Perfect Husband and I went to see The Help recently. I picked up the book at the airport in May, and gobbled it right up. It’s a good read – it’s easy, and it doesn’t FEEL long, but it actually took me a couple of days to get through, and that’s despite an eight hour flight (just so you don’t think I am an absymally slow reader, please keep in mind it was an eight hour flight with a baby).
So we went to see the movie.
It’s good. It carries the plot of the book fairly well, and I think it falls into the purple category in Don’t Mind The Mess’s pie chart.
It caught the plot and most of the characters well, but it lacked… edge. The anger. The character of Minnie was well played by Octavia Spencer (who apparently was the real-life inspiration for the character) but in the book she is… angrier. The characters are all a little more bitter, a little more jaded, a little less willing to forgive and forget.
The movie polished them a bit. It made them more patient, more sad than angry, and it took away many of their flaws. I didn’t really like that.
When you turn Constantine into a doddering old lady who dies of a broken heart, or when you make Minnie more feisty than furious, I feel like we do a disservice to the characters, and to Black history. Minnie is turned into a Mammy, and Constantine into a Magic Negro.
It bothered both of us, PH and I.
But then, who am I, a white person, to accuse a film of subtle racism, especially as an adaptation of a book written by another white person?
I have tried to google for the African American reception of The Help, in book or movie form, and haven’t been successful.
PH and his mother read it, too, and liked it. They are from the states, originally, and I think the book hit very close to home for them. My mother-in-law said firmly, “I know some of the women in this book.”
It hit me close to home, too. Not because I have any roots in the south, but because I grew up with an experience alien to most Canadians:
I had a black maid.
We lived in the Caribbean, and in that sort of society, either you were a maid, or you could afford a maid. There wasn’t much in between. And if you could afford a maid, why WOULDN’T you give a job to someone who needed that money?
Our house even had maid’s quarters in the back yard – a building with a room, and a bathroom, and the laundry was out there. We used it for storage. Our maid didn’t live with us, and she shuttled between several families.
She was paid for, at least in part, by my Dad’s work, I think. It was, like, part of his work benefits package. She only came in the mornings, and I think she had Thursdays and Sundays off. I used to feel awkward watching cartoons on Saturday morning while Annette vacuumed around me. She had such a sad face all the time.
She only spoke French (she was Haitian, and sent money home to her family there. When she went home for a visit, she often brought me back a gift) so I didn’t speak much with her, but my mother could speak with her.
I can’t really say much about what treatment of maids was like. I rarely happened to be at a friend’s house when their maid was in. But I think it varied widely.
When we first moved there, my mother came in and found her helping herself to a glass of water. She jumped guiltily and began to apologize! For drinking water!
My mother frowned, and opened the fridge, and gestured at everything.
“You help yourself to whatever you like, any time,” my mother told her. “If it’s something big, maybe just ask me in case I prepared it for a party or something, but otherwise, you help yourself.”
She never did, though. She never ate or drank from our fridge. But she did drink the occasional glass of water. At least she took my mother at her word that much. But if she was so cautious about doing something as simple as getting a drink, how much trouble had other employers caused her in the past??
When the Haiti earthquake happened, I thought of her. I hope her family was ok. And I hope she never felt about us the way the characters in The Help felt about their white employers.
We certainly never required that she use a different glass, and she was welcome to use any toilet she wanted.
I haven’t read it. (I think I am the only person on earth.) And I doubt I’ll get around to the movie. (Don’t think I need to say why.)
Having virtually no knowledge of either, I do understand why every now and then there is a hubbub about all the movies where white protagonists learn to understand the tribulations of their black servants/friends/whatever. It isn’t really the BEST way to view the Civil Rights movement, but it is A way. So I struggle to come up with a clear answer. I don’t think all stories should be required to have the ideal viewpoint, that’s the author’s prerogative. But I do think it’s telling that we as a society tend to embrace these more friendly stories with white protagonists. That is more of a problem than the books/movies/whatever themselves.
The book is much less focused on the white protagonist, too. The movie really felt at times like Skeeter (the white chick) was the main character, but in the book her voice doesn’t even chime in until nearly half-way through!
I haven’t read the book or seen the movie, nut I have read a couple of essays about it. You might find this interesting: http://therumpus.net/2011/08/the-solace-of-preparing-fried-foods-and-other-quaint-remembrances-from-1960s-mississippi-thoughts-on-the-help/
Ah! Thank you! I’m glad to know that it’s not just me who thought the movie was tainted by stereotyping.
I have read the book and seen the movie.
And I took a life-changing class in college about the history of the American Civil RIghts Movement.
But I’m still a middle-class, young white woman (who spent five years living in Alabama and Georgia) so that’s where my perspective comes from.
I agree with you that the characters in the movie were less intense than those in the book. BUT, they only had about 2 hours and 15 minutes to condense that book into a movie. And it’s easier to learn about people in a book because we get to hear their thoughts.
Yes, Abilene is angry and bitter in the book. But the reader learns that from her stream of consciousness, not her actions. Which is difficult to translate into film.
And I don’t think movie Minnie is a Mammy figure. Mammies may make a lot of fuss and wave their hands around, but in the end the white person always gets their way. Minnie gets to win. Hilly eats that pie and is humiliated. Minnie finally leaves her husband. These may not be treated as epic, climax moments by the movie, but they’re certainly more crucial than anything the stereotype experienced in Gone With the Wind.
I don’t think Constantine fell into the category of a Magic Negro. She’s from a generation when blacks did not leave their homes after dark and certainly did not stand up for their daughters when they violated Jim Crow in front of their white employers. Plus, we’re seeing her through Skeeter’s perspective as someone who loved on her as no one else during her childhood. I think it’s not unreasonable for there to be an atmosphere of mystical perfection surrounding Constantine.
Readers and movie-goers need to remember that, during this period, blacks were one way around whites and another around their social groups. And this movie has a lot of scenes where blacks are around whites, which means Abilene and Minnie are going to be wearing their maid faces. Also, they’re not interested in “doing Civil Rights.” So we can’t expect there to be big conflicts with their white employers or palpable tension. These women are in their 40s and have spent too much time tucking their heads and stepping off the sidewalk to explode around their employers.
Oh my word, I just realized I misspelled Abileen. I’m sorry.
Way to misspell a name, YOU RACIST! :-p
No, I get your points and I totally agree. I don’t object to their behaviour around their employers and such. But for example, in the movie Minnie gets all friendly with Celia Foote, whereas in the book, Minnie is constantly scorning her. Minnie is very much a racist, in the book, right back a the white people, and it shows in her attitude towards Celia, who ignores racial boundaries. In the movie, she just buddy-buddies right back at Celia.
And Constantine in the book is also guilty of racism – towards her own daughter, no less. I understand why they cut that… it’s difficult to explain and understand, even in the book. But I felt like the toothless, hard-to-understand, inspiring-speech maker of the movie fell a long way from the Constantine of the book.
I feel like when you erase those flaws, those JUSTIFIABLE flaws, you somehow… oh, what’s the word? Idealize? Romanticize? Infanticize? No, none of those are right. But anyway, it seems somehow demeaning to the black characters.
I was a reporter for a few years, so, to me, misspelling names is a mortal sin 😀
I wouldn’t say book-Constantine was racist toward her daughter. She sent her away because it would have been so difficult to raise a child who looks white, in a black environment. It would have raised questions about who her father was, thus tarnishing Constantine’s reputation and causing people to treat the child as a bastard. I don’t think anyone but the people who lived during this period comprehend the myriad racial issues that existed.
There are still Greek organizations at universities in Alabama (where I went to college) that DO NOT pledge non-whites. And it’s been more than 45 years since the passage of Kennedy’s Civil Rights Act.
I wouldn’t call Minnie a racist. I think her scorn stems from her perception that Celia is a weak, wannabe socialite, alcoholic, rather than her skin color. And I wouldn’t say movie-Minnie is buddy-buddy with Celia. She more tolerates her advances than welcomes them.
I agree movie-Constantine is not as developed as book-Constantine, but readers/movie-goers have to remember she was probably the daughter/grand-daughter of slaves. She’s seems like a kowtowing stereotype because that’s how women of her generation actually behaved.
We’ve been misspelling Minny, too. Go us.
Oh, man. Double fail.
I’ve seen the movie but haven’t read the book yet. I enjoyed it. I can see your perspective about stereotyping when I read your post but while I was watching the movie that didn’t enter into my mind. Maybe that’s because of my white-privileged perspective? I’m not sure.
I thought the movie was shocking in that there was so much about the racist mindset of the time that I had no idea about. I knew there was segregation and I knew there was racism and that people were killed for speaking out but the laws that were mentioned and how up front they were with their racism was eye-opening. I’m used to people being racist without knowing or trying to hide it.
Plus I loved the costumes. 🙂
I went to an American International School in the Caribbean, so we did Black History in depth in grade 5, from Harriet Tubman on. I knew about Jim Crow and such, and I’ve encountered it in other books. But most books on that ere are so brutal and tend to be from the perspective of the men. The Help was refreshing!
Dude! I have been reading a lot of posts by people about this, this one springs to mind: http://www.mochamomma.com/2011/08/16/responses-to-issues-of-racism-part-i/
I’ll try to remember where I saw the others. Finslippy linked to someone in Twitter, I think…
Very thought provoking. I did not read the book or see the movie, but I found the discussions to be very enlightening.
Thanks for the link!
I haven’t read The Help yet, and I am unsure about whether I really want to. I found your point on having a maid interesting. It is strange and you do feel awkward. I grew up having many different maids. I move around a lot and I haven’t ever lived in a country for longer than four years at a time. That’s the life of a diplomats family. So at the moment I am living in a small country in Africa. On one hand it is awkward to be sitting and watching tv, or checking your mails on the computer, when one of the maids walks by carrying laundry, or vacuuming. But then, I don’t like to be restricted doing my day-to-day rituals either.
But then, the staff have been working for the embassy for years. It’s possible that even their parents worked for the embassy. They get paid more than the average citizen gets in this country, they live on the compound, so they do not lack electricity, running water, get medical help when needed (like vaccines) and have the security of sleeping behind walls and electric fences. I mean, this is still Africa. If you don’t get mauled by a hyena or trampled by a hippo, there still stands the chance of getting raped on your way home. Their entire family also lives on the compound. But is STILL feels strange and I feel bad sometimes. But then, it’s their job. We couldn’t just take it away from them in order to feel better about ourselves, or that it would bring about any ‘justice’ doing so. If we take away their jobs, those of the gardeners and the cook and the driver, their family stands little chance of survival. They would lose their home, their protection, their health insurance, as well as their job. Over here it’s a job just like other jobs. Just like those that work in hotels, that tend to the ministries and so on. They are treated well, they’re even going on a trip with the entire embassy to a hotel soon… but still. I just can’t shake the feeling.
People always give me strange looks or incredulous remarks when I mention that I have a maid. Well, not over here of course, because it is completely normal. But when I am back in my home country, I am treated as if I should be ashamed or guilty for having had a maid, that it’s all wrong. I am lucky to live in a country in Africa where blacks do not have their fair share of negative experiences with white people. Not like in South Africa, where I used to live, and where it is very difficult to navigate around without stepping on toes and hurting feelings. So I am very lucky.
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