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“The Help” is a white mock feel good movie, which seems to feature amnesia of racial conflicts in the South as its primary theme (Stockett, 2009). Author Natasha McLaughlin suggests that ‘The Help’ focuses upon the home and the relationship between African-American domestics and the laws of Jim Crow’s neglected ‘other half’: Jane Crow (McLaughlin, 2014). The American Civil Rights Movement mainly accommodates the public with a view concentrated upon a male dominant perspective but appreciations to Stockett and her moving interpretation of the relationship of Caucasian housewives and their African-American maids the public gets a rare white-washed version of events dealing with the civil rights movement going on within the interior of the households …show more content…
K. Whillock, in the book “Hate Speech” argued that the hate stratagem possesses four characteristics (Whillock, 1995, p. 39). The hate stratagem endeavors to first (1) inflame the emotions of individuals by encouraging them to view themselves as members of a significant and important group (Whillock, 1995). Secondly (2) denigrate a specified out-group and individuals who belong to that our group, next (3) inflict permanent harm on the out-group by suggesting that they possess highly undesirable characteristics and attributes that isolate them from other social groups, particularly in the group, and finally (4) rhetorically conquer the out-group (Whillock, 1995). It’s a shame that Kathryn Stockett’s novel ‘The Help’ is being considered a part of the hate stratagem in the ‘post-racial’ America, but unfortunately it is (Stockett, …show more content…
The Waltman claim, “Racist novels have become an important vehicle through which the ideology of hate is express and through which new members are recruited, socialized, and educated in the hate community” (Waltman and Haas, 2011, p. 43). Waltman suggests that “we (humans) find pleasure in revisiting this darker side of our human nature in our imaginations” (Waltman, 2011, p.34). This could explain why books filled with negative history, negative stereotypes, violence, and bigotry is so appealing to so many. This could explain why the novel, “The Help” spent years on the best sellers list and why so many first read the book and then flocked to the theatre to reminisce about a violent and oppressive era, while possibly sipping an ice cold drink and eating popcorn as if it was all just an ordinary day and thinking about a reasonable time (Stockett,
Overall, the purpose of the movie is to recreate life in the early 1960’s of black maids, white women, and their relationships with each other. The unspoken stories of black women and their experience’s in providing services to white women are a narrative of civil rights in America1.The Help is not so much about the degraded black servants as it is about their white sympathizers.
In an era of the Jim Crow laws, life as an African-American woman was difficult. The Help (2011), a film written and directed by Tate Taylor, brings back some of this history. This film takes place in 1960s Jackson, Mississippi in the time of the civil rights movement, and when racial tension was at a rise. During this time, prejudice was at occurrence. For women who lived in Mississippi during the 1960s, employment opportunities was limited due to permissible segregation and economic inequalities. This film displays some experiences of African-American domestic workers of this period. Interaction with a black person from a white person on a level other than work was frowned upon. Many laws of inequality was forced upon African-Americans.
The 1960s was the time when women and men were treated with cruelty, were paid barely enough money to spend on food, and were beaten senseless just because of their race. Though it sounds like an excruciating life to live, many of these African Americans lived life to the fullest despite what others thought of them. In Kathryn Stockett’s The Help, African Americans are treated hastily by whites, as analyzed by the book’s historical significance, personal analysis, and literary criticisms to fully comprehend life in the 1960s of the south.
“You is kind, you is smart, you is important (The Help, 2011)” said Aibileen to Mrs. Elizabeth’s the three year old little girl. This will be the eightieth white baby she has taken care of in her lifetime. Aibileen Clark is a black woman who has been working and cleaning for white folks and caring for their babies since she was young, along with the other negro women in their town. Her best friend, Minny Jackson starts out working for one of the meanest white women in Jackson, Mrs. Hilly. The Help exhibits life in the 1960’s around the Civil Rights Movement in the town of Jackson, Mississippi. You’ll see the callous treatment that negro maids had to go through every single day working for white families, dealing with racism, family, and inequalities.
The Help is a perfect example of a book that has a lot of strong characters who are being held down by segregation. Specifically this book is talking about the unfair discrimination against colored people in the U.S. in the early nineteen sixties. Many people, mostly those being discriminated against, were angry about the injustices that they had endured and had a breaking point at some part of their lives. This was the point when those people decided that somehow they would change the wrong doings that affected people like them and make others see things their way, “it weren’t too long before I seen something in me had changed. A bitter seed was planted inside a me. And I just didn’t feel so accepting anymore” (Stockett 2). It was a tough time fo...
Natasha Trethewey’s “Incident” and Claude McKay’s “The Lynching” are both written about hate crimes. “Incident” is the generational retelling of the author’s family that witnessed a cross burning on their lawn, as a warning, with unsettling images of the aftermath as well as hints of fear permanently embedded in the family’s memory. Each time it is retold, the experience becomes more dauntingly descriptive. “The Lynching” illustrates the picture of a grim and saddening sight of a malicious lynching in which a burned body hangs in front of a crowd of spectators. The author describes how the victim finds peace through his terrible death, but also how the spectators engage in cruel sinful celebration. John W. Phillips vividly describes actual
The church brought American media on trail and in doing so made me aware of how even at a young age we are programmed to believe that black is bad and white is good. Author Jared Diamond referred to this dichotomy as Metaphysical imperialism and explains its theory in his book called Guns, Germs, and Steel. The theory reveals how in its essence metaphysical imperialism is psychological in nature and its ideals are perpetuated by using the media, and sustained by promoting stereotypes. These stereotypes create self-hatred. Stokely Carmichael illustrates a great example of the mechanics behind how mind-altering this oppression can be. Carmichael was a Trinidadian-American black activist. Carmichael gained notoriety and distinction being involved in the 1960s American Civil Rights Movement and Black Power movements. He uses a memory of watching Tarzan in his youth to illustrate one of the ways African American’s are trained to hate their selves. He recalls seeing Tarzan movies on Saturday where the white alpha male Tarzan would beat up the African natives. In retrospect he remembers cheering Tarzan on and instructing him to kill these African beast, “kill the savages”, what he realizes now is that he was actually telling Tarzan to kill him. He uses the analogy of a Jewish boy cheering on the Nazis as they took Jews to the ovens. (Hallman, M. 1998) He used this imagery to exemplify the self-hatred that the media instills in us on a psychological level. Carmichael says that even if these cleverly placed mind controlling, media tactics where to cease, “it takes time to reject the most important lie: that black people inherently cant do the same thing white people do, unless white people help them. (Hallman, M.
The Help takes place in Jackson, Mississippi, in the year of 1962. Aibileen Clark and Minny Jackson are two of many maids who work for white, middle-class families. Skeeter, a white progressive woman who’s recently graduated from Ole Miss, is bothered by the way African American maids were being treated, decides she wants to write a book about inequality of black people and expose the problem with the help from Aibileen and Minny. Though at first, they didn’t want to do, scared people would find out and they would be attacked, they eventually decide they needed to do something, so they worked with Skeeter to document their experiences as maids and anonymously publish the finished book, called, "The Help." As I watched this movie I observed
Even after slavery had been abolished in 1865, segregation and prejudice continued until 1964 in The United States. The book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is set in small town Alabama in the 1930’s. At this time there was more prejudice than just social class, blacks were still being treated as less than humans. The movie The Help, based in 1960 jacksonville, Shows the lives of african american women working as maids. Comparing These productions show that even after 30 years racism and prejudice remain in the US. Unlike To Kill A Mockingbird however the characters in The Help publicly display their dislike towards the division of blacks and whites.
In the story “The Help” written by Kathryn Stockett, we are taken back in time to Jackson, Mississippi in August of 1962, where we meet three women by the name of Aibileen, Minny and Skeeter. Aibileen and Minny are black women who work for white families as the help. Skeeter is a young white woman in her early twenties who befriends the other two and gets them to tell their stories of what it is like to be the help. They reluctantly hesitate, but eventually give in knowing that the stories they are telling are more important than the negative impact it could have on their lives. While reading “ The Help” you cannot help but notice the symbolism that drips from almost every page.
Many of our society’s issues are rooted in ignorance. Those that are not open to the uniqueness of others fear people who are different from them or disagree with their opinions, as “Fear always springs from ignorance”. (Ralph Waldo Emerson) The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is a story about a town that is extremely prejudiced. Most people of the town believe that black people are not to be trusted, or are bad people, often because racism is taught in their town. The people's fear of others destroys some of the true “mockingbirds” in the story, Tom Robinson and Boo Radley. To Kill a Mockingbird is a great example of how ignorance and mystery create fear. The “Help”, directed by Tate Taylor, is a movie about the struggles of the
The Help’, directed by Tate Taylor was released in 2011. This film conveys a powerful story about the racial struggles of African-American maids working in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960’s. The story is based around Minnie and Aibilene, two maids whose primary role is to raise white children in white households. A young writer ‘Skeeter’, writes a book written from the maid’s perspective, focusing on the prejudice that these women face. Different techniques such as mise-en-scene, cinematography and post production have been strategically selected to convey themes of racial prejudice, reinforcing the invited reading of how prejudice is a destructive force in society, which has been taught through social laws and expectations.
Kleg, M. (1993). Hate, prejudice, and racism. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
“The Help” is a novel that takes place in the early 1960s in the town of Jackson, Mississippi, and tells about both the white and colored families that lived there and how they interact everyday. The book is told from three different points of view, Aibileen’s, Minny’s, and Skeeter’s. The book first starts off with Aibileen Clark. She is a colored maid that is now taking care of her seventeenth white child, Mae Mobley Leefolt. Aibileen loves Mae Mobley and struggles throughout the book to help raise her to be loving and not see race, despite what her uncaring mother might tell Mae Mobley. Minny is also a colored maid with many children and an abusive husband and Aibileen’s closet friend. Minny can be very sassy and opinionated, something that
An epitome of dwelling deep into the “dark side of the cave” can be observed in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird. In the novel, Bob Ewell, a white man, accused a black man by the name of Tom Robinson of raping his daughter, but then found himself greatly humiliated by Atticus Finch, the lawyer defending Mr. Robinson, because Atticus had not only proven that Tom was being falsely accused, but also Ewell’s abusive lifestyle and his violent attitude toward his daughter was foiled by Atticus. Angered and shamed, Ewell plotted a revenge on Atticus by attempting to slaughter Atticus’ children, Scout and Jem, and he failed miserably because Boo Radley, the Finches’ neighbor, killed Ewell in an attempt to save Scout and Jem from the hands of Bob Ewell. This scenario shows that dwell into hate only adds more vitriolic hate and risks onto oneself. In this case, Bob Ewell had dwelt too deep into hatred and as a result, he was defeated by the neighborly protective love of Boo Radley toward the Finch children. On the other hand, real-world events confirms that the unity and love of people around us can hold our ground to hate. For example, the Manchester Arena bombing that happened on May 22th of last year left twenty-two people dead and at least 64 others