The Help

"The Help" has Oscar movie written all over it. Serious subject, interracial cast, uplifting message etc. Based on a novel, "The Help" is a story of the segregated south, the deep south in fact, because in 1963, you couldn't get any deeper south than Mississippi.
This is the story of two sets of women, the privileged young white housewives who have houses and kids and husbands, and the black maids who actually do the work of cleaning those houses and taking care of those kids. It's the story of injustice, both institutional and petty, and it's the story of how the women of 1960's Mississippi deal with those injustices. It tells of the struggles of the civil rights era one personal story at a time, one slice of revenge at a time.
Emma Stone plays Skeeter Phelan, an aspiring journalist who longs to write something important. She sees her chance in the stories of the black maids that have to swallow their pride and their dignity in order to keep their jobs. What one of the racist housewives has to swallow is the grand secret of the film. It's an irreverent metaphor but you'll have to see the movie. No spoilers here.
This film is sometimes funny, sometimes poignant, and very well acted. But it is often a little too black and white (excuse the pun) for my tastes. There are shades of gray that are trampled in the telling. And in this story the true terrors of the segregated south don't make much of an appearance. After all it's right around this time that three voting rights workers are murdered in Mississippi. "The Help" is a film that's more interested in bigots getting their come-uppance than any true sense of justice. It was well described as a tale of segregation suited perfectly for the Oprah Show. The edge isn't there but the characters are interesting and revenge gets served up as a satisfying side dish. I don't think it deserves quite this much awards attention but "The Help" is certainly a good watch.