The film "The Help", based on the 2009 best-selling novel of the same name by American female author Catherine Stocker, tells the story of these southern women in Jackson, Mississippi, in the early 1960s, especially those who gave whites a middle-class property. The story of black women who acted as domestic servants and cooks. The United States in the early 1960s was when the affirmative movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King was fierce. White housewives vs. black servants, how could this not be a good subject for racist accusations of blood and tears! In fact, Hollywood has never lacked this type of racial complaint movies. The classics include "To Kill a Mockingbird", "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", and recent ones. There are "Mississippi Burning", "American History X", "Crash" and so on. As long as this problem of inequality that has plagued American society for two centuries is not resolved in one day, this subject matter will always remain vigorous and will never be out of date.
However, the difference between "Help" and the previous racially themed works is its very feminine and lively tone. Let’s just talk about the movie poster, with a bright yellow background, and the heroine in a tender pink knee-length dress, set against the beauty of a sleeveless dress with a large rose branch next to it, and two standing black maids in different shades of gray uniforms, with white aprons. , Small lapel, and the movie name is written in pink and purple letters. These bright colors, as well as those set decorations full of characteristics of the 1960s, make people happy to see them. But this is not to say that the theme expressed in the film is not deep and the problems are untrue; on the contrary, the white girl Emma Stone in the story violated the segregation law of Mississippi at the time and insisted on interviewing the black servants around her. Their perspective describes an unjust and unreasonable society, which in itself is a terrific and serious subject. One of the protagonists of the film, a maidservant Viola Davis, raised so many white children and grew up, but her own son was discriminated against and abused by the whites, and was eventually killed. Abilene’s pain and hatred are real, but her kindness is even more dazzling. No matter what kind of verbal attacks and personality insults she receives, her love for her children is undiminished. She speaks grammatically wrong English and tells the neglected white children "you are kind, you are smart, and you are important" over and over again; She will help when her companion Minnie (Octavia Spencer) encounters difficulties; she can finally overcome the fear of her own safety and choose to take a dangerous and glorious step in life. Not to mention the pistachio-like Minnie, as long as she appears in the clips, she will inevitably have small orgasms, full of laughter, and endless joy.
Such a bright and cheerful narrative angle and romantic and warm photography tones make "Help" as a serious drama film also has the characteristics of comedy. The audience experiences feelings with these distinctive southern women in the rhythm of laughter. Even the relatively masked evil women have their own life situations, with hateful faces and sad helplessness. To a certain extent, they are still not lacking in charm. Perhaps because of this, the small-cost and small-produced "Help", an unflattering racial theme, has been able to win the North American box office championship for three consecutive weeks. The popularity of the word-of-mouth double harvest, and it fired the beautiful first shot for the 84th Oscar season.
I am also especially fascinated by such a clear and optimistic female tone. It stands to reason that when discussing the problem of disadvantaged groups in society, the easiest to play is the race card, civil rights card, equality card, or impassioned, or tearful, driven by the dual drive of compassion and guilt, it is not difficult to persuade people. achieve. The reason for not doing so is besides the possible factor of seeking new ideas, I think it is also related to the starting point of the story. Just as the white girl in the film, Skitt, doesn’t want to talk dryly, but from the perspective of black servants to show their true feelings living in Jackson, Mississippi, the starting point of "Help" is not to simply Readers and audiences explain the racial discrimination and social injustice suffered by black women-all the details related to major events of the big era in the film are hurriedly skimmed, or described in profile, or as a foil to the actions of the characters. In short, political struggle is not the protagonist ; The real protagonists are these southern women. They are the suffering they have experienced in such a situation, the choices they made, the feelings they aroused, and the real personality they showed. Some of these real things are humble, some are naive, and some are heavy, but their common characteristics are strong and optimistic. They do not face life as a victim, and are inseparable from resentment; they are calm and self-controlling with an attitude of grace and destiny, reconciling with life. This kind of graceful dealing is an extremely fascinating and powerful force, which makes a person's soul sublimate from "using evil against evil" to "inspiring good with good." This is the great thing about "Xianzhu".
This kind of positive and inspiring power of goodness, I think, is the power of women. When I was studying in the development economics class, I remembered a topic that talked about the different reactions of men and women in the face of difficulties. Statistics show that women are less likely to give up on themselves than men. In family difficulties, women often replace men as the mainstay of the family. I think this may explain from a certain perspective why women are often the core of family life in the American South, where living conditions are more difficult. From Scarlett, who always remembers "Tomorrow is a new day" in "Gone with the Wind", the stubborn weed-like Scarlett, to the painful and fierce growth of Mick in "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter", to the fateful face of fate in "Help" In Abelin, the women of the South kept their heads up, wading through the mud puddle in the scorching sun and the scorching heat, and walked forward. And what follows in their footsteps is the progress of the times. In 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King gave a speech on "I Have a Dream" in Washington. The following year President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which legally abolished any discrimination based on race, color, religious belief, gender, or nationality in employment relationships. This is a victory for the civil rights movement and a victory for women's struggles.
In "Help", Abilene slowly walks into the distance of the camera in the bright morning light penetrating the big oak tree. After losing her job, she no longer fears life. She can write, she can also become a writer, and she knows that the power of words will eventually transcend race. Skitter’s boyfriend cannot accept that a white girl is in the same camp as a black maid, but Skitter can go north to New York and continue to fight for his ideals in a relatively equal society. A society that allows women to have choice and freedom is a good society, and such a good society will eventually move towards the future.
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