Ron and I have been incredibly busy. Last weekend we flew to Portland for Trysta’s graduation. We were able to squeeze in a movie so Ron and I did see The Help. I just haven’t had the chance to write about it until now.
After reading the book, I had some big expectations for the film. Of course the book is always going to be better than a screen adaptation, but this film did an admirable job of telling the story. I give the credit for this to Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer who portrayed Aibileen and Minny beautifully. They were just perfect. Emma Stone did a respectable job playing Skeeter, but Bryce Dallas Howard was great as the despicable Hilly Holbrook.
Watching a movie like this about a historical time in our country’s past is hard. Racism and discrimination are the ugliest part of our history. Unfortunately, it still exists today. It also reminded me of my early childhood and the fact that I was raised by a Mexican maid. Queta was with us for 10 years and I loved her so much. She was strict but very loving. She came with us when we moved from El Paso to Indiana, but it was too hard for her to be away from her family. She was older and the weather was too big a change for her as well. She flew back to Texas and went back to her family in Juarez. I never saw her again. She died before I moved back to El Paso as an adult. There is a scene at the end of The Help where Aibileen says good-bye to the little girl she has taken care of and the child cries and cries….it made me so sad and I realized I was crying for Queta. It’s been a long time since a movie affected me so profoundly.
Please go see this movie. It is more than worth the price of the ticket and believe me when I tell you that there will be Oscar nominations for Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer.
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