helped along by positive word-of-mouth and weak late summer
fare. With already $79 million in the bank, it’s already a hit in a summer that
has been bereft of any drama films. Audience turnout was above-average for a
weekday and they seemed to thoroughly enjoy the film. I believe I even heard a
couple of sniffles. “The Help” boasts some excellent performances but its
script is simply too pedestrian and needed to be more daring in its exploration
of race relations in early 1960’s Mississippi. It succeeds as a lightweight
drama for those who do not want to think too much but that’s ultimately all it
does.
Final
Rating: 3 out of 5
“Courage
sometimes skips a generation. Thank you for bringing it back to our family.”
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