The Help

[Coffeecakes]

I just saw this movie and I liked it. The only thing missing for me was Skeeter issuing an ass whooping on Hilly for having the nerve to go to her house and push her around. I wanted to see anyone kicking the shit out of her really.

[Deleted]

I watched this over the weekend and liked it too. I can see the problems with it that have been discussed in this thread, especially the whole "white woman rescuing black maids" plot device, but I thought the acting was so strong it carried through a lot of that weakness. Viola Davis was simply amazing in this: I'm kind of hoping she upsets at the Oscars. I watched it with my mom who pointed out that the other strength of the story was that there were so many women in it: it is basically a movie about women, which is a nice change from a lot of Hollywood fare.

[plush]

I finally watched this movie last night and thought it was ok. It was well cast and well acted and that was its greatest accomplishment. The rest is a feel good story from the perspective of someone who wished things in Mississipi in the '60s had happened this way as opposed to how they really did. It has a good ending, all the characters do what you hope they do and even if Aibeleen is fired at the end, the movie shows that she doesn't really care all that much about it, except for leaving Mae Mobly in the hands of her mother. She is now rich and even if she goes to prison, she can write her stories and make money that way. (Wasn't Aibeleen hired by the Jackson Journal to write the Myrna column advice or am I imagining it? They didn't show that. ) In another movie, the feel goodness of it would have made me happy. In this one, it didn't. It also bothered me that they didn't show in the movie that the money the maids received went to send Yule May's boys to college. I thought it was a very significant detail in the book. The maids overcame their fears to help Skeeter precisely because they were enraged at what Hilly did to her. They didn't do it because of the money and refused to take it at the end.

The casting was so spot on, except perhaps of Emma Stone. It wasn't what I had pictured for Skeeter when I read the book and even acting wise, I thought Emma lagged a little behind of the rest of the cast. She did a decent enough job but I didn't find her portrayal of Skeeter interesting. I realize that was hard to do, because even in the book, Skeeter isn't the most interesting character either but in the hands of another actress, she could have been one. I really like Emma, and from what I've seen of her previous movies, Easy A and Crazy, Stupid, Love she has great comedic timing and charm, but I'm not quite convinced she's just as good at drama. Not by this movie.

[Mugsy]

Aibeleen did get the Myrna column in the newspaper. Skeeter told the editor that Aibeleen had been pretty much writing it anyway, so she might as well get the credit. I really wish that had been included in the movie because it made Aibeleen's lack of employment seem less hopeless, plus it was a huge leap forward to have a newspaper acknowledge a black female as a contributing writer.

[bklynred]

Emma was also a wayyy more attractive Skeeter than the one I had in my head. They basically crimped her hair and called her different.

[chonies]

Melissa Harris-Perry has a great segment on the topic of the book and the movie right now.

[huntergrayson]

Salon had a great article/story this morning about the movie, specifically how Viola and Octavia shouldn't be told what roles they "should" be playing or judged for being in this movie.

[bklynred]

Was it newer than this one, about Davis "stealing Streep's Oscar"[/color]?

[huntergrayson]

It's here. I thought it made a lot of good points about how it seems like there's more pressure and scruntinty on actresses like Viola/Octavia/Monique/Gabourey to look & act a certain way.

[narm]

I finally watched this last night. I liked it. It was actually less "white girl playing savior" to me than I was expecting. I had held off for so long because I really didn't want to see a movie that was like a feel good movie for white women. My book club went freaking bananas over the book, and I just couldn't read it. I didn't want to, and probably never will, now that I saw the movie.But in the end, I really felt like Skeeter's role and importance in the movie was secondary and even sometimes third. I didn't feel like she played a hero, really; I think she was just the vessel.

Now that said, me being, well, a white woman, I did feel literally sick at some (a lot) of the dialogue. But ever since my completely awesome women/race/economics class in college for undergrad, I'm pretty suspicious of plots that allow the majority to feel comfortable that they could never be "that bad." It's like, one cannot imagine saying such repugnant and awful things to and about a human being. So we (collective white we) get to feel off the hook from any kind of racism, even though we may live in prejudiced cultural norms as well as institutional racism.

Now, Bryce Dallas Howard? She did a great job. But...my brother has HATED Mary Tyler Moore ever since he saw Ordinary People. He fully admits he cannot separate MTM from her character in OP. I'm afraid I won't be able to ever look at BDH without wanting to kick her or something. Really, nice performances from all, but she was so evil and gross that I think that impression will stay with me for a bit.

It was a good movie. Kind of like Secret Life of Bees. I love that book, but am cognizant of the fact that the heroine allows me to think that I can relate in same way in regard to race relations in the era of that book. That's kind of the kicker for me. Great book, great story, but what a shitty, shitty attitude so many folks had to endure in that time in our country.

I loved Cecilia!