Movie Review: The Help

The Help

Starring: Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer

Director: Tate Davis

Run time: 146 min

This is the column that almost wasn't. Trawling trailers on the neenernets looking for column fodder left me cringing, eye rolling and keyboard-bashing ("Make it stop! Make it stop!"). BUT I had to see something so I took a punt on The Help because I have a huge girl crush on Emma Stone and despite it's totally hokey and mawkish trailer I have faith in that girl.

It was a good choice. The Help cut through my grey cynical fug like a ray of southern sun. Set in civil rights era Jackson, Mississippi, the film tackles the humiliation and oppression suffered by black* maids at the hands of their white employers. The story is gracefully presented from the perspective of Aibileen (Viola Davis) and balanced with the gently subversive civil rights activism of upper-class-but-socially-conscious Skeeter (Emma Stone) which, actually, sounds kind of boring. It's not; it was beautiful. It is a rare thing that a film reminds me of the supreme value of human kindness.

The characters are rich and multi-faceted. Emma Stone brought it. They've played her down from smoking hot to slightly weird and bookish (nothing wrong with that, she's just a bit freaky looking at times) but I want to note how grateful I am to see a female character that I not only admire and identify with but actively adore. She has courage, humanity, humor and chutzpah! Viola Davis as Aibileen was ultimately graceful, and her performance moved me to tears.

The subtext of the film is the exploration of the relationships between black maids and the little white girls they raise that then grow up to employ them. This love that transcends class and colour is tenderly portrayed; particularly so in the storyline between Aibileen and "(her) last little girl". It's making me sniffly even now. Ridiculous.

My criticism lies in the film's relevance. I'm quite sure that this story is still being played out right now, somewhere in the world. I wish we were seeing films this poignant about contemporary social issues. Also, there were a few artifacts of racial stereotyping that just hurt my mind. The fried chicken thing made me physically cringe and grit my teeth. Yuck. If you don't know what I'm talking about - good for you. I shan't poison your lily-white mind.

I cried A LOT in the cinema. Remarkably, in spite of the water works I left the cinema upbeat and in love with life. I attribute this to the sensitivity with which the issues in the story are portrayed. At no point does it become emotionally manipulative. The pace is slow and gentle and it won't lose any impact when it goes to DVD. Take your mum to see it. The cliché makes me gag, but this really is a Feel Good Film.

*Political correctness be damned; the terms Black and White will be used in this review. It's contextually accurate vernacular

4/5 stars

xxx MM