The Help

I really thought my wife had talked me into watching a chick flick with her. I was opting toward an action movie, but when my wife insisted that her friends on a diet program message board called OP or On Program said "The Help" was a must see movie, I knew I was out voted. But, as it turned out, I was glad her friends were right on.

I can kind of look at the movie from a unique view. I'm a New Yorker, and I'm a 100% died in the wool yankee. Yet I lived among Mississippians while attending school at the Naval Air Station in Meridian Mississippi back in 1976. And, I can honestly tell you that Mississippi was nothing like I had imagined it to be. People joked with me and asked if I was carrying a machine gun. And the way I said coffee always got quite a chuckle. Only the way I pronounced the word water created more laughs.

Yes, I'm very aware that there had been racial strife there in the past, as Kathryn Stockett's 2009 best seller points out. But back in 1976, I saw no signs of that. But, I must say, the movie is very convincing. And I really thought it was non fiction till I did some checking after the movie. But perhaps the biggest tip off that it was fiction, was the fact that there was no presence of mud in the movie.

Yes, that Mississippi mud drove me to near insanity when I seemed to spend half the day getting the mud off my dress navy shoes. But despite all the mud, Mississippi has some beautiful countryside, and the movie showed that well. But I do have at least one qualm with the movie. And that's the fact, that it failed to show the fantastic southern hospitality that Mississippi is known for. For example, when I called the airport in Meridian to cancel my flight home, because I was going to be an hour late, they held the plane for me, and all the other passengers greeted me warmly when I boarded the plane.

But despite that, this was a great movie, and well worth seeing. But I kind of wished that the movie explained the circumstances of just how Jackson, Mississippi, and the rest of the south got into the quandary that this movie depicts. But since they didn't, a little history may be in order. And yes, I'm as patriotic as the next guy, but I have to take the founding fathers out to the wood shed on this one, and here is why.

After the revolution was over, Congress decided to free the white slaves, but not the black slaves. Yes, there were white slaves that became slaves due to indenture. If you have seen a few Hollywood movies about the south, you are bound to view one that will show someone using the word white trash. I never heard that word used once the entire time I was in Mississippi. But when Hollywood uses that word, they are talking about white people in the south that are at the bottom of the economic scale and who most likely have ancestors that were former white slaves. And yes the white trash phrase is also used in this movie, and that was also unfortunate.

To the movies credit, the close bond between the children of the households that the maids were serving was very touching. Despite the socio-economic barriers of that time, many African-American maids in large part raised those white children. And the interaction between the characters of Skeeter, Abileen and Minny clearly show the bonds between these three women. And to the movies credit, it kept to what was in the book and didn't take any major deviations. But of course, the movie couldn't cover quite everything in the book, as the book is 500 pages long. I was really amazed that the movie producer kept the script so close to the book itself.

In my opinion, this movie should be viewed as a part of our history. And I would hope that we learn a lesson from our past, as we continue to evolve into a better species. But, that said, no one should think that this movie in any way reflects modern day Jackson, Mississippi. And to show you that, and how things have changed, I invite you to see the modern day residents of the Jackson vicinity that were interviewed on location when the movie was being filmed. http://youtu.be/lsfuhjtxQ3Y