(North Mankato, MN): Movie Night — The Help
Taylor, T. (Director). (2011). The Help. [Motion Picture]. Glendale, CA: DreamWorks.
This film, based on the novel by Kathryn Stockett, is set in southern Mississippi during the 1960’s. When Skeeter, a prominent white female returns home after college, she hopes to start her career as a writer. She experiences a sense of cognitive dissonance as she realizes how her so-called friends and family members treat the black women who have spent their lives working for prominent wealthy white southern families. Skeeter interviews a few black women and realizes there are many more women with stories to tell. Her actions confuse black women and white women alike. Blacks and whites usually did not mix socially in the mid-twentieth century, so why would she (a white woman) be interviewing black women? The Help is a good representation of the differences that historically existed. The Help illustrates some of the struggles African American women go through as maids and nannies for white families. They cook, serve, clean, and take care of children and still are poorly treated. This movie illustrates racism, prejudice, cultural incompetence, sexism, and discrimination.
See discussion guide at http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDIQFjAA&url=http://www.trulymovingpictures.org/wp-content/uploads/FILM-The-Help-FILM-Curriculum.pdf&ei=alM7UY6dOe6GyQGO6YFA&usg=AFQjCNFQ0CB5GPFTeC7jO_JTlRW3j7NxvA&bvm=bv.43287494,d.aWc
Much of The Help takes place in the kitchen. Ailbileen, Minny and Skeeter sit around Ailbileen’s kitchen table while they share the stories that contributed to the book. Celia Foote and Minny bond in the kitchen over recipes that Minny knew by heart and passed along to Celia to help her overcome her disastrous ways in the kitchen. Recipes and food are a way to connect us to our culture and to our family history.