The Help
When I first saw the trailers for this film I was immediately repulsed. It looked simplistic, manipulative and, once again, like "white people saved the black people (you're welcome black people)" - link.
The last film to pull this trick in a similar manner (both irritating me as a film and receiving far too acclaim for my taste) was "The Blind Side". Occasionally, Hollywood and the "powers that be" seem hell-bent on making a point. With "The Blind Side", they seemed to be to saying "Sandra Bullock is not just America's Sweetheart, but also an Oscar Winner". Her performance was solid in a very average film. Not, in my opinion, Oscar-worthy. That's not to say she's not a fine actress who could, in a better role, deliver what I would consider an Oscar-worthy performance. It's just that in this case, there was a decision made that it was her time and that trumped the evaluation of the actual performance.
With that background bias, I begrudgingly watched "The Help". It is nowhere near the media amalgamation that was "The Blind Side". It is a singularly interesting, thoughtful, historical and character-driven piece that deserves its nomination. Is it the best film I've ever seen? Not even close. Can it win this year? I have seven more films to see before I come to that conclusion -- but if the field is soft, don't count this one out.
The story of the racist south in 1950's-60's America is well-known by this point -- though it bears repeating from time to time so that the context and understanding of how far we have come (and how far, perhaps, we may go) as a society is not lost. In this story in Jackson, Mississippi, presented as a hotbed (maybe THE hotbed) of all racism, the blatant hatred slaps the viewers face like a glass of cold water. It would be easy to write the treatment of the black maids by their white female counterparts off as over-the-top or cartoonish if it wasn't so well documented by so many people. And that documentation, and the bravery to tell it in the face of life-and-death treatment by those who preferred the status quo, is the heart of the film.
Yes, the familiar crusading white woman exists, in the form of the charming Emma Stone as "Skeeter Phelan". Skeeter has just returned from the University of Mississippi and seems to be uncomfortable with her predestined role as homemaker and wife. She wants to write. She wants to do something important. As often is the case, the important stories are the ones right in front of us begging to be told. The intelligence of the film (which helps elevate it above the simplistic "Blind Side") is that Skeeter must go to the story, rather than comfortably taking care of it in her own domain. And it's not her story. She is merely a conduit. She has to earn trust and fight for a voice for herself so that she can even have the opportunity to share the story on the level she believes it deserves.
Skeeter's journey, facing the difficulties of caring for a sick mother (played by the always enjoyable Allison Janney) who demands she find a husband and working against her friends wishes (especially printing a notice for a racist bathroom separation bill by Hilly Holbrook) provides the necessary backbone for the film. The interesting and occasionally breathtaking moments, however, come in the strength and courage displayed by Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer (Aibileen and Minny, respectively). They present the difficulty of doing the right thing even when it's so personal and painfully obvious to an outsider (those of us removed by geography and 50 years of history). The fight to be accepted as equal goes beyond the question of race, and is one of the reason this film plays so well to so many. Anyone who has felt less oppressed in anyway will howl with delight at Minny's defiant and disgusting victory over Hilly.
The Help works. It is strong, smart and features very believable period wardrobe and overall environment. The three nominated performances by Davis, Spencer and Jessica Chastain are all deserving of the acclaim they are receiving.
The last film to pull this trick in a similar manner (both irritating me as a film and receiving far too acclaim for my taste) was "The Blind Side". Occasionally, Hollywood and the "powers that be" seem hell-bent on making a point. With "The Blind Side", they seemed to be to saying "Sandra Bullock is not just America's Sweetheart, but also an Oscar Winner". Her performance was solid in a very average film. Not, in my opinion, Oscar-worthy. That's not to say she's not a fine actress who could, in a better role, deliver what I would consider an Oscar-worthy performance. It's just that in this case, there was a decision made that it was her time and that trumped the evaluation of the actual performance.
With that background bias, I begrudgingly watched "The Help". It is nowhere near the media amalgamation that was "The Blind Side". It is a singularly interesting, thoughtful, historical and character-driven piece that deserves its nomination. Is it the best film I've ever seen? Not even close. Can it win this year? I have seven more films to see before I come to that conclusion -- but if the field is soft, don't count this one out.
The story of the racist south in 1950's-60's America is well-known by this point -- though it bears repeating from time to time so that the context and understanding of how far we have come (and how far, perhaps, we may go) as a society is not lost. In this story in Jackson, Mississippi, presented as a hotbed (maybe THE hotbed) of all racism, the blatant hatred slaps the viewers face like a glass of cold water. It would be easy to write the treatment of the black maids by their white female counterparts off as over-the-top or cartoonish if it wasn't so well documented by so many people. And that documentation, and the bravery to tell it in the face of life-and-death treatment by those who preferred the status quo, is the heart of the film.
Yes, the familiar crusading white woman exists, in the form of the charming Emma Stone as "Skeeter Phelan". Skeeter has just returned from the University of Mississippi and seems to be uncomfortable with her predestined role as homemaker and wife. She wants to write. She wants to do something important. As often is the case, the important stories are the ones right in front of us begging to be told. The intelligence of the film (which helps elevate it above the simplistic "Blind Side") is that Skeeter must go to the story, rather than comfortably taking care of it in her own domain. And it's not her story. She is merely a conduit. She has to earn trust and fight for a voice for herself so that she can even have the opportunity to share the story on the level she believes it deserves.
Skeeter's journey, facing the difficulties of caring for a sick mother (played by the always enjoyable Allison Janney) who demands she find a husband and working against her friends wishes (especially printing a notice for a racist bathroom separation bill by Hilly Holbrook) provides the necessary backbone for the film. The interesting and occasionally breathtaking moments, however, come in the strength and courage displayed by Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer (Aibileen and Minny, respectively). They present the difficulty of doing the right thing even when it's so personal and painfully obvious to an outsider (those of us removed by geography and 50 years of history). The fight to be accepted as equal goes beyond the question of race, and is one of the reason this film plays so well to so many. Anyone who has felt less oppressed in anyway will howl with delight at Minny's defiant and disgusting victory over Hilly.
The Help works. It is strong, smart and features very believable period wardrobe and overall environment. The three nominated performances by Davis, Spencer and Jessica Chastain are all deserving of the acclaim they are receiving.
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