I had the opportunity to go see The Help and when I say this movie moved me, I mean just that. I was moved to tears, laughter, tears, laughter and shock. This is a movie I will be owning on DVD and will watch quite often. All about living life during an era when things were not equal and trying to do something about that.
Set in the 1960’s an unlikely trio set out to make a change by writing a tell all book about what it’s like to work as a black maid to white families in the south. Skeeter (Emma Stone), Aibileen (Viola Davis) and the hilarious Minnie (Octavia Spencer) might have bit off more than they can chew. Truly a heart warming and gut wrenching story of the ups and downs during one of the most racially charged eras. This movie makes you cringe at the inequality, cry at the horrible way white people treated the help, laugh at the revenge, and sit open mouthed at the injustice of so many things. To say I left this movie emotionally drained would be an understatement.
I had heard what a great book “The Help” was but I didn’t want to taint my view of the movie so I waited until after to read that. The movie stayed pretty close to the book. Of course not everything in the book happened and some things happened a little differently than in the book but overall I thought the movie stayed very true to the book. I fell in love with the three main characters (Skeeter, Aibileen, and Minny) as well as the supporting role but almost as present as the 3 main….Cecelia.
Skeeter, a college graduate returns to her hometown of Jackson, Mississippi to find her beloved Constantine gone. With no answers she gets back into the throws of every day life with high school friends after getting a job at the local newspaper for their cleaning lady column. Not knowing a thing about cleaning and with no Constantine to ask, she asks high school friend Elizabeth Leefolt, if she can use her “help” to help her. Through this a project to write what it is like to be a black maid for white people during this racially charged era is born.
Not without hesitation, Abileen decides to share her stories. Stories of what it was like working for whites during this era . It’s like pulling teeth but by the end of the movie many maids have shared the real life truths of what they have experienced as “The Help”. Showing the truths at a cost, one of the characters shares the “terrible awful” she did so they can publish the book and keep it anonymous. Because Ms. Hilly (Bryce Dallas-Howard), the racist woman trying to make sure the help will never be equal, will never want the terrible awful revealed. She has to keep the identity’s a secret even though she knows the book is about the very city she tries to rule. Bringing light to a very real subject The Help is a movie worth seeing
Characters such as Hilly make you want to throw something at the big screen. Skeeter & Aibileen make you want to run and hug them. Celia and Minny leave you in a fit of giggles. I especially loved the moment of meeting between Minnie & Celia. A movie that is sure to open the eyes of people who take the time to see it and hopefully open their mind as well if they are as narrow minded as some of the characters. It’s definitely a movie I would recommend seeing with a lot of tissues (go ahead and forget the makeup or wear water proof). I also want to thank Aibileen for reminding me to tell them every single day “You is kind, You is important, You is smart” .
Have you seen The Help yet? If so I would love to hear your thoughts on the movie. If not, hurry up and go so we can discuss. Kudos to Dreamworks Studio for this touching and wonderful movie.
Toni Patton
Latest posts by Toni Patton (see all)
- My Mid-Life Crisis Enrolled in College Without Asking Me First - March 27, 2026
- Drinking Around the World at Epcot Won’t Make You Feel Better… - July 27, 2025
- Sunsets Are My Reminder… - May 27, 2024
You described this movie very well! I absolutely loved it. It made me laugh out loud and ball like a baby 🙂
That, to me, makes all the elements of a great movie 🙂 being able to make you laugh and cry and leave loving it.
I don’t go to many movies in the theater.
This is one I do want to see. Want to go with me? LOL
I’ll be right over because this one I could watch over and over 🙂
I can’t wait to see it. I have heard nothing but great things!
IT WAS WONDERFUL!!! Just sayin’
I read this book as soon as it came out last year and fell in love with it – I literally couldn’t put it down. I loved that they made a movie so quickly – but I was worried that it wouldn’t do the book justice – which, we all know, sometimes happens! I LOVED it. I thought they cast the characters perfectly – I never was a huge fan of Emma Stone until now – she is the perfect Skeeter!
And I love Cecilia, too! And Abilene! And, everyone!