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Non-Controversy Surrounds 'The Help'

After hearing the controversy surrounding “The Help” I knew I had to see it. I’m so glad I did. The most discussed criticism of the movie came from The Association of Black Women Historians which made a statement saying the film “distorts, ignores, and trivializes the experiences of black domestic workers.”

I have to respectfully disagree and even found reviews from liberal sites like Salon that also shot down the racial controversies.

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The association’s first criticism of “The Help” is that it resurrects Mammy: a stereotype black woman who is loyal and content serving the rich white folk. The maids in “The Help” are the exact opposite. They are only loyal because they don’t want to be fired. They were not content. When a maid addresses her white boss her facial expression shows that she has just accepted the fact that this is her life; it does not mean she’s content. Abileen (played brilliantly by Viola Davis) said she knew she was going to be a maid because her mother was a maid and her grandmother was a house slave. The only white folk they truly love are the children and the few white adults who are nice to them. This movie does NOT “reveal a contemporary nostalgia” for these days. Instead, it made me glad that we are no longer divided.

Another criticism is the representation of African American culture (absentee males) and speech, calling it a childlike dialect. Their example is Abileen reassuring toddler Mae, “You is smat. You is kind. You is important.” Well, Mae is a child. Unless my children are in trouble, I tend to talk to them in a semi-child like dialect. I also figured Abileen said “smat” instead of “smart” because of her strong Southern accent. It’s also wrong to point out that the black males are not shown because the white males are not prominent either. The whole point of the movie is women, not males.

I didn’t find any comic relief when it came to their fears. There’s nothing funny about that. Minnie provided comic relief when she told off people, but deep down the audience is scared for her because you never know what will happen. At the same time, though, you admire Minnie for sticking up for herself.

“The Help” did not include the KKK or more prominent fighters for civil rights. If they did this movie would be a mini-series on HBO. Besides there have been so many movies and books about that area of the Civil Rights movement and this movie gives us a different viewpoint. They’re showing us how normal every day people lived their lives and how racism affects the lives of these normal people. Adding all of that would have clouded the plot too. The movie also shows that it just wasn’t men and the KKK who were racists. Even the everyday stay-at-home mother was a racist. They instilled terror into the black people just as much as the KKK. History tends to gloss over that. It wasn’t the same kind of terror the KKK caused, but these white women caused the black maids to walk on egg shells.

Finally, the association says it’s a coming of age movie for a white character. No. It’s a coming of age movie for Abileen and Minnie. Skeeter is just a supporting character. And at that time, unfortunately, especially in the heart of Jackson, Mississippi a white person was needed to tell a black woman’s story. Abileen and Minnie knew they could lose their lives if they were caught talking about white people the way they do.

I never knew how the everyday black woman faced life in the deep south in the 1960s. “The Help” gave me a new appreciation for the them and a deeper understanding of their struggles. It’s a movie everyone should see and I hope the Association of Black Women Historians changes their minds.

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