The help- two different ideas in one picture

The help was a great heartwarming movie. An interesting movie about the insight of what happens in daily lives of black individuals, during the time of slavery. We discussed in class, the idea that a white women gave voice to the African American movies. Some classmates considered this movie to be a magical Negro movie.

One important idea to discuss is cinethetic racism.  There is this notion that individuals are not challenging the system, however they are accepting different forms of racism that are portrayed in society. This is essential when analyzing “The Help” because it gives us this idea of how this might have hidden messages inside where again the white character is the powerful character in changing lives.

From an audiences perspectives, we can look at this in two ways. The first way is to evaluate what role did “skeeter” hold in this movie. Was she a powerful character, who gave the audience an understanding of black people’s lives, or was she a helpless women who needed black individuals to guide her and show her the positive effects that her writing can bring to others?

Although there are many ways of taking this notion behind a white women voicing how black people felt during the time, we miss the great aspect of the movie which is to get a point across. The point being that it gives the audience a small perception of the lives of black people. Although this idea does not replicate how the entire race might have struggled during that time, it gives us this broader idea behind how black women were treated, and also how white people felt the need to confirm in this egoistic arrogant society.  There were many outcast in the movie, who were not like others. Women such as Aibileen who were willing to make change, and white women who were willing to become friends with the black people during that period of time.

One of the most important perspectives that this movie offered was that although a white women voiced the African American characters, she also voiced the white characters. The white characters such as Elizabeth, who are so caught up in trying to find flaws, and being accepted in society that they forget the true values in lives. While watching the movie, I felt pity towards some of the white characters in the movie. They were so focused on how being “black” was a problem rather than focusing on their own problems, such as their relationships with their family members. When Skeeter came in to town, some of the women in the neighborhood were concerned about her getting married. Another important character is Elizabeth Leefolt who is not compassionate towards her own child. Aibileen tries to protect the child by taking care of her and making her feel special. However, Elizabeth spends most of her time trying to “fix” the problems in the environment instead of attending to her own child.

These small scenes show us in the movie that although the white people had more freedom, there were not truly as free as they would have seemed. They were caught up trying to be perfect and keep their neighborhood stable and, consisting of the same kind of mentality. The author also did a good job portraying the characters as one, because most characters dressed the same and acted the same,

This is important to take in to consideration, because not only did we see how black women were treated during that time, but we also got to see how congested and small the lives of white female individuals were.

I feel like the bigger problem was the battle between women themselves, and not between black and white individuals. The bigger problem was that white women were so caught up on focusing on irrelevant things in life instead of becoming educated and learning about the world around them.
do you think this concept behind how black women were differentiated from white women would differ if they saw each other as equal women first rather than looking at color?
Do you think they would become more understand and more open minded to the bigger problems in life? if the female white characters had more sympathy towards the black female characters?