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Who Is Aibileen In The Help

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In the film The Help directed by Tate Taylor we follow the growth of Aibileen’s character and how she changes from an unsure and unhappy woman to a strong woman who is ready and willing to stand up for herself against the racist white society she lives in. This film uses many film techniques to show this character development from weak to strong. This helped the viewer to understand how hard it was to be brave in the 1960’s and helps us as the viewers to like her and respect her more as a character. The beginning of the movie is a time when we see Aibileen as a member of the help, running the household but still being looked down upon by her employers. The director, Tate Taylor, makes use of a low angle shot of Aibileen sitting on the floor …show more content…

She realises that she doesn't want to be treated as she is anymore. By knowing this she then realises that thanks to Skeeter she can make a change. She comes out of her skin more and invites Skeeter around to do the interviews, being honest about her experiences. This is shown to us through the use of a mid shot of her in a church looking sad but determined, everyone else around her is happily singing “victory is mine” but she stays sitting and does not look victorious. This scene shows how Aibileen is realising that she has the opportunity to change and now she knows it. We also see it by Taylor's use of a low angle shot of Skeeter looking up to Aibileen, Skeeter has been invited around to Aibileen’s house to interview her and Aibileen is in charge. This demonstrates that even though Skeeter is a white woman and Aibileen is a black woman one doesn’t have to be above the other. A third technique demonstrating Aibileen’s change during the film is dialogue. Aibileen tells Skeeter “Miss Leefolt should not be having babies. Write that down.” By saying “Write that down.” Aibileen is giving Skeeter an order, becoming more bold and saying what she wants to say. It shows just how angry Aibileen is at Elizabeth’s treatment of Mae Mobley and how she doesn’t think Elizabeth deserves to have a child if she never looks after them. Aibileen’s realisation of her ability to change and become stronger is a key moment in …show more content…

We see this as Aibileen is walking away from Elizabeth Leefolt’s house after being fired. There is a mid shot of Aibileen feeling happiness and relief as she is walking away because she can now be herself. When Aibileen is walking away we see her heading down the road away from the camera we understand that she is leaving to go towards a new future. This is a wide shot and at the end of the road the light is golden and bright as if signaling that the future will be bright. Aibileen’s bravery is also seen when she stands up to Hilly, the symbol of white racist society in this movie. Hilly reinforces the Jim Crow laws and nasty subtle racism throughout the film. Aibileen is now confident enough to get close to Hilly which demonstrates her newfound bravery we see this in an over the shoulder shot. By standing up to Hilly, Aibileen is standing up to white society as a whole, showing that she now has the confidence to do so. She is standing up for what she believes in, something she would never have done in the beginning of the movie. This change throughout the movie helps the viewer to understand how much Aibileen has changed, if we had not watched Aibileen change into a bold woman then we wouldn’t understand that her standing up to Hilly was a landslide moment. The change meant that the confrontation between Aibileen and Hilly was drastically

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