The Help - My Movie Review

My husband and I watched this movie on Christmas Day a must see for those ignorant of racism at its flagrant worse and ignorant of US History. The time line 1960s, the location Jackson, Mississippi. The piece is a telescopic reminder of a people and the dark sick moment in time that slowly came to a head like a putrid boil. A reminder that we , as a people, collectively must heed . .

“Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it.” -- Edmund Burke

The movies caliber, stirred so many of my emotions. A feel good movie that made me angry, indignant, made me cry and made me happy. A roller coaster of highs and lows flooded my system while I watched the story unfold. As with many independent vehicles, this movie has only received one academy nod, but warrants many more. Just as the movie "The Color Purple" was ignored for its academy nominations, The Help will not fair any better, because racism is alive and running buck naked in the Hollywood hierarchy.

Generations that came after the 1960s are totally ignorant of the truth of the era. They know Martin Luther King, Jr, a little of his fight, death and that’s about it. No more are we privy to the small screen clips of those nearly drowned in the streets with fire hoses while they protested for civil rights.

Gone are the dark images of black men, women and children set upon by ravenous police dogs and equally ravenous police in their fight for freedom. A freedom that was afforded every living person in this nation, unless you’re of darker skin tone. This is why there must be a Black History month, because the only thing taught in our educational system is about Dr. George Washington Carver's peanut discoveries. Don’t get me wrong, this is monumental, but not the only important contribution made by Afro Americans to this nation and its growth.

Ignorance is why cries of racism go unheard, seen as imaginings of the pathetic. If you’ve never experienced this type of hate you can’t relate. You can only shake your head and belittle with comments of “get over it”.

The Help is a fictional tale of an inner struggle of those who had no voice, but knew they had to take a stand. A struggle, made more impossible, by the implement of Jim Crow Laws, Daughters of the American Revolution and the KKK.

The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws, and a way of life, for many in the southern portion of the United States, enforced between 1876 and 1965. A "separate but equal" lie for Black Americans, laws instituted in segregation of public schools, public places, public transportation, restrooms (yes even in private homes), restaurants, drinking fountains and the military. Blacks were good enough to become fodder for bullets, maimed and / or died for their country (even then still not good enough all were regulated to menial tasks), but denied true rights as American citizens upon return from their tours of duty.

Stetson Kennedy, was the author of Jim Crow Guide (these were actually published, read, practiced and enforced!)

• A Black male can't shake hands with a White male because it implied social equality. A Black male could not offer his hand or any other body part to a White woman, because he risked being accused of rape.

• No to eating together by Blacks and Whites. If they did eat together, Whites were to be served first, and a partition was to be placed between them.

• Under no circumstance was a Black male to offer to light the cigarette of a White female it suggests intimacy.

• No show of public affection by Blacks toward one another, especially kissing, because it offends Whites.

• Jim Crow etiquette states that Blacks were introduced to Whites, never Whites to Blacks. For example: "Mr. Peters (the White person), this is Charlie (the Black person), that I spoke to you about." In my hub piece "Keep Your Tolerance I Want Respect" I spoke about the current day practice of folks still calling Blacks out of their name for example, boss, captain, man, brother . . etc. This shows lack of respect especially when directed to one who is older. A slave master practice due to the fact that the massa couldn't be bothered to remember our names.

• Mr., Mrs., Miss., Sir, or Ma'am are titles that were not used by Whites when addressing Blacks because they are titles of respect . Instead, Blacks were called by their first names. Titles of respect were used by Blacks when referring to Whites, and Blacks were not allowed to call Whites by their first names.

• If a Black person rode in a car driven by a White person, the Black person sat in the back seat, back of a truck or bus.

• White motorists had the right-of-way at all intersections.

Kennedy suggested these simple rules that Blacks should live by when conversing with Whites:

• Never ever intimate that a White person is lying.

• Never impute dishonorable intentions to a White person.

• Never suggest that a White person is from an inferior class.

• Never lay claim to, or overly demonstrate, superior knowledge or intelligence.

• Never curse a White person.

• Never laugh at a White person.

• Never comment upon the appearance of a White female.

Beware of those who wish for the good old days. Can you even imagine living in a society where you aren't free to be yourself? To suffer indignities at the hand of people who bleed as you, and have the nerve to call themselves Christian. The Help was able to touch on all these indignities and more in a span of 146 minutes.

The Daughters of The American Revolution aka DAR - had a “white only” policy since its inception. A policy that prevented contralto African-American singing sensation, Marian Anderson from performing in Constitution Hall, in Washington, D.C in 1935. This policy was not lifted until 1977 when a Black woman, Karen Batchelor Farmer, traced her roots to the Revolutionary War was granted entry. DAR still hold tightly, with elitist clinched white gloved fist, to their racist beginnings. They had to be threaten in 1988, with losing their real estate tax exemption status by D.C. City Council if their policies were not revisited.

The KKK, I will not give credence or space to hooded cowards, rapists, thieves and murders. Who, to this day, are still investigated and prosecuted for deeds in the past against persons of color.

Least we forget The Help also focused on the sexism, which was rampant in the era. Both races of female were hostages of the practice. White women silently suffered in their ivy towers, while their Black counterparts, the maids, also suffered from not only racism, but sexism while cleaning those towers.

Some cities, today, are taking a strong stance toward downplaying or eliminating completely the existence of slavery and the practice of racism in the United States from our educational system. This is an abomination which amounts to eliminating the history of the Holocaust.

The Help is a brave example of those who are willing to stare down the dark hole of the past and bring it to life, so that we never forget or repeat this insidious practice.

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