The Help Analysis
Films and novels are effective at presenting representations of social groups in society with the effective use of context to persuade an audience, as well as the issues and ideas which were faced in history or are now faced in the present. The 2011 American Drama film The Help won multiple awards for its construction and delivery. The Help details the African-American maids perspective and their opinions about the white families for which they work. The film is mainly shot in Skeeters perspective who is a white journalist, as she deals with an overprotective mother, sexist behavior from society and an extremely racist community. Context has both been a positive and a negative element in the film as it has affected the way in which people
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with different opinions view it. The Help’s context affects how the story has been conveyed due to many different perspectives from the audience and so the film has generated many negative reviews. The Help has been effective in utilizing the context of America such as the Civil Rights Movement due to the racism shown towards African-Americans, to effectively portray ideas about unity, strength, power, equality and love and reflect on the history of the pain caused during the civil rights era. The Help has presented a rather confronting examination of the Civil Rights Era in the 1960’s, presenting two dominant and very different perspectives such as the African Americans housemaids and the white women to encourage new ideas about sexism, discrimination and abuse due to the context of America.
Tate Taylor's controversial film, The Help sparked many positive opinions, however it also generated some negative comments with some people or groups (such as the Association of Black Womens Historians) saying that the film was ineffective at representing the true events which occurred to the Black Maids, such as rape, abuse from employers and financial difficulties in the 1960’s. They also commented on the films lack in other perspectives such as that of the Black Males and they found it ironic that a film about the African American housemaids in the 1960’s was focused on the white female (Skeeter) as the protagonist and as the central character, pointing out that the film was shot in her perspective. These negative comments are opinions, and though they are right in what they say, these opinions are sparked from a variation in context. Tate Taylor and Kathryn Stockett each have different contexts as they are different people with different views and opinions, however they are both white, meaning that it makes it very hard to create a text in the perspective of someone else (such as the African Americans) and to make the issues relevant to all of society.
Despite the varying context, The Help has been effective at conveying ideas about equality, unity, strength, power, friendships and love by using issues, which affected everyone in America thus making it relevant to the whites and the African Americans.
The Help has used major issues such as The Civil Rights Movement, the assassination of Medgar Evers and Marin Luther King as these are well known events in the History of America which allow all people to relate which therefore encourages new opinions based around the ideas presented. In one scene where Medger Evers, a popular cicil rights activist is shot, the camera shows a police officer boarding a bus to tell Abileen and another African American who are both seated in the ‘coloured’ section to get off of the bus as it is too unsafe for the whites to sit with the dark skinned people. Abilene and the other man get off the bus and they both run with the fear of being harmed, the camera zooms into Aibileens fear stricken facial expression and her struggle to run with all of her equipment from her work at the Mobelys house encourages empathy from the viewer, as in this scene we are sown the ignorance and obliviousness as well as the sadistic hatred of the white people towards the black people. We are able to see the horrors that the African Americans suffered, how they must have felt and how horrible the white people were. In todays society this is relevant as we are very much focused on gender and race equality as well as anti discrimination which would further the viewer’s disgust to how white people used to behave and how selfish they
were.
Context has been an important aspect in The Help which affects how the viewer understands ideas which have been conveyed about important issues. The ideas presented are relevant to our society as we now are focused on equality, fairness and anti-violence between families and governments and races. Tate Taylor has been able to effectively represent three dominant social groups; women, African Americans, White Americans, through using the context of America. Taylor has used his understanding of context to convey ideas about unity, strength, love and equality to an audience with a variety of different perspectives with many different experiences to make an impact on their opinions and values. Overall, the film has used perspective and context to encourage new ideas about social groups.
with different opinions view it. The Help’s context affects how the story has been conveyed due to many different perspectives from the audience and so the film has generated many negative reviews. The Help has been effective in utilizing the context of America such as the Civil Rights Movement due to the racism shown towards African-Americans, to effectively portray ideas about unity, strength, power, equality and love and reflect on the history of the pain caused during the civil rights era. The Help has presented a rather confronting examination of the Civil Rights Era in the 1960’s, presenting two dominant and very different perspectives such as the African Americans housemaids and the white women to encourage new ideas about sexism, discrimination and abuse due to the context of America.
Tate Taylor's controversial film, The Help sparked many positive opinions, however it also generated some negative comments with some people or groups (such as the Association of Black Womens Historians) saying that the film was ineffective at representing the true events which occurred to the Black Maids, such as rape, abuse from employers and financial difficulties in the 1960’s. They also commented on the films lack in other perspectives such as that of the Black Males and they found it ironic that a film about the African American housemaids in the 1960’s was focused on the white female (Skeeter) as the protagonist and as the central character, pointing out that the film was shot in her perspective. These negative comments are opinions, and though they are right in what they say, these opinions are sparked from a variation in context. Tate Taylor and Kathryn Stockett each have different contexts as they are different people with different views and opinions, however they are both white, meaning that it makes it very hard to create a text in the perspective of someone else (such as the African Americans) and to make the issues relevant to all of society.
Despite the varying context, The Help has been effective at conveying ideas about equality, unity, strength, power, friendships and love by using issues, which affected everyone in America thus making it relevant to the whites and the African Americans.
The Help has used major issues such as The Civil Rights Movement, the assassination of Medgar Evers and Marin Luther King as these are well known events in the History of America which allow all people to relate which therefore encourages new opinions based around the ideas presented. In one scene where Medger Evers, a popular cicil rights activist is shot, the camera shows a police officer boarding a bus to tell Abileen and another African American who are both seated in the ‘coloured’ section to get off of the bus as it is too unsafe for the whites to sit with the dark skinned people. Abilene and the other man get off the bus and they both run with the fear of being harmed, the camera zooms into Aibileens fear stricken facial expression and her struggle to run with all of her equipment from her work at the Mobelys house encourages empathy from the viewer, as in this scene we are sown the ignorance and obliviousness as well as the sadistic hatred of the white people towards the black people. We are able to see the horrors that the African Americans suffered, how they must have felt and how horrible the white people were. In todays society this is relevant as we are very much focused on gender and race equality as well as anti discrimination which would further the viewer’s disgust to how white people used to behave and how selfish they
were.
Context has been an important aspect in The Help which affects how the viewer understands ideas which have been conveyed about important issues. The ideas presented are relevant to our society as we now are focused on equality, fairness and anti-violence between families and governments and races. Tate Taylor has been able to effectively represent three dominant social groups; women, African Americans, White Americans, through using the context of America. Taylor has used his understanding of context to convey ideas about unity, strength, love and equality to an audience with a variety of different perspectives with many different experiences to make an impact on their opinions and values. Overall, the film has used perspective and context to encourage new ideas about social groups.