Last year I read The Help and last week I saw the movie. I enjoyed the book and the movie, but a lot of Black people didn't. Many Black people even refuse to support the movie. Being a Black woman who has read the entire book and watched the movie, here are my thoughts.
It doesn't portray the Civil Rights Movement.
I agree. It is not a documentary or nonfiction. It is not meant to be a chapter in college history books. It is a fictional book written within the backdrop of important historical events. If you want to know more details about the Civil Rights Movement and the people/events within it, you will not find it in this book or movie. The author chose to put the Civil Rights Movement in the background of her novel. It is not meant to be Roots, Schindler's List, or Dances With Wolves. The movie did not go into the lynching, raping, killing, and overall violence and hatred of that time. The author wanted to focus more on the themes of loyalty and relationships. Relationships between caregiver and child, friends, mothers and daughters, and employers and their employees.
It was written by a White woman. What does she know?
I have read a lot of historical fiction books, and many have not been written by the culture/religion/race that is being portrayed. I have read books about injustices done to people all over the world, of different cultures, religions, and races. I have watched movies about the CRM told from a White perspective as well as movies about the CRM told from a black perspective. They were both very different, but I can't say that one was "right" and the other was "wrong". There were things I didn't agree with, but that doesn't mean it did or did not happen. Historical fiction is written to make you aware that certain events happened. It is up to you to do your own research to find out more accurate facts.
It showcases poor Black women as servants and rich, White educated women.
It does. It centers around Black women with limited opportunities and their relationships with their rich, White employers. If the Black women were from upper class areas and not in the South, they wouldn't have been maids. If the White women were poor, they wouldn't have maids, and there would be no book or movie. Even with that said, the Black characters in the book were trying to make the best as they could out of their situation (sending kids to college or school, saving money, planning for the future) as well as keeping their faith and families intact. The movie focused on the small circle of maids and employers, so we weren't shown much outside of that small circle.
The great White woman swoops in and saves the poor Black people.
From the book's perspective, Skeeter was trying to give these woman a voice. She wasn't marching in any marches or sitting at any lunch counters, she simply wanted to tell a story from a point of view that was much ignored and unheard of. For Skeeter, it was a story that touched close to her heart because of her own relationship with her Black nanny. The Black people in the movie weren't being "saved" by the great White woman, they were using her to get their voices heard and she was learning from them and getting her writing out. Skeeter was not able to "save" anyone. Although the book was published, life was still very difficult for the characters ( and would be for many years to come) and they maids still had their own issues to deal with. Skeeter had nothing to do with the CRM, or saving anyone. She may have given the maids more confidence and feelings of not being completely alone in the world, but no one was "saved".
My Thoughts
I have read many historical fiction books and watched many historical fiction movies. My feeling is that the point of historical fiction is for you to get wrapped up in the characters and storyline, while learning some BASICS about the time period. It is not meant to teach, it is meant for you to ask your own questions and do your own research about the history. After watching Schindler's List, I did my own research and read nonfiction books to find out more about the Holocaust. After reading some books about China in the 1950s and Cambodia's Khmer Rouge, I did my own research and decided for myself what facts I wanted to learn more about.
I watched this movie with an open mind, knowing that it was a Hollywood production so things had to either be sugarcoated, skimmed over, or placed in the background. There were parts that were hard to watch, especially when I think about how my grandmother was treated in the South during that time. The themes in the book were more about the ties of loyalty, the different relationships formed, and the many roles of a woman (mother, daughter, friend, caregiver, employer, etc.). I laughed, I cried, I wanted to knock out some of the characters, and I got completely tied into this small circle of women. I can understand why some Black people are not interested in seeing The Help and I can understand how some Black people loved watching The Help.
I know people who don't believe things weren't "that bad" or "it doesn't matter now". I think the movie has opened many eyes to a time in history that is easy to forget or ignore through characters that are hard to forget.
Did you love it? Tell me your thoughts!
Shells
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