The Help is a Magical Negro Film

We recently watched The Help in class, and although I overall liked the movie and the actors, I had to agree with some of my classmates who said that the movie was one-dimensional (because it didn't show all sides of the characters' stories).  Not to mention that it fits the characteristics of a Magical Negro, which I will explain in this post.  (I apologize ahead of time because this post will be a little lengthy!) 

 Matthew W. Hughey (2009) described the Magical Negro (MN) as a "stock character than often appears as a lower class, uneducated black person who possess supernatural or magical powers (p. 544). These powers, according to Hughey are used to save and transform uncultured, lost or broken whites into competent, successful, and fulfilled individuals within the context of the American myth of redemption and salvation.  

The MN is present in the film The Help, which is set during the Civil Rights era. During our discussion of the film and how it relates to MN, some students argued that while MNs only care to help the white protagonist,  the African-Americans in the film were not examples of MNs because they wanted to help themselves--not the white character.  Despite this argument, there is sufficient evidence throughout the film that support the idea that these black characters do in fact fit the criteria of a MN. 

The characters of Abileen, played by Viola Davis, and Minny (Octavia Spencer)—both maids in the movie—are MN characters in the film.  

Both characters dedicate their mission to white redemption while enduring their own economic depression, just like Hughey suggests.  The Help draws upon the idea that "black folks are, underneath all the politically correct discourse, simple and unsophisticated people that desire an uncomplicated life of servitude" (p. 556) because their joy appears in helping white people, not themselves.

Aibileen’s magical power is making young white children feel good about themselves. Whenever the toddler that she is raising, is upset, she chants, “You is kind. You is smart. You is important."  At the end of the movie, Aibileen uses her magical words with the young girl—despite the fact that she was fired for a crime that she did not commit because that’s what the magical negro does—she uses her magic for her white counterpart and never for herself.

Minny uses her MN characteristics to aid her master Celia with her miscarriages and to learn how to cook.  At the end of the film, Celia and her husband offer Minny a lifetime of employment with them.  Employment as a servant that is.  Also, the viewer is informed that the plate full of food that her Celia prepared for her empowered Minny to leave her abusive husband, which indirectly implies that Minny wasn't strong enough to do it on her own because she is subordinate and did not think of helping herself. 

Not to mention that while Minny is a protagonist in the book version of The Help, she is a supportive character in the film and won an Oscar for Supporting Actress as evidence.  

Abileen, Minny, and the rest of the black help who told their stories to Skeeter (unarguably the white protagonist in the film) did in fact help Skeeter publish her book. When the book was published, Skeeter was the one to get the credit, she got paid, and although she was humble enough to give the black help their share of the book, Skeeter was the one who got a promotion.  Like the white protagonist in an MN film, Skeeter did not want to leave and was afraid to leave Minny and Abileen on their own, but the latter two used their magical powers to convince her to take the job, which required her to leave the state.  

Hughey says that although there is much to applaud in MN films—such as the increased visibility of African-American actors who play "powerful characters that possibly reinforce positive representations of race relations" (p. 553), the relationship demonstrates how MN films can be contained through subversion and hegemony. 

What are your arguments to support the idea that African American characters in The Help are or are not an example of a Magical Negro film?  Why was Minny reduced to play a supporting character on the film versus a protagonist?