• “The Help,” Directed by Tate Taylor, Touchstone Pictures, 146 minutes, released Aug. 10.
In the middle of summer blockbuster season, director Tate Taylor presents a thought-provoking and sympathetic story of courage, fear, and personal sacrifice in the South during the civil rights period of the 1960s.
Based on the novel of the same name by Kathryn Stockett, “The Help” explores the complex social rules and undercurrents of racial tension in 1963 Mississippi through the intensely sympathetic characters of the local women who are employed as maids, cooks, and nannies in the homes of Jackson’s elite, and the young writer who wants to tell their stories and struggles to the world.
The story opens with young “Skeeter” Phelan (Emma Stone), a society girl returning home with a degree from Ole Miss, applying for a job at the Jackson Chronicle as a stepping-stone to a larger writing career. She wins an entry-level position writing the local household advice column, despite her lack of any experience running a household, and resolves to ask her friend’s family cook, Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis), for help with the letters and questions at the first opportunity.
As she discusses the household column and daily life with Aibileen, Skeeter is forced to notice the hostile daily environment the many black women who serve as cooks and maids in Jackson have to deal with, and decides that their stories ought to be told. Mississippi’s harsh Jim Crow statutes threaten anyone who would promote social equality publicly, however, and the rising tide of anti-civil rights violence frightens away potential contacts. Skeeter writes a powerful chapter based on the stories she has, but without more interviews, her editor refuses even to consider her book.
Skeeter finds snobby Jackson high society awkward, with every party and charitable league and event managed by the patrician Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard). Miss Hilly harbors incredible disdain for everyone who doesn’t meet her social standards, and expresses outright disregard for her mother’s cook, the endlessly competent and independent Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer). Hilly’s pet project is separate bathrooms for whites and blacks, and she is promoting a bill requiring all households with “colored” staff to construct a separate outside bathroom for their employees.
Skeeter’s own family isn’t devoid of tension. While she was away at Ole Miss, Constantine, the Phelans’ elderly maid and Skeeter’s own childhood friend and confidant, left her family mysteriously and without even saying goodbye. Skeeter is determined to discover why her friend had to leave, but her mother refuses to talk about it, preferring instead to obsess over Skeeter’s lack of suitors.
Matters come to a head in Jackson when Minny is fired by Hilly for using the indoor bathroom during a terrific rainstorm. Blackballed by the Holbrooks, she fails to find work and struggles to feed her family. Outraged, all of Minny’s friends resolve to tell all and let themselves be interviewed for Skeeter’s book.
Desperate for work, and dealing with her abusive boyfriend, Minny finally lands a job working for Celia Foote (Jessica Chastain) — a country girl married into high society and ostracized accordingly by Hilly and her social circle. Lost in the intricate politics of a social class she was never trained for, Celia doesn’t know anything about managing a large household, or how to maintain the “proper” distance between the mistress of the house and her staff. Minny has been hurt badly and finds it hard to trust, but soon enough, both women find in the other the true friend they desperately need.
When the book is published, all Jackson is abuzz with gossip and curiosity. As insurance against their critics, Skeeter and her allies included several extremely embarrassing anecdotes. While the leading families profiled might not want to own up to them publicly, the book soon results in private vendettas against the author and her friends. Even more than the Holbrooks, Jackson is ruled by fear, on both sides of the tracks — fear of dismissal, fear of the unknown, fear of violence, fear of legal repercussions and condemnation and loss of social standing. As the tension in Jackson worsens and the civil rights movement comes to a head, each of the women will have to draw courage from their friendships and stand up for themselves, each other, and for what they know is right.
This film deals very frankly with some distressing, but important aspects of American history and politics. Due to frequent language, some violence, and extensive racial epithets and unspoken intimidation, some caution may be advisable in showing the film to children, but teens should be able to handle it, although family discussion may still be helpful in explaining the historical context. There are a few rather disturbing, disagreeable, or emotionally charged scenes, including one where a woman suffers an extremely bloody miscarriage and buries the baby herself, and another where Aibileen and another black maid are handled roughly by white police officers in the process of making an arrest. Although there is little graphic in the film aside from those two scenes, much of the film’s verbal content will still need to be explained to younger viewers.
The wider civil rights context of 1963 is not explored very deeply onscreen, aside from the murder of Medgar Evers in Jackson, and a few television broadcasts. That said, part of the value of this film is that today’s youth have grown up with no direct knowledge of the civil rights movement. Seeing this film may spark a healthy curiosity about the period.
“The Help” explores a difficult and challenging period of our nation’s history with grace and balance, telling a powerful story of personal courage and perseverance in the face of ignorance, misunderstanding, discouragement, and outright condemnation. Despite an emotionally challenging ending that leaves the viewer on a difficult down note, “The Help” provides a thought-provoking and ultimately heartwarming alternative to the summer’s typical blockbuster fare.