The film ‘The Help’ directed by Tate Taylor and the film ‘A Time to Kill’ directed by Joel Schumacher both represent similar themes. ‘The Help’, set in the 1960’s in Mississippi, USA, and realised in 2012, is about African- American women who are employed as servants, maids and nannies to rich white families and referred to as ‘the help’. Their pay is low, they are forced to use separate facilities within family homes and they are segregated from society. However, Skeeter, a young aspiring writer played by Emma Stone, learns about the hardships of black servants and determines to write an exposé of their mistreatment. The very idea ensures that Skeeter faces opposition from her white friends and family and at the start struggles to get these …show more content…
Throughout the film ‘The Help’, racism is a major issue brought up multiple times. When Aibileen, played by Viola Davis, and another African-American male friend are travelling home on the bus, with violence occurring in the town centre, they are asked to get off while the while people stay on and get taken home. Another example of racism in this film is when Constantine, Skeeter’s nanny was fired when Skeeter was little. Skeeter’s mum was hosting a lunch at their house with a few important rich woman who didn’t like African-American people. When these woman found out that Skeeter’s mum had a dark skinned nanny/house keeper, they were very disgusted and therefor Skeeter’s mum ended up firing the nanny just for the sake of keeping her own name clean. In ‘A Time to Kill’ racism is evident when Carl asks Jack to be his lawyer and the community look down on Jack for accepting and fighting the case for Carl. In the small little town, everyone is aware of what’s happened and want Carl put away in jail for life. No one wants Jake to help him fight his trial and even Jake’s wife isn’t happy with him. The community also aren’t impressed that Jake is helping an African-American instead of his ‘own’ people - of southern white culture. Racism is a big issue in both these films and brings a lot of awareness to the audience about the harsh reality and consequences of
Super Bowl Halftime performance; her performance was a political statement addressing the lingering racism in our society. It is important to stand alone and speak up for those who are oppressed, even if it may be difficult. In The Help, Skeeter spoke up for the African American maids who were oppressed in the early 1960s in Jackson, Mississippi. Maids in Jackson were oppressed because they weren’t paid much and they faced racism
In conclusion, A Time to Kill has many examples of how conflict between characters reveals society's dominant racist attitudes. These attitudes are presented to be negative throughout the film by representation of social groups, characterisation of Jake Brigance and the perspective from Carl Hailey. Together these conventions allow the viewer to understand the character Carl Hailey, and see how the film presents the dominant racist attitudes
The movie ‘The Help,’ is based in Jackson, Mississippi in 1963, which is directed from a black women’s view of how they go through life being a maid for a white women. In the beginning Skeeter ask, Aibileen; “What does it feel like raising a white child when your children are at home are being raised by someone else?” Aibileen was at loss of words, because years ago she had lost her son. Aibileen is a kind woman trying to make her living being a help for Elizabeth Leefolt.
Skeeter’s mother said to Skeeter, “‘ … A Negro in my home. Trying to act white. … They are not like regular people,” (Stockett 428-429). To Skeeter’s mother, Lulabelle was an embarrassment to her, as Lulabelle treated Skeeter’s mother like how she would have treated a maid who was disobeying. In addition to this situation, the white ladies wanted Lulabelle to join the DAR, but once Skeeter’s mother discovered that it was Constantine’s daughter, she was furious. Skeeter’s mother was so afraid of having a colored person be a part of something she was involved in that she ordered Lulabelle away, thus showing that because of their skin tone, colored people were unable to participate in anything that was associated with white people. In conclusion, in The Help, racism was used as a way to gain advantage over people of color, as shown through the evidence provided, from not giving them the proper rights to not allowing them to participate in certain things, and the theme included to help educate the reader on racism in the
The Help, set in Jackson, Mississippi, features Skeeter, a young adult girl fresh out of college, who faces discrimination as well. However, her older age also brings her a new level of respect and understanding of the world around her that Scout lacks. Scout and Skeeter are both pro-equality for boys and girls regardless of age and races regardless of skin color- and they’re both faced directly and indirectly with all sorts of discrimination.
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.
A Tate Taylor film, The Help (2009) emphasizes the extreme, racially-charged stereotypes thus endorses racial thinking. Blacks in this film are represented broadly as common house maids, or domestic slaves, but specifically as oppressed, unhappy, impoverished, and products of hardship through the utilization of racist stereotypes and juxtaposition with the lives of affluent whites in the southern United States, a juxtaposition which immortalizes the racial gap between whites and blacks.
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 movies came out at a time when the country was at unrest in regards to new age racism. Racism today is well documented through the use of social media s compared to the past. In addition, the time period in which the movies were set people were afraid to express their opinions on racism due to fear of retaliation from the whites but this is not the case today. People are expressing their opinion in regards to racism be it through social media or peaceful protest such as the popular kneeling by Colin Kaepernick a football quarterback. The
The film “The Help” (2011), is a story based on the daily lives of prominent white women and the relationships with their African-American housemaids in Jackson, Mississippi, during the 1960s Civil Rights movement in America. A well-to-do white woman and central character in this film, Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan, aspires to be a journalist and decides to write and publish an exposé of the stories of the housemaids in Jackson to achieve this goal, however, only two maids, Aibileen Clark and Minny Jackson are willing to discuss their experiences with her. The other maid’s in Jackson resist telling Skeeter their stories, fearing the punishments they would endure if the authorities were to find out. In spite of this, after the malicious arrest of one of their befriended maids, all of the maids begin to share their experiences, which consist of racial hostility and being treated as intrinsically subservient to white people. The story Skeeter publishes entitled The Help, creates a disturbance among the white families in Jackson, by exposing the racism the maids are faced with, forcing the white families to reflect upon how they have treated their maids. The storyline represented in The Help exhibits examples of the primordial approach to race and ethnicity, as well as numerous sociological concepts including segregation, internalized oppression, and white privilege, which will be exemplified in this paper in order to uncover the race relations evident within this film.
An examination of death penalty sentencing procedures within the American criminal justice system suggests that the legal and moral authority to execute condemned criminals granted to a government has been tested time and time again, only to be reaffirmed by the Supreme Court. While the 1960's saw a series of failed attempts to ban the practice, launched by death penalty abolitionist groups firm in their belief that murder can never be justified, it was not until 1972 that a majority of Supreme Court justices ruled to prohibit state-mandated executions. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, a national non-profit organization dedicated to providing a forum for informed discussion regarding capital punishment, "the issue of arbitrariness of the death penalty was brought before the Supreme Court in 1972 in Furman v. Georgia, Jackson v. Georgia, and Branch v. Texas (known collectively as the landmark case Furman v. Georgia (408 U.S. 238))" (DPIC, 2013). While the court previously ruled in Crampton v. Ohio and McGautha v. California that the application of capital punishment did not result in arbitrary and capricious sentencing, the 1972 Furman case challenged the Eight Amendment, whereas the McGautha case cited the Fourteenth Amendment's due process provision.
An emotionally stirring movie taking place in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960s, “The Help” stars Emma Stone, Viola Davis, and Octavia Spencer as three women who share a common motive. This racially tense setting creates the perfect foundation for a drama film such as this. The characters’ personalities in combination with the emotion of the plot develop a socially accurate depiction of the struggles faced by the people of the time. While the racial aspect of the movie is dominant, viewers may also find compassion and friendship within the conversations and encounters of its characters.
One thing in life that I would like to achieve is a career in Forensic Science or Intelligence and National Security Studies. This has been dream of mine since middle school. My interest in the legal field has changed dramatically over the course of the years, however the legal aspect has yet to change. My experiences in middle school led me to apply to a legal studies academy where I could further seek out my interest and narrow my choices for my career. As I grew older, I then realized that I had a fascination for the human anatomy. I look forward to the many rigorous courses involving forensics in college. While in college I hope to receive the opportunity to have an internship that will allow me to see the daily lives of the people in my
Although the maids were struggling and going through a difficult time in 1960’s, The Help portrays that their family members were too. Segregated society against the backdrop of the growing US civil rights movement in the 1960’s has an impacted. “Race also determines who has access to educational, occupational, and economic opportunity. Racial tensions are high as white community members employ violence and coercion to try to keep the Civil Rights Movement from sweeping into their Mississippi town” (Shmoop Editorial Team). The white community in the movie continue to keep the black women as their servants throughout their lives. As Skeeter the white lady, who writes a book about The Help and portrays through the book that the African American women go through. As the white women of Jackson, Mississippi read the book they began to act more violent to the black women. The book is away as the black women to make a statement about the civil rights they have.
Kathryn Scott’s The Help takes place in Jackson, Mississippi during the 1960s. This movie emphasizes tense racial conflicts that dominated the South during this post-World War era. Segregation of whites verse blacks was a prevailing and dominating theme of the decade. The Help attempts to depict this time period by focusing on a white woman, Skeeter Phelan, who aspires to become a journalist. Society considered Skeeter as an oddity for wanting to leave her family and pursue an education. She goes against all social norms and secretly asks her maid, Aibileen, to help her write a book about the lives of maids. Despite the overwhelming danger associated with their relationship Aibileen agrees and even encourages other maids to take part. The intention behind Skeeter Phelan’s book was to spark a movement and change the way white people view their help. The Help suggests that education is the only route to social change.