You is kind, you is smart,
you is important.
Recently I
watched the brilliant film ‘The Help’ (I know it came out some time ago but I’m
a bit behind!)
Not only is this a film that passes the Bechdel test (1. the film has to have at least two women in
it, who 2. who talk to each other, about 3. something besides a man) but it has
heart and integrity by the bucket load.
The story centres around
Skeeter a white upper class girl who returns back to her neighbourhood fresh
out of university, ready to being her career in journalism and a black maid
Aibileen who has been looking after white babies since she was a teenager. Aibileen
narrates most of the story showing her perspective on the way the white women
leave her to not only clean up after them and their babies but also leave her
to be the one who gives the children love and makes them feel special. Aibileen
whispers to her little girl Mae Mobly, who is ignored by her own mamma, “You is
kind, you is smart, you is important.”
Aibileen is a woman of courage and love who is
unafraid to put herself in positions of danger for others. When Skeeter has an
idea for a book which will candidly tell what it is like to be a black maid
working in Mississippi Aibileen, although at first cautious, starts to tell
her story. This act of courage is highlighted by stories of the Klu Klax clan
and racial murder interwoven into the backdrop of the film. The discussion of
racial equality is banned by law so Skeeter must meet Aibileen and the other
brave women who, inspired by Aibileen start to talk as well, in secret. As they
tell their stories the viewer is invited into wonderful vignettes of the lives
of these women who talk about extreme suffering with realism and often candid
humour. The blend of different characters, Skeeter’s eccentric husband-mad
mother, the pantomime-like villain Hilly Holbrook, the angelically chubby Mae
Mobly, the weak minded white mothers contrasted with the strong and loving
black women and the vulnerable and yet determined young writer Skeeter
attempting to find her way in a new world as the old starts to pass away are
all woven together with incredible skill and sensitivity. The result is a
brilliant film that left me feeling both peaceful and restless for change in
our own time.
Alice X
