Text Review: The Help

I chose to analyze the movie The Help which is based off of the novel written by Kathryn Stockett during 2009. The movie was released in theaters in August of 2011 and has won many awards. The story setting is in Mississippi during the 1960s where people of color were still be oppressed. Specifically the story is referring to the maids who take care of white families during this time period. Skeeter is a college girl who is pursuing a career in journalism and is coming home from college to interview the families who take care of the white families. These maids are people of color and describe the type of treatment they receive from the families they take care of. The housekeeper for her best friend’s family is the first women to talk to Skeeter and answer the questions she has. However, the more Aibileen talks, the more other women begin to talk to Skeeter and answer questions as well. People were very unhappy that Skeeter continued to interview these women because essentially they were exposing these families for being racist and rude towards them. Since Skeeter is a white women, people thought she was in the wrong for releasing all of this information about the white families and how they treat their housekeepers. I think the importance and connection between this story and this class is that we are continuing to learn how people are still being oppressed in today’s society. The negative treatment that was occurring in the 60s is mirrored today by certain individuals towards people of color. Even though we have progressed as a society, it does not mean we have completely gotten rid of it. There are still people who feel superior over others because of physical traits. Skeeter made an important choice and decided to air out the injustice actions and words people were being faced with. As a society today, we need to continue to air out the bad decisions and hold people accountable in order to create long-lasting change.

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