The Help

After writing my Oscar Nominations post, I realized that I hadn't reviewed The Help yet. So here it is. This is the endearing story of a college educated white aspiring writer who decides to write a book from the perspective of the help. She sees what they go through and wants to understand their feelings.

A surprisingly compelling and entertaining (at parts) movie that was both heartwarming and heartbreaking The Help is a wonderful tale from a terrible time in America's history. The story was great! The writing made me really hate Hilly (Bryce Dallas Howard) and obviously was supposed to make us side with the help and Skeeter Phelan (Emma Stone). The characters were vivid and well imagined from the book I'm sure was great. Luckily I watched this with my mother who had just finished the book before we watched it. She said some of the characters were exactly how she imagined them and one or two were nothing like she pictured. But that's what happens in adaptation from book to movie.

The acting from every person is outstanding! Emma Stone brings a quirky lovability to her character. Being a college student I could see how going to school would change her character's opinion on how the help is treated. Aibileen Clark, played beautifully by Viola Davis really brings a large chunk of the heart of this movie to the screen. She brings the pain and strength felt by many of the help of the time and makes it look easy. But the standout performance from this movie has to go to Octavia Spencer for her role as Minny Jackson. She easily has the win for supporting actress in the bag without question. Just a perfect role for her to play and she blew it out of the water. Jessica Chastain as Celia Foote was also great. An outcast from the bridge-playing club the other women were a part of she shows us the torment and torture her character feels and made a great mark on the movie!

Not only was it a great story and full of great acting, but I learned some things too! I learned that the help were responsible for raising the white-folks' children while their children were at home being taken care of by another child or another family member (if they were lucky). The white children spent so much time with the help that they thought of them as their mothers. Went to them with problems, questions, and help on various things. This was best evidenced in the relationship between Aibileen and Mae Mobley Leefolt.

"You is kind. You is smart. You is important."

8/10