My little review of "The Help."

[CTyankee]

I guess I feel somewhat qualified to comment on this film as a Southerner who migrated north (many reasons, but also to live in a less racially vicious society).

This kind of "socially conscious" movie pushes all my buttons and makes me long for just a bit of European film "nuance." But alas, I live here and this is what Hollywood serves up.

At its best are strong performances, such as Viola Davis' and Octavia Spencer's, which succeed despite the Hollywoodization of their status. I don't know what could be done about the white women's personifications as monsters, created by a monstrous system. Doubtless it did and it was, but again we aren't any better enlightened about them -- and I wish the film had at least attempted that -- but that didn't materialize at least to me.

After Davis' and Spencer's performances, the most fulfilling performance, IMO, was Jessica Chastain, as the hapless Celia. Chastain has true star quality...that is, the ability to make you care about what happens to her in the story. The script later evolves her into a saint-like status, which verges on the morbid, but she grabs you in her earlier scenes and makes you pay attention to her.

But again, the truly noble and honest portrayal in this movie are the African American women whose own grief, pain, sorrow, outrage and heartbreak seep throughout the film's fabric...

[ZombieHorde]

1. My wife is reading the book, and she tells me it's great.

Thanks for the review; recommended.

[virgogal]

2. I liked "The Help" and see some academy award nominations

for Davis and Spencer. I enjoyed Jessica Chastain better in "The Debt", a wonderful film.

[Booster]

3. I really want to see "The Debt". I found "The Help" to be a

little slow, but can't say I didn't like it. The performances were great; one of the morning shows did a piece on the book and movie and reunited some real white women with the black nannies and I found that much more moving than the movie. One woman was telling her nanny how grateful she was to be taught everything in life and how wonderful she was and I kept thinking "damn, woman, your real Mom is standing right there with you". At any rate I did like the movie.

[Tx4obama]

5. Is this it ?

Real-Life 'The Help': Maid, Child She Cared for Reunited After 20 Years
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/real-life-maid-child-cared-reunited-20-years/story?id=14079986

20/20 full show VIDEO: http://abc.go.com/watch/2020/SH559026/VD55135423/2020-715-finding-the-help

[Booster]

17. Yes. Thanks for finding this; I really wanted to watch it again.

[Curmudgeoness]

4. Before the anti-Help discussion starts, I want to include

my admiration for the portrayals of the lives of black women in the south in the early 1960's. I know that it could not have been easy for these actresses to take these roles of maids/nannies/stereotypes. My hat is off to how well they performed. It must have been difficult.

And then there is Celia Foote, who was much more real than the Junior League women who shunned her just because she wasn't one of "them".

[CTyankee]

8. I agree with what you are saying. This movie is, and should belong to, the black maids

who were subjugated to indignities in the South leading up to the early 1960s. This was a horrible time in the South. As a white woman, I got the hell out and went North to college, and then to marriage and leaving the South forever (my plan). I simply could no live in that society, Period.

I liked the movie more than didn't like it. I am critical only because it didn't do what I feel it should have done (but, honestly, probably woudn't have done). So what?

[Little Star]

6. Did you know that Michelle Obama held a private screening ..

of The Help at the White House? Just thought that was a interesting side note.

I read the book and saw the movie. I really enjoyed both.

[riderinthestorm]

7. Can't believe you didn't mentioned Sissy Spacek! She was a scene stealer if you ask me.

Beside the rest of your excellent review, I just have to give a shout-out to her.

[CTyankee]

11. Sorry, yes, she had a great performance! She really rips it!

I try not to get too close to "white people all fired up about civil rights" stuff. Yes, I know the portrayal she had in the movie was honestly done about a woman with a moral center (even as she was losing it) was good, no doubt about it. So I'm fine with that.

I just thought the movie was a bit disjunctive, without delivering the final punch. I guess we know what that punch is: we were a bunch of racists and now we're paying for it...

[WCGreen]

9. Trying to pass judgment on people who grew up in a system that

was their whole life is easy when you are some fifty years away from that reality.

Now I am not referring to you, CTYankee, I am referring to all the people who write about a life they really know nothing about.

They make it out as if it would be just so easy to change your way of looking at things if only you would just reject everything everyone around you accepted as the norm.

It takes a certain kind of courage to realize that the life you landed in via the accident of birth is morally wrong and that you are willing to have yourself potentially ostracized by pointing out that the way you, meaning absolutly everyone else, look at the world is wrong.

It's easy to see once the paradigm shifts. Usually it is instantaneous.

But until that moment, think about where you would be up to the moment that that critical moment was breached.

All I am saying it is easy to be a liberal after the fact.

[CTyankee]

13. As a kid growing up in Texas, I saw it pretty clearly.

I had been accepted to a northern school for college and I opted for it, because I wanted to live in the North in the U.S. It was a direct result of the civil right movement, which I took very seriously.

Like most kids, I didn't know much about life, but this was one thing I was adamant about. I did not want to live in a racist society any more. My parents didn't understand. The rest of my family didn't either. It was considered almost a crime not to stay and live in Texas...I left anyway and basically, never came back to live. I was told to my face that it was wrong not to stay in Texas (really!).

It wasn't hard to come East. Once I got out of college and moved to NYC I was in heaven. It was a great place to be in the late 60s. I don't regret it for one minute!

[ashling]

18. I grew up in Texas and my mon was from Philadelphia MS

And, yes, those junior league types did exist.

I think the movie was very good and well acted.

[muffin1]

10. I haven't seen it, but if Viola Davis is as good in this as I've heard (and as she is in everything)

she damned well better win an Academy Award. She is fab-u-lous.

[southernyankeebelle]

12. I am sure many of the things are true in the film. Now being older and you

see more rich people across the racial line I find that anyone who is rich can abuse a worker of theirs no matter what color they are. I am not saying that the black community didn't experience bad things because I know they did. I am just saying any rich person in todays life and times can and have been abusive of people across racial lines.

[Number23]

14. Everyone talks about the incredibly powerful acting of Spencer and Davis in this movie

Wonder when the cosmetics deals/magazine covers/media frenzy surrounding these two will begin?

[Tx4obama]

15. Here's a link to a bunch of interviews with the actresses and film clips

Here's a link to a bunch of interviews with the actresses, trailer, and film clips

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1454029/videogallery

[customerserviceguy]

16. It was a very good movie

Some really funny parts, but a lot of sad ones as well. There will be some Oscar nominations, for sure.