Movie Analysis : Film Analysis Of The Movie The Help

African American’s role in this country has been long and has never been easy. During the early years of the United States, African Americans endure the hardship of slavery and had to deal with beatings, harsh working conditions and constant yelling from their racist white owners. Even after the abolishment of slavery, African Americans still endure another one hundred years of discrimination. A perfect way to examine a pivotal time in American History of African Americans and the racism they went through is seen in the movie “The Help”. The movie is set to take place “in Mississippi during the 1950s-1960s, Skeeter is a southern society girl who returns from college determined to become a writer, but turns her friends ' lives -- and a Mississippi town -- upside down when she decides to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of prominent southern families.” (The Help) The movie was originally based on a book written by

The movie “The Help” shows the lifestyle of black women in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960’s. A young adult named Skeeter who wished to become a journalist gathers maids to write about their testimonies as black maids, which at first refused because of the fear of getting caught yet later agree. The setting of the movie is historically inaccurate because it didn't go into detail about the civil rights movement and all the things that occurred during this time, which was an important time in history. As well as the Jim Crow Laws, the movie also never spoke about what white people would do to those who were colored for example beating them to death.

For one, black women were misrepresented as being like Mammy, which caused many Americans to overlook the discrimination that restricted black women to harsh, low-paying working conditions in which employers frequently mistreated and abused them (ABWH). Much of the culture and speech of blacks was also misleading. The film revealed an overemphasized juvenile black dialect in black women’s speech. Also, the movie categorized black men as abusive alcoholics or absent. African Americans have gained strength from public institutions for ages, and the black family encouraged one another to fight against diversity.

Mrs.Skeeter’s story could be a strong supporting plot to the journey of the two black maids, Aibileen and Minny, but instead her story is the main focus of the movie. This simple fact makes the film seem to almost downplay the racist attitudes towards black people in the 1960s. The movie could've gone down a much more horrific and revealing plotline if they had made Aibileen or Minny the main character. If the director had gone down this path the movie could have communicated a much deeper message and would have allowed the watchers to be revealed to some first hand accounts of racism. Although the movie does tell some stories of the two black maids quite well with some of their perspective shown, throughout the entire movie there seemed to be a “sugar coating” over everything. It was as if the producers wanted to “protect” their audience from how far the racist attitudes went and the horrific fallout from those attitudes. Also, parts of the movie seemed almost irrelevant to the main message and goals of the protagonists. Take for example the sub-plot of Skeeter finding a man. Despite it doing a good job of incorporating a secondary plot, this entire section could have been removed for something that better related to the theme of the movie. They could've put in more about the pasts of either Aibileen or Minny to further communicate how society viewed down upon black people and saw them as little better than rodents. Within the movie, the fact that Skeeter is the main character at all almost seems to take away from the other two protagonists, Aibileen and Minny. A lot of the time in the movie the heavier parts are broken up by the lighter more bright plot line of Skeeter. An example of this within the movie is when a black person is shot by a member of the KKK, and Aibileen has to run back to Minny's house and compose herself with Minny. This entire scene is extremely tense and is wonderful at

During the early 1960’s African Americans faced hardships so that maybe one day they could be considered equal. They were banished, shunned and even killed by the white race in the South. During non-violent protests they were treated like animals and were ridiculed by people who were against them having equal rights. In the novel “The Help”, written by Kathryn Stockett, she goes in depth of what it was like during this era for African Americans. She ties in fictional things and events to give you a feel of what it may have been like for people back then through her characters.

African Americans are known to be stereotyped as uneducated, thieving, unclean and diseased. No matter how untrue these characteristics are when pertaining to blacks they were still portrayed in the film. The African American characters were portrayed as being uneducated through them using slang and incorrect English. They were portrayed as thieves when a maid stole a ring after being turned down for a loan to send her son to college. Blacks were perceived as unclean and diseased when Hilly states that as her reasons for wanting separate bathrooms for the

The Help, a novel written by Kathryn Stockett, gives an inside look at what life was like as an African American women in the 1960’s. The story is set in Jacksonville, Mississippi; which at the time was strictly segregated. Stockett incorporated everything from Jim Crow Laws to everyday conversations between white, middle-class women to accurately reveal the impact that racism has on the lifestyle of the African American community during that time period. In particular, the novel revolves around how housewives justified the exploitation and abuse of their maids by convincing themselves that whites are superior to blacks. It also shows that racism is not deep-rooted in human nature but is passed down generation to generation through the education

The entire book was written to show the relationship between black maids and their white bosses. Racism is shown throughout the entire book from many different people. One example of racism is when a worker knocks on the door of a white woman’s house to ask for water and where to go to the bathroom. The door was answered by a black maid named Minny but the fear in his voice is obvious when he says “’Beg a pardon,’ he say, ‘but where…’ He stand there a minute, look down at his feet. ‘Where might I go to make water?’” (Stocket 23) Something as simple as using the bathroom was a big problem for black workers because they knew if a white person were to catch them, they would be punished. Just because of the color of their skin, black people were treated poorly and could not even use the same bathroom. Another example of racism and discrimination is when a white woman, Miss Hilly tells everyone that Minny is a stealing maid who cannot be trusted. Because it is the words of a white woman against a black, everyone turns their back on Minny and she struggles to find a job. This is shown when Minny says “’She telling everbody in town I’m stealing! That’s why I can’t get no work! That witch done turned me into the Smart-Mouthed Criminal Maid a Hinds County” (24). Whites had so much control over the African Americans that if they did not like someone, they could say anything and be believed. Both racism

Despite good intentions, the film still tells a small, sentimental story that glosses over the hard facts of the Civil Rights era. For Blount, the Help’s overarching “Hollywood narrative” is kinship, the ultimate bond formed between a white woman and a group of black women, a theme that eclipses the real issues of racism. The film does not tell the story of far-reaching social change—but rather the story of the less significant, anecdotal tolerance of a few individuals. “You don’t get enough of a sense of African-Americans as actors on a political stage,” he says. The sit-ins, the marches, the bus boycotts are all left out. Blount points out that the intended heroine is Skeeter, not the maids.

Based off of Kathryn Stockett’s 2009 novel, The Help is a movie told from an African American’s point of view during the early 1960’s in Jackson, Mississippi. The three main characters include, Aibileen Clark, Minny Jackson, and Eugenia (Skeeter) Phelan. Skeeter is a young writer who has recently returned from the University of Mississippi. She has been advised by the Elaine Stein, who is the head editor at Harper & Row, to write about a topic she is passionate about, that way she can continue her dream of becoming a serious writer. In addition, Skeeter accepts a writing job down at the Jackson Journal where she writes a housekeeping column. Ironically, she has no housekeeping experience as she grew up with in house help. In order to keep her job she goes to Aibileen, her friend Elizabeth Leefolt’s housekeeper. At this point in her life, Aibileen is just trying to get by. She writes out her prayers on a daily basis as a way to clear her mind since she is fairly reserved on the outside. On the contrary, Aibileen’s friend Minny is also a housekeeper, but she has a rather sharp tongue which doesn’t usually work in her favor. Consequently, she is trying to find a new employer, but is having trouble since there is a bit of discord between her and the most influential socialite in Jackson, Mississippi.

According to the movie The help, I understand that the African American in the past where being abused from white people and where insulted and treated as animals. They used men as cookers and farmers. And women where used as nannies. Also they splurge the nannies between each other. However, white people doesn’t treat African American in a good way. When they was treated from white people one of the friend of the white people tried to solve this dilemma which is to make justice between white and African Americans. She brought a two girls from the white and two from the Africans to know the story of them life. From what she heard from the both sides she was writing the two situations to send it to a women that can communicate with the government to make justice between these people. The woman that was trying to make justice found that the white people doesn’t agree with her because the white people want them as slaves. After this situation the lady wanted justice so she wrote a book to make people conscious about this serious problem and this book was called “The help”. And the earnings from this book is being given to these African Americans.

Aibileen suggests that if she had a chance to read more often, it would improve her writing. Skeeter suggests that she go check out books at the State Street Library, but Aibileen says “you know colored folk ain’t allowed in that library” (Stockett 179). Race also affects the white characters opportunities but in a more positive way. Because Hilly was wealthy and a leader of a very substantial organization, she had a lot of power and authority. Hilly even tries to initiate a new law forbidding the colored help to use the same bathroom as her supervisor. Due to Hilly’s respected authority and praised behavior, people believe anything she says. In conclusion, a person’s race had a great influence on their opportunities and how much power they had.

Society has changed and evolved throughout time. Perhaps one of the most significant changed in contemporary American society is the treatment towards African Americans. “The Help” a feature film directed by Tate Taylor is based on the non-fictional novel “The Help” written by author Kathryn Sockett. The feature film explores the life of African American maids of Jackson Mississippi, in the early 1960’s. The 1960’s displayed all African Americans to being left out of the “American dream” through neglect and racism. African Americans faced prejudice and discrimination in almost every aspect of their life, from jobs to housing and even their education. They were denied the right to sit at the same lunch counter or use the same public rest

The movie The Help by Tate Taylor on the importance of the 1960’s society. In Taylor’s work he often portrays the struggle and difficulties of black women. The pain and frustration that those women who were oppressed by the white society, are contributed in the movie. The Help, a movie about race and class relation in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960’s. Has profound the historical importance because the impact it had on Africa American women during that time period. The movie is noteworthy for its aesthetic scene in the film. Lastly it has moral significance because it portrays the racism going on during that time period.

It is commonplace for white families to have black maids serving them at this time. Aibileen (Davis) is a strong-willed maid who is