The Help has certainly garnered its share of attention and awards. Many critics, including some highly respected reviewers, have unreservedly praised the film. The performances of Viola Davis and others mesmerized many moviegoers and are indeed outstanding. Some people have complained about the trite and oversimplified plot — that it is more fairy tale than history — but these comments often get lost among the raves and award mentions.
I agree that it is a fairy tale. More than that, it is a harmful fairy tale.
As in many movies with historical settings, it is easy to be seduced into thinking that the plot at least echoes the actual history. That is what makes The Help harmful. For African Americans living in Mississippi and elsewhere in the South during the early 1960s, “history as it actually happened” was an unending sequence of terror and violence. Perceived — let alone actual — offenses against white people most often had disastrous and life-ending consequences. (From 1882 through 1968,Mississippi experienced the most lynchings of any state in the Union.)
Consider one of the film’s most important scenes. When Minny, a domestic worker, served up a pie full of excrement to the most vicious of the white women, she lost her job. If she actually had served up such a pie during that time, there is a very high probability that she would have lost her life, family members would have lost theirs, or — at a minimum — she would have been “taught a lesson” more severe than job displacement. In an era that produced the brutal assassinations of Medgar Evers (a Civil Rights activist in Mississippi, who was killed in 1963) and many others, are we so naïve as to believe that losing one’s job would be the ultimate penalty for offending a white employer in such a manner? And while Medgar Evers’ death was mentioned in the film, it seems strange that its impact on the African American characters was largely ignored. The true story, of course, would not make an award-winning Hollywood movie, but instead an R-rated film full of lynchings, constant fear, and brutal beatings. That would be shameful as opposed to celebratory, and shameful doesn’t sell in Hollywood!
Also missing from the movie version of The Help (it was addressed in the book) is the rape of African American women by the “master” of the house. Why was that left out? In the film, the worst indignity involves the unwillingness of some white women to give their African American domestic workers — who cleaned for them, cooked for them, and cared for their children — permission to use their toilets. This is indeed a fairy tale version of what life was really like for those women.
In this context — with its pervasive fear, the constant threat of brutality, and the justified resentment it engendered — it is nearly inconceivable that African American women who worked as domestic workers in the early sixties would “rise up” to tell their stories to a white writer, even if it was someone they knew. They would have been putting their lives and their families in harm’s way. True, many brave African Americans did put their lives and families on the line to gain their civil rights (with the support of some white allies), and The Help does give us snapshots of the women’s fear of talking about their experiences. Ultimately, though, that fear — like most of the realities of that time — is downplayed.
Why does this matter? Because this false rewrite of history provides a false sense of what happened in the United States. By making the U.S. and Mississippi look better than they were at the time, the film joins a movement that is already too much in abundance: glossing over or erasing the true description of the plight of people who have been oppressed by systems that are still impacting millions today.
The movie’s conclusion leaves viewers content with the sense that the system of white privilege has been breached: that “the help” are the victors. As such, it obscures two facts that are critical for us to understand if we are to appreciate and advance the cause of dialogue about race. First, the struggle for civil rights went on far longer (indeed, it still goes on) and was far more perilous than the early 1960s as portrayed in The Help. Second, what The Help tells us is that we still live in a society that wants to underplay the role and impact of racism. Clearly, we have a long way to go.
What do you think?
Comments
History in Hollywood
I think it is quite obvious that someone in the movie industry is going to try to make a film that is going to sell. Yes, throughout american history there have been travesties that have been forgotten that should not, but that isn't to say that the movie industry is a fault when a film is produced that does not show the whole story. This movie is exactly that. If we took movies as whole truths, we would believe in galactic warfare and if we wear an athletes old shoes we will become good at sports. I think this is being quite over analyzed and needs to just be looked at as entertainment. Yes, a member of the movie going public might see this film and not get a good idea of the real history of the time, but more likely than not that wasn't the reason they were going to the movie anyways. History is rarely ever portrayed well or correctly in Hollywood but I really don't think it is quite a big of a travesty as we may be making it out to be.
response
i do agree with you in the fact that the movie industry should not be scrutinized over making an entertaining movie, however, i do believe that the movie industry should hold some credibilty when it comes to representing actual historic events. sure i would not mind some suspensful unecessary plot but i would much rather see some historical accuracy. i think it is ignorant of you to compare a movie such as "the help" to the movie "Like Mike". not to mention star wars, like mike, and the help are three different movie genres and for you to compare them to one another is absolutly ridiculous.
book too
Don't forget that this was a book first, so it is all on how the movie industry decided to portray what was written in the book.
I agree
Sure this movie does not portray historical events accurately but as others have mentioned already, Hollywood is not all about precision of events. Hollywood filmmakers are greatly concerned about the impact the movie will make on its audience and how capitivated they will be. If the movie focused greatly on the negative aspects of history, others would feel that the movie would probably belong in the History Channel rather than in the cinemas. I have read the book and saw the movie and I actually imagined Minnys abuse from her husband to be more serious but the abuse was only portrayed behind the walls where the audience only heard Minny screaming and pans being thrown against the wall. I believe portraying the abuse this way allowed the movie to show a lighter portrayal of the abuse so as not to shock the audience since so many issues are already happening. Hollywood is indeed all about making it big and I believe writing the story in the way that they did captured a general view of history that audiences accepted.
In addition
The points that you brought up within your statements are almost identical as what I was thinking when analyzing this topic. One thing I would add would be that no matter what there will always be discrepencies within the film industries and therefore these discussions will always take place. I believe that what happened in history needs to be taught more accurately but I do not think it needs to be shown in a movie.
Hardly any help
this is supposed to be story of triumph over racial injustice, The Help distorts, ignores, and trivializes the experiences of black domestic workers. there should be concern about the representations of black life and the lack of attention given to sexual harassment and civil rights activism.
Agreed
I agree with the points that you bring up in this comment. The movie incorrectly portrays what actually happened to the African Americans, and what they had to go through. The movie puts somewhat of a different spin on what happened, so people don't always learn the full detail of the events the African Americans had to endure.
Success over accuracy
This is just a proven fact that not just the movie industry, America tries to cover the past that they don't necessarily like, or they try to make it look better. This movie was not made to educate people it was made to entertain and make money. If people want an accurate account of what happened watch a documentary not a hollywood movie.
Truth
I agree with you when you say that people sometimes distort the truth in order to promote their own personal agendas, like how teachers don't often tell their students the full truth about Christopher Columbus and his exploits. However, I feel it is a bit radical to say that "America tries to cover the past" since I feel that this country has been based off of learning from its mistakes and attempting to make a better future. I think the blame should be placed on the ignorance of the people in the world who neglect to seek out the truth in things, not the entire country.
Up's and Down's of 'The Help"
In a world driven by money and power, it is predictable that movie makers want to produce a movie that will garner a great deal of attention, and thus, make money. I have seen the movie and enjoyed it a great deal, but noticed many discrepancies within the movie that I deemed to be inaccurate that were also highlighted in the text above. I agree that some of the things the "help" did, like the pie that was served to one of the white women would result in more severe repercussions, but felt that the movie utilized that scene to insert some comedic facets into the film. I enjoyed the scene because it demonstrated an African Americans "triumph" over her oppressors, even though she lost her job. I think it is important to realize that this was a book first and the book is what the movie is based off of. Although I agree with the article when it comes to the way the movie excluded important scenes that occur in the book, it is important to understand that this book was not meant to be a work of non-fiction, and therefore it was meant for entertainment purposes and some vague historical illusions. What people choose to take out of it is up to them.
Help
One way to send a significant message about history is through film. Movies such as "The Passion of Christ" and even "Schindler's List" were remarkable films that really portrayed the brutality of historical events and portrayed what "really" happened. These films inlcuded blood, violence and extremley disturbing images to really help express the actual events. These movies although may not be the most popular, could be considered the most influential and powerful in a sense. This movie did leave out the sexual harassment of woman as well as slaves instantaneously loosing their lives. However, if the movie is still able to portray the powerful message that it desires without that part of history, than leave it to another movie to do that.
Moving Forward
I think it is important to remember history, so that we are less likely to repeat the horrors of the past. This movie is a lighter film and may not be considered as heavy as a movie such as "Schindler's List" but if it is able to portray the message that it desires to the extent that the filmakers want then maybe including things such as sexual harrassment and murder can be used in a different film. The controversy that is evident though is why the fimlakers chose to leave the more brutal events of the past out such as rape and murder? Was it on purpose? What type of message is this sending?
True
I agree one can question whether leaving some of these things out were on purpose for racial motives or just financial motives. Although showing all the historical evidence could have made the film too graphic they still could have included a lot more and still made a movie that was powerful more historically accurate and been in considerations for oscar considerations.
Hollywood Not Always Accurate
I believe that this movie is a great example of why movies are not always accurate. Sometimes, the movie producers will cover up the facts that they do not want the people to know about, since most people would rather go see the movie than spend time reading the book. This way, the people have only the movie to refer to, and will make their judgments and provide information based off of what they have seen. Also, I believe that movie producers only care about what will make them the most money, not about being accurate with information all the time. This goes along with the last example, because the movie producers know that the people generally would not want to hear about African Americans getting killed, or the African Americans getting raped, so they decide to leave that part out of the movie. That way, it will appeal to the audience in a greater sense than it would if those parts had been included. It is supposed to represent what actually happened to African Americans, so leaving certain parts out just because they won't "appeal" to the audience leaves much room for the movie industry to be scrutinized for this production.
Entertainment Not Education
I believe that this movie did leave out some of the more important details dealing with the life of an African American. But with that said I think that the producers of a movie are not so much worried about being completely historically accurate because the main reason they are writing a movie is to make money. They are in a tough position because they need to make their films accurate enough that people can believe them but not too accurate that it is too graphic for the audience. When watching a Hollywood film I don’t think the audience can be as judgmental about historical facts because overall, the main purpose for a movie is to entertain.
Agreed
I agree that movies are for entertainment and to make money. They do have to make things not to graphic for the audience. In a way I believe that a part of the reason that they do not tell the whole truth is because the problems that the movie could have with society and the reactions that people may have to what really happened.
I think this is right it does
I think this is right it does leave out those things that were mentioned and i do understand that this leads to some of the naivety that still exist in today's society about how bad racism really was in that time. It would have been a way powerful film if it did include those things. That being said it's a hollywood movie and the movie industry is bias if they included everything it probably would have been rated NC-17 which is never picked up by major movie theaters. If you watch the documentary "This Film Not Yet Rated" you'll see that movies that are usually really racially charged or pressing things like gay rights are usually given this rating as a form of censorship. So in order for them to even get some of the message out there and to a greater amount of people, being a pg-13 film they had to scale those things back. Dangerous in a way but gets some of the message out there.
The Help
My mom bought the book for me and reccommended that I read it because she enjoyed it. She grew up in the segregated south and I could not understand why she enjoyed this book so much. Then I began to query and delve deeper into what might be a part of her reasoning. The horrific atrocities that she was forced to bear witness to (directly or indirectly), the constant threat of violence and the terrorizing, must have been an overwhelming psychological and emotional burden to have experienced. It is not so surprising that she too would like to remember her lived history as more of a fairytale, "segregation light" even if its only for a couple of hours, because relieving the abuses and injustices she experienced may function as a way to reinjure and reopen wounds that still have yet to heal.
Now to be clear, my mother is an extremely socially aware person. Under no circumstance does she actually believe that this book/movie represents the actual experiences of domestic workers in the south, because she was there...for her it was simply entertainment.
Unfortunately, as the author points out, this movement to waterdown one of the worst acts of genocide committed against an entire group of people has gone too far. The only way to heal the wounds of racism is to acknowledge that it exists and talk about it honestly and openly from all sides of the spectrum, from the most privileged to the most oppressed. Together as a society we can begin to heal. It has long since been time to have an honest discussion about racism, segregation, slavery and genocide, from both the past and the present with aspirations to not relive it in the future combined with action to ensure it never happens again.
My mother represents a fast decreasing minority and while she may have the insight to understand that "The Help" is in no way indicative of the true realities of that era; our young people do not. It is up to us to continue to challenge these notions of "slavery light" and "segregation light", otherwise there will always be a demand to watch a fairytale. If we can eliminate the demand the supply will follow. Hollywood will have to find another societal ill to exploit, but fret not...the pool from which to choose is so large I'm sure they won't have much trouble finding one. Or maybe I'm being too pessimistic?
Yah, probably not.
The Help
I had never really thought about this issue before. I guess I was just another one of the people who watched the film and thought it was great based on it entertainment value. I am sure that Minny would have received much more sever consequences if she had served a pie like that during that time period. If the film was a reflection of reality it would not make as much money because people want to see someone succeed and rise up against evil.