This is sort of a weird one, huh? The performances were all very good, but the white savior criticisms are certainly valid. I think it would have benefited from some editing (eliminating Skeeter's love interest, which added nothing) and a shift in perspective (a little more Aibeleen, a little less Skeeter).
The Help
Change begins with a whisper.
Rating
3.5 (1)
Release Date
8/9/2011Runtime
146 minsGenres
Overview
Aibileen Clark is a middle-aged African-American maid who has spent her life raising white children and has recently lost her only son; Minny Jackson is an African-American maid who has often offended her employers despite her family's struggles with money and her desperate need for jobs; and Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan is a young white woman who has recently moved back home after graduating college to find out her childhood maid has mysteriously disappeared. These three stories intertwine to explain how life in Jackson, Mississippi revolves around "the help"; yet they are always kept at a certain distance because of racial lines.
Status
ReleasedOriginal Language
EnglishBudget
$25,000,000Revenue
$216,600,000Homepage
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How It Feels
Read from this film's synopsis, keywords and credits, and used to work out what it sits beside.
A meticulously crafted ensemble drama that lets multiple perspectives on racial injustice speak across hard-won moments of human connection. It's a film about bearing witness and finding voice in a system built to silence.
Mood
MelancholicHopefulDefiant
Themes
IdentityFamilyClass
Tone
Earnest
Pacing
Steady
Look
NaturalisticPainterly
Structure
Ensemble
Heads up
Racial violence
Emma Stone
Skeeter Phelan
Viola Davis
Aibileen Clark
Bryce Dallas Howard
Hilly Holbrook
Octavia Spencer
Minny Jackson
Jessica Chastain
Celia Foote
Ahna O'Reilly
Elizabeth Leefolt
Allison Janney
Charlotte Phelan
Anna Camp
Jolene French
Eleanor Henry
Mae Mobley
Emma Henry
Mae Mobley
Chris Lowell
Stuart Whitworth
Cicely Tyson
Constantine Jefferson
Reviews
Recommendations
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