NOTE: The following is my personal response to the movie The Help - not a review. I'll likely spoil a lot of plot developments for people who haven't seen the movie, so if you want a spoiler-free review, please disconnect from the internet, because you're looking in the wrong place.
Maybe it's because I come from one of the most culturally homogeneous states in America, but movies about African-American history always provoke a LOT of thought... and, sadly, a lot of skepticism. I watch movies like Glory Road and Remember the Titans, for example, and can't help but feel that the stories are a tamed and a bit white-washed (if you'll forgive the deliberate and racially-charged pun). The racism always feels a bit cushioned and tailor-made for optimum drama - almost as if Hollywood doesn't actually WANT to promote open and frank discussion of some of America's most historically shameful behavior.
I felt similar unease after watching The Help - which, for the record, is very well-done and thought-provoking. The film balances its presentation of discrimination and hate with scenes of real human heart and comedy, so the whole thing never feels too oppressive.
And that may be my biggest problem with the movie: The Help treats the race issue in 1960's Mississippi almost as if it were the plot of a sitcom, with a despicable, baby-eating villain who gets an ironic and "cah-RAZ-y" comeuppance by the end of the show. The film tries to be a comedy and a drama, but it really can't have it both ways. As a result, we wind up with some... awkward moments.
The character Minny (played by Octavia Spencer) best exemplifies what I'm talking about. She is something of a comic relief character: sassy, sarcastic, and headstrong, with a deep and abiding love for fried chicken. Now, maybe I'm overly sensitive, but I saw that as a potentially negative stereotype.
Then, about halfway through the movie, I experienced about the most uncomfortable laugh I've ever had in a movie. Minny visits her employer - a lower class white woman who is, herself, quite comical. Minny tries to speak to the woman through a locked door, but the woman repeatedly tells her to go home. Finally, Minny charges into the door and breaks it open. The audience bursts into laughter... and then we cut to the woman, lying on the floor and covered in blood. She just miscarried.
I've been thinking about the character Minny ever since, wondering if she was an unintentional stereotype, or maybe she represents a purposeful attempt to reclaim negative black stereotypes in the same way Dick Gregory tried to reclaim the word "nigger" with his autobiography (worth checking out for anyone interested in the Civil Rights movement).
In the end, I have to say it doesn't really matter what she "represents." Minny's portrayed sympathetically and, more importantly, three-dimensionally. True, she's a poor woman with several kids, an abusive husband, and a love for fried chicken, but she also has a strong sense of justice, a good sense of humor, and powerful friendships Mr. Rogers would be envious of. So maybe I'm the racist one here.
The Help, though, is worth seeing whether I'm racist or not.
3 comments:
I can't stand it when people get upset about stereotypes when they are actually neutral. I had a participant in one of my events call in upset because we were so cruel and insensitive. Wanna know what bugged her? That the presenter said that often people from the south talk a little bit slower because of their southern drawl. I hate to sound insensitive, but...REALLY?!?! People from the south have a southern drawl, how is that meant to be mean in any way? I don't get mad when someone says, "Short people can't reach the top shelf." These are just facts. People are different. Too many people look for insult. Have you been to the south? I've been many times. I've had many southern roommates. Half of my family lives in the south. And if you try to pretend that most people there don't have a deep and abiding love for fried chicken, well, you'd be crazy. It's just fact.
And the whole busting down the door scene...I don't remember anyone in the theater laughing, but maybe I was too into the movie because I knew what was going on before the door got busted down. A woman who is pregnant crying in the bathroom and refusing to let anyone in? Yeah...can't be good news. I actually felt that scene was very indicative of a character change for this maid. She hated her work and her employers and yet always did as she was told. This time, she defied that because she actually cared about this woman - so much so that she was willing to damage the house (which would have gotten her VERY fired at her previous employers) and disobey her orders to make sure that the woman was okay. And then she stayed there with her. I thought it was huge.
Interpretation of characters and movies are like insults though - you find whatever you want to find if you are looking hard enough:-)
And for anyone who may read this...despite all the cliche's and all that - you HAVE to see this movie!!! The characters are a little intentionally emotionally manipulative, like a 5-course meal of "here is what you are supposed to feel," but you have to see this movie.
The end.
Anyone who skipped Larissa's lengthy comment should go back and read it - excellent reading of the "problem" scene.
Ha- thanks Stephen:-)
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