Kathryn Stockett wrote the well-known book called The Help

In the year of 2009, a writer named Kathryn Stockett wrote the well-known book called The Help. After much success and popularity, a movie followed the original story line of the novel. In 2011, a director and screen writer by the name of Tate Taylor brought this empowering story to life with a budget of $25 million. The movie is about an aspiring author named Skeeter Phelan (Emma Stone) who writes a book based on the lives of Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis) and Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer) who play as African-American maids working for white families during the 1960s. She includes all the discrimination and hardships that these powerful women endured. Skeeter also includes details in her book about the cruelty that the white woman such as Celia Foote (Jessica Chastain), Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Howard), and Elizabeth Leefolt (Ahna OReily) put the helping women through.

Director Taylor claims that he was most excited for this film for two particular reasons. The first reason is due to the fact that he knew the setting of the book was in his home state of Mississippi. The second reason is because the author of the book, Kathryn Stockett, was a close childhood friend of his. The characters in the movie are very unique in their own way. For example, Skeeter plays a very strong and independent female role in the movie. She is resistant to marriage despite her mothers plea and is instead intrigued by the lives of the help that raised her from the time she was born. The white housewives in this film are very proper yet ruthless at the same time. Hilly Holbrook, the most heartless and dramatic wife, treats her help like dirt beneath her shoe and never like women. She is always controlling no matter if it is over the help, friends or family. Hillys partner in crime, Elizabeth Leefolt, has a similar character as of Hilly except she is only slightly less cruel to her helpers. The last housewife, Celia Foote, is no where near cruel or unkind. She struggles to become acquaintances with the two other white woman and she treats her help with kindness and care. She is also very accepting of everyone in their small town. The African-American helpers make up for the most memorable and touching characters in the film. Minny in particular is very headstrong even if it means risking her own job. One of the most memorable and humorous scenes involves Minny baking a pie for her white family. The white people are very impressed with her pie but little do they know, the chocolate pie is made from Minnys own feces. Aibileen is a good friend of Minnys but is much quieter than her. This quality of Aibileens is beneficial while working due to the fact that she works for the cruelest white woman in town, Hilly Holbrook. The most touching scene from the movie is when Aibileen is playing with a young white girl that she is caring for. Aibileens famous words that she recites to the child are, You is kind, you is smart and you is important.

This movie was such a hit that it received many actor/actress awards and even a BET Award for The Best Movie. Although the movie was very popular, it only received a critic score of a 62 by Metascore. The loving general audience, on the other hand, scored the movie at an 8 out of 10 on IMDb. No matter the audience, most can agree that the movie is very tear-jerking and insightful to the struggles of African-Americans during the 60s. It is one of my favorite movies because it is very comforting in a sense. The film stresses the qualities of equality, love and strength which are qualities that I hold close. It is also historical and pictures what times were like during the 1960s during segregation.

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