The Help

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. It is commonplace for white families to have black maids serving them at this time. Aibileen (Davis) is a strong-willed maid who is recovering from the loss of her son. She does her job well, and despite falling victim to rude comments and grueling tasks from her boss Elizabeth and her perky friends, she has taken care of seventeen children over the course of her career.

Fresh out of college, Skeeter Phelan (Stone), a good friend of Elizabeth’s, seeks Aibileen’s advice when she is stuck writing a cleaning column for the local newspaper. These conversations ignite a fire in Skeeter- she has the idea of writing a piece telling the story of an everyday life from the viewpoint of the maids of Jackson. It takes some convincing because of the obvious risks, but Aibileen agrees after Hilly, the leader of the housewives, starts a petition to require separate bathrooms in homes for the maids.

Pretty soon, Aibileen’s best friend Minnie (Spencer) joins in, and more follow her. These women embark on a journey that empowers each of them in different ways from this point on, making for dynamic characters that add excitement. The costumes of this film were designed by Sharen Davis. The tailored dresses and suits that the men and women cast members sported were in perfect agreement with what was actually worn in the early 1960s. The Southern belles of this small Mississippi town were wearing dresses with clean, high necklines in pastel colors.

Hilly, especially, was always seen looking as glamorous as could be. Most dresses fell below the knees and were patterned in floral prints and clean hemlines. The maids were shown wearing their uniforms for the majority of the movie, which also displayed modest hemlines and were a pale grey color. The men of Jackson, Mississippi- the few that were shown, at least- were shown wearing clean-lined suits and cuffed trousers. These middle class people who dressed to impress successfully created an air of cleanliness and uniformity.

The sets of “The Help” were so well designed and accurately portrayed that they probably drew feelings of nostalgia from audience members who grew up in the time. Linoleum tiles and paneled walls created an ideal setting for a ranch house of a family of middle class status. Elizabeth’s house looked like it was taken from a Good Housekeeping magazine of the sixties. The clean lines and wooden ranch tables made the viewer absorb the atmosphere and feel as though they were living in the time. The women’s homes had plenty of floral wallpaper and patterned rugs to add to this feeling.

Overall, “The Help” provides an insightful storyline taking place in the roughness of the simmering racial prejudices of the 1960s. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and felt like I knew the strong characters on a personal level and lived through the pain of the time with them. The sets and costumes were well designed and came together to play a crucial role in the formation of the plot. I recommend this movie to anyone above the age of thirteen, only because the concept of racism is so prominent and should be presented to an audience that fully understands the time.