'Untrue Stereotypes In The Film The Help'

More than Help Oceana Munsey Northwest College ENGL 1010 Mrs. Potas March 10, 2024.

More than Help

In the film The Help, you’ll hear such words as ‘Clean this now’! Gross, just do your job and leave. Could you imagine someone saying those words to you, and treating you with such a low level of respect? But what if you’re just the help? Does that mean that you’re no longer seen as a fellow human being, and instead just as a ‘cog in the wheel’? Black maids were once treated with this despicable attitude by white women. They were not seen as intelligent women by most white people. While on the contrary, these black maids were very skilled in arts such as cooking, and giving advice, etc. The movie The Help gives its audience a perspective

During a conversation between the white women, Hilly remarked how it was dangerous to share the bathroom with their black maids. In her words, she remarked, “It’s just plain dangerous, they carry different diseases than we do” (Taylor, 2011). There was such a strong stereotype towards black maids having foreign germs that Hilly tried to pass a ‘disease-preventative bill’ that required the help of black maids to use a separate bathroom. Hilly proudly told her friends about this new bill by mentioning, “A disease-preventative bill that requires every white home to have a separate bathroom for the colored help. It has been endorsed by the White Citizen's Council” (Taylor, 2011). During these movie scenes, sadness could be seen on the faces of the maids. These women have spent years serving families and raising their children. After all of that, being treated as a diseased animal was heartbreaking. Such stereotypes were baseless and furthered the gap between whites and blacks. In the film The Help, it points out the wisdom the black maids had despite their race and culture. Some of the white women in The Help treated the black maids as if they had nothing to offer in life other than cleaning babies, pots, and pans. We see that this was not true with examples such as Constantine, who was Skeeter’s family’s

During one conversation in particular, Constantine told Skeeter, “Now you quit feeling sorry for yourself. Now that's ugly, too. Ugly is something that grows up from inside you. It's mean and hurtful, like them boys. Now you are not one of them, are you?” (Taylor, 2011). Race and culture does not define a person’s heart or wisdom. Another beautiful quote by a maid was, “God says we need to love our enemies”. It is hard to do. But it can start by telling the