The Help - American Drama Film by Tate Taylor

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To the addition of the struggles of women in the 70s, we can see one of the main characters struggle in the film, Skeeter. Skeeter struggles to be a journalist while her parents expect her to get married soon, and have kids. This is a good example to see how the stereotype of women in the 70s were played, women are expected to get married, and have kids. Women shouldn’t worried too much about their career, but prepare themselves to have kids and how to take care their families. This show how women expected to be something, they have no choice. This film shows that women need to be something they are expected to be to be considered as normal women in the society. The struggles that these people went through do not have any relation to stereotypes about black women but these are the struggles of women back in the days. From these examples, we can see the director of this film didn’t only portray the struggle of black women only but from both sides, how women were treated, and to show how some of them helped each other to lift each other up from their problems. Moreover, the key to the film’s power, and its originality, is to understand that this movie is not about taking bold crusader’s stands about black or white people, but about the low key, day to day of black and white relationships in the Deep South. It’s about what really goes on in middle class households between the lines of the most seemingly ordinary encounters.

Nonetheless, I see many positive roles performed by black and white women in this film, this movie did a good job in presenting how hard these women work for their family and themselves. I would recommend this film to anyone so they would know what their ancestors had to do, so that they could be lawyers, doctors, and Presidents. Remember the one black maid who was sent to prison because she wanted her sons to go on to college. I saw Aibileen as a women who would have been extremely successful if she had the opportunities that she didn't have back then because she believe in education. Also, why do we need to have some rich job to be a great person? I see a lot of successful people who are nowhere as great of a person as any of the maids in that story.

A person isn't great because of his money or business or degree. He is great because of his character. That is what Martin Luther King said in his speech of "I Have a Dream", “that a person will be judge by their character not anything else.” (Jr.) I hope children right now can be anything they want, but I would hope that she or he would want to be someone who is hard working, ready to help others and is always concerned for all injustices just like how The Help displays its main characters. This film undoubtedly shows the struggles but also the strength and power of these women.

Therefore, I believe The Help is more complex than just showing negative stereotypes of black women, but to show the struggles of women in the 70s without portraying any black women stereotype. The Help shows bravery, perseverance, love, dedication and hard work from these women. After I watched this film I started to respect each of these characters, no matter if she’s Minny, Aibileen, Skeeter, Celia even Skeeter’s mother, Eugenia Phelan. Even though Eugenia did something bad, by firing Skeeter’s maid because the pressure of her friends, but at the end of the film she made a difference by defending Sketeer from Hilly’s cruelty.

As was previously stated, this film is more complex than simply accusing the content of this film is only about stereotyping black women in 70s. When in fact, we can see the struggles of every women in the film, no matter what her race or color of the skin, somehow they always have challenges and hardships they need to face every day. Skeeter, Aibileen, Minny and Celia are the perfect examples this movie brought to us. No matter what the situations are, or what stereotypes people create among the society about you, as long as you open your heart to listen to other people’s feelings and do what is right to help others, no matter what people say about you it won’t define who you are.

Works Cited

Abagond. The Sapphire stereotype. March 2007. .

Cunningham, Cerise L. Gleen & Landra J. " The Magical Negro and White Salvation in Film." The Power of Black Magic (n.d.).

Jr., Martin Luther King. "I Have a Dream". n.d. .

Perry, Melissa Harris. "Melissa Haris Perry Breaks Down The Help: 'A Historical and Deeply Troubling'." 10th August 2011. MEDIA ITE. Ed. Frances Martel.