The Help (Tate Taylor, 2011): USA

Reviewed by Kris Mendes from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2012.

Tate Taylor’s The Help started as a feel good movie and left me crying like a baby throughout the movie.  For whatever reason my senses were extra receptive to this movie – perhaps it was due to the fact that the star of the film, Viola Davis was to receive the “Outstanding Performer of the Year” Award the same night, following this screening  (Regrettably, the author of this review was unable to attend the awards ceremony).  Whatever it was, this movie touched me in a way I was not prepared for.  A movie about racism in 1960s’ Mississippi,  The Help, portrays racism primarily embodied by the wealthy white women who employ the black maids that help them with daily house chores, and whom they abuse and mistreat as lesser human beings.  The climax of the movie, (and my favorite part) comes when Minnie the maid tells her boss to “eat my shit”, after she has already taken two slices of a specially prepared pie.  Toilets are big imagery in this film, although I have not been able to figure out its full symbolism- I do know that when a black maid uses a toilet, it either represents disease, or it is a reminder of the racist prevalent Jim Crow laws of a majority white affluent city with little regard for blacks.  But it is also through toilets that the children are potty trained (and spanked) in the film.  It is my thoughts that the filmmaker meant more by the toilet scene contrast imagery.

The Help is a must-watch film of the year candidate.

 

About this entry

You’re currently reading “The Help (Tate Taylor, 2011): USA,” an entry on Student Film Reviews

Published:
02.13.12 / 11pm
Category:
Films