The Help: Themes in the Movie
‘The Help’ Movie
The Help is a movie that has been adapted from a bestselling novel by Kathryn Stockett. The story revolves around Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960s. The storyline is developed from the point of views of Aibileen Clark, Eugenia ‘Skeeter’ Phelan and Minny Jackson. Skeeter is a white young lady who has aspired to be a writer. Her break into the same materialized when she was availed an opportunity to transcribe the Black maid’s experiences in the town. It is quite evident that each of the maids worked for a white family. In the beginning of the endeavor, only the maid by the name of Clark was willing to share her experiences, albeit reluctantly. When Minny joined her, there was a further influx of other maids who were willing to tell Skeeter their stories.
Skeeter’s writing of her novel is against a background of having being raised by a black maid and having a mother who was unyielding and who expected that Skeeter would adhere to every instruction that was given to her (Perry, 2011). This paper discusses the themes that are evident in the movie and how the same have developed therein. These include the themes of racism and social segregation, gender inequality, and unity.
The stories that the Black maids told Skeeter for her novel revealed that the Jackson society at that time was very racist. The maids were unappreciated by their white employers as well as disrespected in the manner in which they were treated. The wages that they were paid were deplorable when compared to the work that was assigned to them. They were the ones that raised their white employers’ children without the input of the parents. This was despite the fact that the Blacks were considered dirty, lazy, disease–ridden and having less intelligence that the average white person. Further, the movie showed that it was quite dangerous to attempt to challenge stereotyping and pursue the dissolution of the lines that separated citizens based on the color
The Help is a movie that has been adapted from a bestselling novel by Kathryn Stockett. The story revolves around Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960s. The storyline is developed from the point of views of Aibileen Clark, Eugenia ‘Skeeter’ Phelan and Minny Jackson. Skeeter is a white young lady who has aspired to be a writer. Her break into the same materialized when she was availed an opportunity to transcribe the Black maid’s experiences in the town. It is quite evident that each of the maids worked for a white family. In the beginning of the endeavor, only the maid by the name of Clark was willing to share her experiences, albeit reluctantly. When Minny joined her, there was a further influx of other maids who were willing to tell Skeeter their stories.
Skeeter’s writing of her novel is against a background of having being raised by a black maid and having a mother who was unyielding and who expected that Skeeter would adhere to every instruction that was given to her (Perry, 2011). This paper discusses the themes that are evident in the movie and how the same have developed therein. These include the themes of racism and social segregation, gender inequality, and unity.
The stories that the Black maids told Skeeter for her novel revealed that the Jackson society at that time was very racist. The maids were unappreciated by their white employers as well as disrespected in the manner in which they were treated. The wages that they were paid were deplorable when compared to the work that was assigned to them. They were the ones that raised their white employers’ children without the input of the parents. This was despite the fact that the Blacks were considered dirty, lazy, disease–ridden and having less intelligence that the average white person. Further, the movie showed that it was quite dangerous to attempt to challenge stereotyping and pursue the dissolution of the lines that separated citizens based on the color
References: Perry, K. (2011). The help by Kathryn Stockett: notes. Melbourne: CAE Book Groups. Stockett, K. (2009). The help. New York: Amy Einhorn Books.