Excellent, excellent movie. Thank you Hollywood for redeeming yourself after the plethora of crude, unoriginal “comedies” that have been coming out recently.
The Help is an important movie because it portrays the historical (yet recent and in some cases continuing) struggle of African Americans in the South, on their journey for true freedom. Not only does it remind us Americans of an important glimpse into our nation’s history, but also spells out life lessons that are applicable today. The strong, heartfelt acting and the well-written script worked perfectly to get across the movie’s messages. I, for one, gleaned several important lessons from the movie…
Lesson #1: Challenge Injustices. When injustices are happening in the world, those who are aware have a moral obligation to challenge the paradigm and fight for what they know is right. In this case, Skeeter had come to the realization that the de facto racism in the South was wrong. Though challenging this societal norm was posed danger to herself and the maids, this was the only way to open people’s eyes to the injustices going on. If they had not undergone this courageous effort, progress would have been much slower coming.
Lesson #2: “Courage is more than just bravery”. The African American community’s preacher gives a lively sermon on the meaning of moral courage: not merely doing something risky, but standing up for what’s right and loving one’s enemy. This second demand is perhaps the hardest thing to do, but without it the avenger becomes the persecutor and thus the wrongdoer. The higher road must be taken in order to truly reach peace.
Lesson #3: Love, love, love. This applies to those close to you, and again to your enemies. Despite their devastating circumstances, the maids were at times the happiest characters in the movie. This is because they loved others–even the white children that they raised and might one day treat them with the same disrespect of their debutante parents. The prominent whites were a stark contrast to this, such that in their striving to uphold a certain image in society they forgot to love, and consequently led miserable, fake lives.
Lesson #4: There’s always good, in every situation. Although it isn’t always easy to see, there is always good in the world. Perhaps what we see as bad, is actually good. Perhaps something bad is merely a challenge that is pushing us in the right direction, towards an unfoldment of the greater good.
Now, don’t misunderstand me: I am NOT implying that slavery and its aftermath were in any way good in and of themselves. At all. Racism and prejudice are wrong, and nobody deserves to be victim of them. However, one has to ask if we would be where we’re at now had it never gotten so bad. It was the extremity of the situation which finally brought about the moral courage of Skeeter’s and the maids. I guess another, milder way of putting it is, “when one door closes, another one opens”.
True, there are times changes are made before a situation gets too bad, but there are also times when mildly bad situations never improve. The former is obviously ideal, but does not get our attention like a more dramatic fight for good does. And perhaps its those heroic fights for justice that restore our hope in humanity and make us reach even higher to know and do what is right.
