If you’re an avid reader, some of your greatest disappointments will have been those lovely books turned into awful movies. You know, those books that are just great? And you know that feeling of restless excitement you get when realising the book will be hitting the screen?
If yes, then you will also be familiar with the feeling of being cheated on that you get when leaving the cinema after floating to the movies on a cloud of unreachable expectations. If you’ve read ‘The Help’ by Kathryn Stockett and are afraid of another disappointing film, then there is no need to worry – the movie is fabulous.
For those of you who haven’t read it (well, make sure you do!), the plot is taking place in Jackson, Mississippi, in the 1960s; when blacks and whites were as different as water and oil. The society (read: the whites) is perfectly happy with the current situation: having a help is very common, and the customary perception is that the races should be separated in both the bathroom and other parts of life – at least until ‘Skeeter’, a recent university graduate, starts questioning everything.
She stirs up the Jackson way of living, and she wants to show what it is really like to be the help from, controversially, the help’s perspective. Starring the phenomenal actresses Emma Stone as ‘Skeeter’ (former student and aspiring writer… Apart from the ‘former’ part, sounds familiar?), Viola Davis as Aibileen Clark, and Octavia Spencer as the sassy-mouth Minny Jackson.
‘Skeeter’ has the rather naïve wish to write a book about what the real life of the help is like, but quickly realises it is easier said than done. With every coloured person risking being killed for even thinking about whites and blacks being equal, no one is likely to jump at the opportunity to rant about their employers, no matter how much they’d like to.
Eventually though, one by one, they decide to take a peak out of their cave and confide in Skeeter. And this is where the fun truly begins. This is an inspirational film about love, trust and passion, a touching story that will provoke tears even to the most cold-hearted person. So go ahead and jump on that cloud of unreachable expectations, and prepare yourself to get them all fulfilled.