Best-selling novel turned movie “The Help” has become a story that will be passed down through the ages. In Kathryn Stockett’s first novel and New York Times best=seller, Skeeter Phelan, played by Emma Stone, decides to write a book about the hired help in her hometown of Jackson, Miss.
Based in the early 1960s, the African-American ladies hired by the middle class white families are not treated with the utmost respect, to put it kindly.
Skeeter is not pleased with this and wants to hear the help’s side of the story. Played by Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer, Aibileen Clark and Minny Jackson are the only maids who will work with Skeeter.
Despite conflict, judgments and secrets, these three ladies prove to all the importance of bravery and standing up for what is right.
I was highly pleased with both the book and movie. Having bought the book on a whim, I was not putting too much into “The Help.”
But the moment I read the first page I was hooked. I could not put the book down, in part because of the constant change of perspectives between chapters.
More than just being an entertaining read, though, the book held its own. Stockett was not afraid to include characters who wanted to do what was right, and she did it in such a way that pulls you in until the very last page of the book.
I had very similar feelings toward the movie as well. I do believe there was not a dry eye in the movie theater at the end.
I was truly moved by the love and friendship formed between Skeeter (Stone) and Aibileen (Davis). I am one to always think the book is better than the movie version, and I will again stick with that theory; I did enjoy the book more.
But I will dare say that this movie included practically everything important in the book and conveyed just what was being described in the book, on screen.
Overall, “The Help” has proved that Hollywood has not lost its heart for what is right. Filmmakers should realize that a movie with a good message can trump movies with shallow plot.
To all considering seeing “The Help,” read the book first; you won’t regret it.
