Set in Mississippi during the 1960s, Skeeter (Emma Stone) is a southern society girl who returns from college determined to become a writer, but turns her friends' lives and a Mississippi town turns upside down when she decides to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of prominent southern families and showcase their hardships to the world. Aibileen (Viola Davis), Skeeter's best friend's housekeeper, is the first to open up to the dismay of her friends in the tight-knit black community. Despite Skeeter's life-long friendships hanging in the balance, she and Aibileen continue their collaboration and soon more women come forward to tell their stories and as it turns out, they have a lot to say. Along the way, unlikely friendships are forged and a new sisterhood emerges, but not before everyone in town has a thing or two to say themselves when they become unwittingly and unwillingly caught up in the changing times.
This is yet another Hollywood output where the story of the minorities is told through a morally righteous white person, but this time its done really well. Skeeter basically disappears after setting the movie up and only appears here and there when the story requires her and she leaves the floor for the others to shine. Institutional racism is fascinating and disturbing to watch, just like the sexism of the modern world which still exists in most countries. Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard), the antagonist in our tale, thinks of herself as a progressive thinker among her peers and yet her actions suggest otherwise. Her club's efforts to save the hungry children of Africa was ridiculously ironic and hilarious.
The disparity, hardships and social status of the black people just because of the colour of their skin back then isn't exploited to the maximum. The critiques hurled at this movie for not showing it is simply laughable. This is just a story where none of the women shown on screen got raped or abused, though there are various viewpoints to the term, by their white masters and one should respect the story for it and not judge based on what didn't happen to these characters. At least, this is not a falsification of history like the supposed true story of Argo. Our critics and society are unfairly critical of female-oriented and minority based movies. Nothing is more telling than the hate bashing of the Twilight movies, a simple tale told through the eyes of a girl and her love for a supernatural being.
I digress. The Help has a good story at its core, but its the strong performances by all the actors which is a sight to behold. Octavia Spencer won an Oscar for her efforts, though I do feel that her pie thing, though quite funny, was done in a slight distaste unbecoming of the movie, and Viola Davis was overlooked in my opinion. But it was Jessica Chastain, whom I liked in Lawless and Mama, who surprisingly impressed the hell out of me and was nominated for an Oscar for her role here. I was thinking that she'd just be another ditzy, suburban blonde, housewife/bombshell who I'd probably hate, but there was so much more to the woman and she made me empathize with her plight against all odds. She is definitely my new favourite actress. Emma Stone was infectious in her portrayal of Skeeter and the way her character's arc ended was realistic and sad. A charming, yet harrowing tale which doesn't overplay the aspect of racial discrimination to high levels.
7.5/10
This is yet another Hollywood output where the story of the minorities is told through a morally righteous white person, but this time its done really well. Skeeter basically disappears after setting the movie up and only appears here and there when the story requires her and she leaves the floor for the others to shine. Institutional racism is fascinating and disturbing to watch, just like the sexism of the modern world which still exists in most countries. Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard), the antagonist in our tale, thinks of herself as a progressive thinker among her peers and yet her actions suggest otherwise. Her club's efforts to save the hungry children of Africa was ridiculously ironic and hilarious.
The disparity, hardships and social status of the black people just because of the colour of their skin back then isn't exploited to the maximum. The critiques hurled at this movie for not showing it is simply laughable. This is just a story where none of the women shown on screen got raped or abused, though there are various viewpoints to the term, by their white masters and one should respect the story for it and not judge based on what didn't happen to these characters. At least, this is not a falsification of history like the supposed true story of Argo. Our critics and society are unfairly critical of female-oriented and minority based movies. Nothing is more telling than the hate bashing of the Twilight movies, a simple tale told through the eyes of a girl and her love for a supernatural being.
I digress. The Help has a good story at its core, but its the strong performances by all the actors which is a sight to behold. Octavia Spencer won an Oscar for her efforts, though I do feel that her pie thing, though quite funny, was done in a slight distaste unbecoming of the movie, and Viola Davis was overlooked in my opinion. But it was Jessica Chastain, whom I liked in Lawless and Mama, who surprisingly impressed the hell out of me and was nominated for an Oscar for her role here. I was thinking that she'd just be another ditzy, suburban blonde, housewife/bombshell who I'd probably hate, but there was so much more to the woman and she made me empathize with her plight against all odds. She is definitely my new favourite actress. Emma Stone was infectious in her portrayal of Skeeter and the way her character's arc ended was realistic and sad. A charming, yet harrowing tale which doesn't overplay the aspect of racial discrimination to high levels.
7.5/10