Civil Rights And Apron Strings

by Thomas M. Pender

I saw The Help, due mainly to the cast.  Emma (Easy “A”) Stone and Viola (Eat Pray Love) Davis are two actresses that I find very entertaining, for different reasons.  Stone is delightful and likable, and has had quite a few comedies under her young belt.  Davis is a dramatic tower of strength.  Since I knew The Help was about race relations in the South during the Kennedy era, I knew there would be plenty of room for Davis to further impress me with her acting, and there would be plenty of opportunities for Stone to show me if she could really act.

Neither disappointed me.

As I’ve found so many times over that it’s practically a rule, comedians and comic actors really shine when given straight dramatic roles to play.  Stone was serious and thoughtful.  There are light moments in the film, but no outright comedy as far as the acting is concerned, so it’s a nice piece for Stone to try out her dramatic wings.

Viola Davis is sort of the other end of the spectrum.  She’s shown in just about everything she’s done that she can do drama proud.  In fact, knowing her acting choices and the basic storyline of The Help before I went in, I knew there would be one scene in which she cries.  I bet myself that there would be two.  I won the bet.  It occurred to me that whenever I picture Davis in my head, her eyes are welling up with tears.  Crying is just what she does in movies.  She’s fantastic at it, but in contrast to Stone, I’d really like to see her in an outright comedy, just to see how she does.

These two ladies got me into the show, but the plot hooked me right away.  There have been many stories of the Civil Rights Movement, but few are mainly from the point of view of African-Americans.  This one goes a few steps further by focusing on Jackson, Mississippi housekeepers, who worked day after day among white families while the civil rights struggle was going on.  This era and its tensions are very poetically illustrated in contrasting two scenes: the television announcement of the slaying of Civil Rights leader Medgar Evers and the television broadcast of President Kennedy’s funeral.

I also came to know a few actresses I’d seen in smaller roles, as The Help brought them out to the forefront.  Bryce Dallas (Spider-Man 3) Howard and Octavia (Ugly Betty) Spencer bring real shine to this film.  Howard plays an empty-headed wife of an upper-class white, and Spencer gives real gumption to an overly-expressive maid.  In fact, Spencer is given probably the best role in the most memorable scene in the film . . . but I can’t tell you what it’s about.  Just trust me, you’ll know it when you see it!

Seeing a movie about the Old South in a theatre located in Macon, Georgia, I was not surprised but quite delighted at the audience.  Half white patrons, half black, just about all female, and just about all over the age of 60.  It seemed to me that those who lived through the era were coming to relive it up on the screen.  It made the laughter seem more genuine and the somberness much deeper.  Regardless of where you see The Help, however, I recommend that you do see it.