Summer Lovin’: The Help (a review)
By: Red Velvet
This past Friday was one of those days that started off perfectly fine but towards the end, my brain (and nerves) were just about fried from work. I needed an escape - a book, movie, anything.
A night out with S’more to see the movie adaptation of “The Help” turned out to be exactly what I needed.
“The Help” by Kathryn Stockett was a book I constantly saw on bestseller lists and on display at Barnes & Nobles but never felt compelled to pick up. At least not until I got a personal recommendation from S’more. I loved it and quickly understood why everyone was talking about it. The story is set in the early 1960s in Jackson, Mississippi and is told from three different point-of-views — Aibileen, Minny and Skeeter. Aibileen is an African American maid who takes care of the homes and children of various white families. Minny is also a maid but her specialty is cooking (not to mention mouthing off to her employers). Eugenia Phelan, better known as “Skeeter”, is the daughter of a white prominent family but doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of her peers who are far more concerned with their social statuses than anything else. She’s a writer and an ambitious one at that. After being exposed to the (many, many) racist comments made by the other white women her age, she is struck by how poorly these maids are treated and decides she wants to write a book from the perspective of “the help”. It is at this point that Skeeter’s, Aibileen’s and Minny’s lives intertwine as they come together to do something never accomplished before.
Without giving too much away, I think it goes without saying that these are three very unique, strong women. And when you think about them being immortalized on screen, well… those are some pretty big shoes to fill! But I am very happy (and relieved) to say that Emma Stone, Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer (respectively) portray Skeeter, Aibileen and Minny perfectly. They really captured the individual qualities that made these characters so easy to care for — their intelligence, friendship, tenacity (I loved Minny’s feistiness in the book and on screen!) and courage. The movie made me (and the entire audience) laugh, cry and cheer at all the right moments. I can honestly say that movie did the book justice (which is quite rare!).
If you haven’t read the book or seen the movie, you seriously NEED to do both.
* * * The Help (a review) is part of our Summer Series.
