The Help is a drama film made in 2011 adapted from Kathryn Stockett’s novel written in 2009. This film is about a white young woman Eugina “Skeeter” and her relationship with two african american maids. It takes place during the Civil Rights era in 1963 Jackson, Mississippi. Being a journalist, skeeter decides to write a novel about the everyday life from the point of view of maids, refered to as “the help” in order to portray the racism they are faced with as they work in white families’ households.

There is one part of the movie I truly was intrigued by. One night as Aibileen, one of the maids, was returning home with bus late at night from her job, the bus was stopped by a caucasian man. (As you may know during the 1963’s the African Americans and Caucasus shared the bus with the caucasus sitting in the front while african americans in the back.) The man that stopped the bus ordered all the colored passengers off, stating a black man had been shot, however not specifing that the man was black. Therefore Aibileen was forced to run home in order to not get shot in the middle of the street. Later on she discovered that the man shot was indeed the civil rights activist, Medger Evars, who was gunned down right on his front porch. I found this savagery very overwhelming. For a man with color to be killed for standing up for his beliefs, when freedom of speech was indeed in the constitution. Which led me to believe that the reason for his death was John F. Kenedy’s speech, where he stated that “We are facing a moral crisis and a people” in relation to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. demonstrations in Birmingham.

The main character, Eugina (Skeeter) is played by Emma Stone. Emma Stone also plays in different types of genres other than drama. Such as her appearence in House Bunny was in the genre of comedy, where she played the role of a sorority sister. The Amazing Spiderman too is in the genre of adventure rather than drama. However, no matter what the genre Emma Stone always manages to fit the role and a portray an excellent story through her character.

One of the other main characters, Viola Davis which plays Abileen Clark, which plays one of the maids. Like Emma Stone, plays in other movie genres other than drama, such as where she stares in Lila and Eve, Doubt, etc. I believe she best plays in the genre of action rather than drama. Surprisingly her acting in  “The Help” was extraordinary. And in this movie, she received an Academy Award for ‘Best Actress’ due to her outstanding performance. After reading many evaluation essays upon the characters, I came to the conclusion, that all the critics had nothing bad to say about Viola’s performance in The Help.

Overall I found The Help to be one of the best, probably the best book-based-movie I have ever seen. Mainly because it is “A simplistic portrayal of historic race relations boosted by terrific performances from some of the best actresses working in Hollywood today” (Anna Smith). It basically portrays the racism of that time in a way that history books and things you may read online do not. And what I am found most exhilarating was how they managed to make a safe film for a volatile subject.