The Help Film Analysis

Film Analysis 2: The Help

Lauren Mendoza

Cheryl Waite

Women’s U.S. History

The movie The Help (2011), directed and written by Tate Taylor adapted from Kathryn Stockett's novel, is the story of young white woman who is an aspiring journalist. Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan is the main protagonist of this story and the film looks at her relationship with two African American maids, Aibileen Clark and Minny Jackson, during the Civil Rights Movement. The setting of the film was 1963 Jackson, Mississippi. Skeeter attempted to become a genuine journalist by trying to write a novel from the perspective of African American maids, also known as "the help”. They wanted to show the world the racism these maids face on a daily basis while working

The film ignores all the racism, violence, and murder that was so apparent during the Civil Rights Movement in order to tell a more uplifting story about a pretend impact of a book that was never really written. “the Civil Rights Movement 1960s is embodied in dramatic photographs, newsreels, and recorded speeches, which America encountered… As the movement rolled across the nation, Americans absorbed images of hopeful, disciplined, and dedicated young people… They were met with hostility, federal ambivalence and indifference, as well as mob and police violence” . I had learned a few things about Mississippi during the Civil Rights Movement, it was a terrible place for African Americans. The south in widespread was not a good place for Blacks, yet they continued to fight for their rights. “The civil rights movement was a struggle for social justice that took place for blacks to gain equal rights under the law… The Civil War had officially abolished slavery, but it didn’t end discrimination against blacks… continued to endure the devastating effects of racism, especially in the South” . I do not believe the racism shown in this movie was as bad as it was in real life. It’s a sad thing to show, but it is equally as sad to cut out the truth from a film to save the viewers

This doesn’t change the fact The Help wants to be a film showcasing white and black women coming together to work against injustices all around them, but the story is too removed from the real issues of the south. This film is to entertain not to teach others about the 1960s. I do believe the intended audience for this film is white women. Women have always had it rough, but black women have had it bad. This movie sort of makes fun of the real issues back then. It glorifies this white woman who worked so hard to help these black maids who were living life with injustices every single day. This film was a little effective at communicating the sense of historical time and place, but I would not say it is very effective at all. The costumes, music and all those other aspects of the movie seemed true, which is one of the reasons why the movie is so entertaining to watch. The movie creators have seemed to leave out accurate information from this film though. There could possibly be a bias in this film. The director is a rich white man writing a film in a women’s perspective. I did notice the lack of men in the film all together particularly the white men, who really did cause many problems in the past for others who were not white men like themselves. I do think it is important to have films that accurately teach us about the history of America; The Help is not one these films. I did enjoy it and I am sure many others did