First, it saddens me immensely that life in this country was like that as recently as 1962. So sadness might be my strongest emotion after the movie.
Second, it's a story of courage and one that showed church and faith as a source of strength. Loved that.
Third, my heart broke to think that so many children were raised by indifferent mothers who had been raised by indifferent mothers. That saddens me at such a deep level. The final scene broke me. I can't say more than that without spoiling it for those of you who haven't seen the movie.
Fourth, the levels of prejudice shocked me. Whites against blacks. Whites against whites. And the way everybody cared so much about what others thought of them that they couldn't do the right thing. Scary. And challenging.
The acting was good -- especially considering so many of the white characters were caricatures. If people truly lived like that, I don't know how they could be happy or fulfilled. I'm sorry, but I don't see anything fulfilling about a round of bridge clubs and society lunches.
Yes, those things happened. A dark chapter in our history. And a movie like this will make us remember and if we're strong, choose to live differently today.
A note: the language was pretty raw.
Before you see the movie, I encourage you to read the following articles.
This is not really about cake
Why I will not See the Help
Both are thought-provoking and articulate what was bothering me about the movie that I couldn't quite identify.
2 comments:
Hi Cara,
The book is also fantastic. How rare when I love both the book and the movie. I too had a reaction of sadness and horror that Black people were treated that badly such a short time ago. I know what you're saying about the last scene. Aibileen and May Mobley had a beautiful relationship.
LOVED the movie! But now I'm very cautious when someone asks me if I'd like some chocolate pie :)
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