Film Review: The Help (2011)

“I Hear That Movie’s Racist...”

By Jordan Overstreet
Published: September 20, 2011

For those of us seeking a movie with substance, the summer can be a season of disappointment. During these poolside months of adolescent liberation, filmmakers flood the market with slutty rom-coms, superhero sagas, and sorry sequels to last summer’s blockbusters. They cinematically distort the image on screen, focusing not on the narrative but on the special effects, hoping to impress us with high speed car chases, alien encounters, and, always popular, scenes in which “they blow shit up.”

Floating in this season of rift-raft is “The Help.” A big screen adaptation of Kathryn Stockett’s novel of the same name, the film has become the topic of much discussion since its August 10th premiere - and not because of dynamic performances given by Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer - but due to the concern that “The Help” is a racist motion picture.

From Tumblr and Twitter to the Arts section of the New York Times, it seems everyone has an opinion about the Tate Taylor film and it’s exploration of the relationship, or lack there of, between African American maids and their white employers in 1963 Mississippi. Valerie Boyd, a journalism professor and noted Zora Neale Hurston biographer, called the period piece “a feel-good movie for a cowardly nation.” Film critic, Nelson George used the New York Times as a soap box, chastising the filmmakers for failing to adequately “come to terms” with America’s racial history.

To call “The Help” a racist film is to deny the fact that the film is honest. This is a period piece and the main function of this type of motion picture is to authentically recreate the past, allowing the audience to time travel back to a particular bygone era. In the case of “The Help,” Mr. Taylor, who also wrote the screenplay, is successful in his endeavor. While he spends far too much time showing us shots of vintage Cadillacs and A-line dresses, Mr. Taylor does accurately portray the dynamic and racial tensions between African American maids and their white female employers. The accuracy of these portrayals is proven by audience response and the discomfort we feel when, for example, the Queen Bee of prejudice, Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard) refuses to let her maid, Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer), use the inside restroom during a thunderstorm and when Minny does use the inside bathroom, Hilly fires her instantly. Sure, the white characters in the film are racist, but they’re supposed to be. To not depict these prejudices, as uncomfortable to watch as they are, would be an inaccurate presentation of a very volatile time in American history.

Granted, “The Help” is a safe film about the days of Jim Crow. Mr. Taylor purposely keeps us in the domestic arena, only giving us a few glances out the window into the reality of the civil rights movement. He contains his audience not to trivialize or down play African American activism, but rather to focus on what the film is essentially about: the relationships between African American maids their white female employers. By centering his film on such a specific aspect of this turbulent time, there is no way Mr. Taylor can “come to terms” with the broad scope of America’s racial past.

Similarly, Mr. Taylor consciously creates an ensemble piece in “The Help.” While many see the characters of Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis) and Skeeter Phelan (Emma Stone) as the leads, Mr. Taylor never decides which of the two women is the protagonist of the film, leaving each individual audience member to choose. This confusion as to whose story it is gets right to the crux of the critical debate because who we select, be it Ailbileen or Skeeter, affects how we read and respond to the film. If you choose Skeeter as the protagonist, as the Association of Black Women Historians, seems to do, then the film is about her coming of age story and how she matured. If you choose Ailbileen as the protagonist, then the film is about her association with Skeeter and how voicing her opinion ultimately sets her free.

Recall, Skeeter is a liberal Ole Miss grad hoping to pursue a career in journalism, who returns to her hometown of Jackson with a new, more mature, set of eyes (College will do that to you) and begins to see injustices in her community. Her childhood friends, especially Hilly have grown into versions of their parents, inheriting their fathers’ of racial prejudices and their mothers’ cruel tongue. Hoping to rewrite the wrongs of the previous generation and expose this injustice, Skeeter wants to give the African American maids a voice by writing a book of their experience and she enlists the help of Ailbileen to do so. While she is initially hesitant, Ailbileen joins the project, providing Skeeter with a line of communication into the African American domestic working community. The book is eventually published and the success of the novel lands Skeeter a job in New York. Reluctant to leave, Skeeter is ultimately convinced by Ailbileen to take the job. For her contribution, Ailbileen receives the praise and appreciation from the African American community; however, her employer recognizes her testimony and fires Ailbileen. As she walks out of the white neighborhood, Ailbileen finds comfort in her freedom and hopes to also become a writer.

The Association of Black Women Historians finds particular concern in the character of Ailbileen, specifically in her speech and testimony, calling her “a disappointing resurrection of the Mammy.” Beautifully acted by an Oscar-worthy Ms. Davis, Ailbileen says more—far more—than the Mammy characters of the 1930’s and 1940’s. In “Gone with the Wind,” Hattie McDaniel never gets to say anything more than “yes,” “no,” and the occasional quip whispered under her breath. Mr. Taylor gives Ailbileen so much more freedom of speech, stripping the “Mammy” character or its stereotype and making more three-dimensional presentation of a domestic worker. While Ms. Davis uses the black dialect in her characterization of Ailbileen, the ABWH’s complaint that her accent is “over-exaggerated” and “child-like” seems valid; nevertheless, Ms. Davis’ performance speaks far louder than her dialect.

Although “The Help” does not tackle anything new, the film does capture Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer in the roles’ of their careers. If you choose to take a ride on this summer’s melodramic merry-go-round, make sure to pack some Kleenex. And when things get uncomfortable, just remember that this is only a piece of fiction.