THE HELP (2011)

Another film not seen in the cinema.   

Rave reviews were rightfully appropriated for The Help.  Such a spectacular effort from the entire cast and what a delight it is that the cast is almost entirely women.  

The Help is the story of black women working as maids for a still very racist community in 60's Mississippi .  (Most reviews describe the film as a story about a young white woman and her relationship with the maids.)  Skeeter Phelan (Emma Stone), an aspiring author and vastly different from her white counterparts, decides to write a book about the help.  A friend's maid Abileen (Viola Davis) makes the risky decision to offer Skeeter the material she needs.  Abileen has lived a hard life and suffers the pain of her son's suspicious death on a white man's farm.   Abileen inspires other maids, including her best friend Minny (Octavia Spencer), to share their stories with Skeeter.  The stories are many things.  They're sad, they're funny and they’re infuriating, mostly sad and infuriating.  The book gets published to the furor of some but the delight of many.  The film's conclusion is vastly different from its beginning with many of the women making drastic changes.  Abileen, who is quite the centre of the film, makes the decision to leave the family she works for, a bittersweet decision because of her attachment to the little girl.  On to brighter things we truly hope.

Each and every performance in The Help is exceptional.  Bryce Dallas Howard, playing the film's lead antagonist, does a phenomenal job as a Bleep.  Emma Stone of course does her part justice.  Viola Davis is always effective at stirring emotion.  Octavia Spencer, as the film's most memorable character, is more than entertaining.  Personal favorite was Jessica Chastain's Celia Foote.

The picture is beautifully done and the story is not only relayed tastefully but also effectively.  Some reviews allowed for discourse on the matter of a white woman being the pioneer for the stories of oppressed black women.  All well and good for the college courses but does it really matter who wrote the book?  And it so happened and happens that way sometimes across the spectrum, whether it's white for black, men for women, the West for the Rest.  Not all of the formers oppressed the latters.

It's always appreciated when a film comes along that gives a glimpse of history when times weren't nice at all.  It's uncomfortable but it's helpful (not intended).  

See The Help because it's a good movie, plain and simple.  It has a few nominations for the upcoming Oscars so if you care for the awards you might want to see why.

Aside:

Can we stop criticizing the Academy Awards for being self-congratulatory?  Aren't most award ceremonies?  And what's wrong with congratulating yourself anyway?  And no I don't care that some actors I actually really like don't care to attend.  Personally, I won't turn down free champagne and the opportunity to observe the acting animal.  Call them pretentious, call them ridiculously extravagant, call them inconvenient but don't call them self-congratulatory.  It goes without saying.