I am a movie lover. I watch big budget commercial films and I watch indie films. I love to laugh. I love to cry. I even enjoy getting a good scare. But I mostly love movies that do more than entertain. Movies that stay with me long after the lights have come up and I have driven home. Last night I saw one of those films.
Last night, I saw “The Help”. If you haven’t seen this film, please do. I can’t speak more highly of it.
I am from the South and I have always had a complex relationship with my Southern-ness. I come from a long line of Southerners. Kind people. Good people. Loving people. And strong people. They are what my heart calls home. They are what makes me feel Southern. They represent what I love about the South.
But obviously, that is not all there is to being Southern. The South has a very checkered past that plagues my heart and soul. And truthfully, a present that sometimes in some places continues to plague me. I have spent much of my life distancing myself from that “South”.
And like many Southerners, I have wanted to forget just how bad things were. And this movie slammed me into the heart of Jim Crow and the obscenity that was pre-Civil Rights South. No white-washed version of an Antebellum past. It reminds its audience that the horrors of institutionalized racism are not simply a part of some distant past but part of a technicolor time. This film provides an un-varnished glimpse behind the curtain that South has wanted to hide behind.
The performances are terrific. It is rare that I see a film wherein I wouldn’t recast a thing. But that is true of this film. Down the line, this film is cast perfectly.
I am still digesting this film. I laughed a lot. Cried more. The South did not invent racism and it certainly has not held within its borders all of racism’s evils. But the tapestry of the South is woven with the blood and tears wrought by racism. I am glad that I saw this film even if it wrought tears from me.
Please see this movie. I have never advocated a film on this blog before and while I might again, I doubt that I shall with the passion I feel about this film. I am different for having seen it. I am different for having experienced it. And I am better for it.
Have you seen the film? What did you think?
I have not been to the movies in ages. I love movies too, but I usually wait to see them at home. However, “The Help” is one of those movies I am DYING to see. So I don’t think I will be able to wait for this to come out on DVD!
It is worth the effort to see it. I don’t usually get to see films at the theatre unless it is animated but I am so glad I got out for this!!!
Traci
Yes, I’ve written two posts about it, and I felt exactly the same way. It’s a phenomenal film, and I absolutely loved it!
I’m sorry I missed the earlier posts — I am going to look for them. I’m glad that you loved the movie. It really is something special!
Traci
is it better than the book?
I am requesting a copy from the library now and I’ll let you know!
Traci
I think you’ll love the book.
I won’t pretend to know exactly how you feel as a Southerner but I do know what it feels like to want to distance myself from an image that IS NOT what I am. I’m learning that for my own situations. I don’t have to carry any burden or guilt for the people who came before me. Especially if I don’t have those same ideas.
The South is a beautiful cultural place that does NOT have to be a racist mecca and it’s simply dumb if people judge it for that. People who focus on the past are not living in the present. I’m not real religious but I think confession (of wrong doing) not doing what was wrong ever again and forgiveness is so important when trying to get away from guilt and pain. We should see the past, learn from it and move on. Writers like you and Kathryn Stockett are doing what any good person should do, getting out the word that racist behavior is not acceptable. And when the word goes out even if it’s not popular, it gets talked about and even nuances are brought to light. I know all of this is easier said than done. I live here in San Diego and there’s tons of racism against Mexicans and although I wasn’t born in Mexico, when people criticize people who were (even if the critique is true) I feel the same way you described in the 4th and 5th paragraph. I feel mostly caught in between. Love for Mexico and it’s people and being American.
Thank you for sharing your heart and soul in this post, I appreciate it.
Wow! What an amzingly supportive and insightful comment. thank you for taking such time to share your thoughts with me. That is exactly why I love blogging — because I can make a friend in San Diego who can hear my neuroses and share a little bit of their world back with me. You’re right. Seeing the South in such a blanketed manner is just plain dumb. You are very kind and I hope you know that I truly appreciate you, as well.
Traci
This is one of my all-time favorite books…and the movie was top-notch.
The movie was amazing so I just can’t wait for the book! I usually read first so I am doing this backwards.
Traci
Not just America but much of the world still seems to be trapped in the self-imposed delusion that racism is dead even in the face of so much evidence to the contrary. And the most valuable lesson that my Southern upbringing taught me was this racism is everywhere inescapable.
Well said. Thank you for coming by to share your thoughts.
Traci