The era depicted by "The Help" was truly an awful time for blacks, which is one reason why the film has stirred up so much passion and indignation. The idea that a white author, Kathryn Stockett, is telling the story of black female servants in her best-selling book is one thing that has some critics all worked up, particularly the Association of Black Women Historians, which has complained that not enough attention was paid in the novel to the issue of sexual harassment of domestic workers. Then, there are fears that the film, which was No. 2 at the box office over the weekend, bringing in $26 million, resurrects old, down-home mammy images. We may have a black first lady in the White House, but that's still a touchy issue. On a Facebook "Boycott The Help" page, someone referred to the film as 2011's version of "Gone with the Wind."
I think people need to chill or at least see the movie first.
It's not that bad.
There were parts of it that I actually enjoyed. I arrived at the theater with raised eyebrows because of all the merchandising tie-ins for a film about black maids circa 1960. I mean, really? A candle that makes you nostalgic for segregation? That's not the kind of thing I want to remember when I'm in the mood to light candles. Same thing with those "The Help"-inspired pots and pans.
But then the movie started. Many of the scenes on the big screen were of things that I've heard relatives talk about over the years - how so many black mothers left their own children behind to care for those of their white employers; bone-weary maids boarding the backs of buses for long rides home; being disrespected and unable to stand up for themselves.
At one point, I struggled not to cry.
