On Saturday night, Jeff and I watched The Help. We haven't been out to the movies in years so by the time we saw this, I'd already heard and read about it.
Overall the movie was good. I was hooked by the story and the acting was excellent across the board.
But... My sense is that the movie was designed to make white people feel better in a "Oh, isn't it great that things have changed," kind of way."Now, we don't have to worry about racism anymore. After all, we have a black president."
Yes, much of the blatant Jim Crow racism is gone, but we remain a racist society.
Back to The Help, it suffered from being filtered through a white character, Skeeter. Skeeter is the one who guides (saves) Aibileen and Minny and later the other maids and nannies. Skeeter is the one who makes money from the book created from the stories of the help and Skeeter is the one who escapes Jackson, MS.
I think elle's take is insightful. I'd enjoy seeing the same cast in a version of the film focused on the title characters without Skeeter as the main character.
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