Aug. 20, 2011
71. The Help (2011)
Starring Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Octavia Spencer, and Jessica Chastain
Directed by Tate Taylor
Plot: “A look at what happens when a southern town's unspoken code of rules and behavior is shattered by three courageous women who strike up an unlikely friendship.” (from IMDb)
Yes, a new movie! The first film I’ve seen in theaters in quite awhile. I was going to wait and read the book before I saw this, but my sister was in town and wanted to go see it, so I did. This wasn't my favorite movie ever, but I definitely enjoyed watching it. I'm not sure what I think of it on a critical level. You see, I saw on IMDb that a lot of people find this film to be racist. It didn't strike me as that way, but perhaps I just can't relate (?). I don’t think I will read the book, though. If you’ve seen this, what do you think? Is it a racist?
Of course, the '60s wardrobes, houses, cars, etc. are fabulously fun to see but I couldn't really enjoy them a whole lot because this kind of focused on the ugly part of the '60s, with racial prejudice and everything.
One of my favorite characters was Miss Celia (not pictured). I loved how giddy she was and that she really didn't care about skin color. I do think it was kind of mean of her to try to get back at Miss Hilly, though.
As for objectionable content, it is rated PG-13, mostly for language I assume (though there is also some violence, smoking, and—of course—racial prejudice). This bothers me because the swearing is so utterly unnecessary in the film that I have to wonder if they inserted it just for the ratings bump.
I love this picture—the glasses the typewriter, everything!
Viola Davis was just superb.
I really did like Emma Stone in this. I thought she did a great job; I just hope that this is the first in a series of better career choices (Easy A sounded awful).
Final verdict: Aside from the fact of some language issues and possible racism (still a little confused on that), I did enjoy this film! :)
