I'd like to have a discussion about this movie, I just finished watching it.

For starters, we over here in India treat our maids much worse than they've shown in the movie.

But.... what I wonder is..... WHY was this movie made? What is the point? Is this White America's way of apologising?

P&R

who, me,

i didn't even bother to watch it...

why do they treat maids badley?

to answer a part of your question, if the american's in this country on a governmental level issued an apology for any wrong doings, i haven't seen it on the news, or read it online.

A film adaptation of The Help was released in 2011. Stockett's childhood friend, Tate Taylor, wrote and directed the film.

The Help is a 2009 novel by Americanauthor Kathryn Stockett. The story is about African American maids working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi, during the early 1960s. A USA Today article called it one of 2009's "summer sleeper hits". An early review in The New York Times notes Stockett's "affection and intimacy buried beneath even the most seemingly impersonal household connections" and says the book is a "button-pushing, soon to be wildly popular novel". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said of the book, "This heartbreaking story is a stunning début from a gifted talent".

maybe start out by reading the book and finding out what kind of a movie deal kathryn stockett brought forth.

read here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Help

[Edited 7/1/12 15:40pm]

Great movie.

What's the point?

To tell the story of and to honor women who not only played pivotal roles in the lives of the children they (for all intents and purposes) raised as their own and the lives and families they touched but who are such an important part of this country's history.

The comment about treating maids much worse in India is kind of disturbing and off putting.

Do you have a maid?

[Edited 7/1/12 16:08pm]

The reason the movie was made is because it's an interesting story.

Don't wanna see that shit

domainator2010 said:

For starters, we over here in India treat our maids much worse than they've shown in the movie.

Cerebus said:

wondering the same

domainator2010 said:

I'd like to have a discussion about this movie, I just finished watching it.

For starters, we over here in India treat our maids much worse than they've shown in the movie.

But.... what I wonder is..... WHY was this movie made? What is the point? Is this White America's way of apologising?

Okay, I'll bite.

First of all, when does the work of one author become the blue print for an entire segment of society addressing dark periods of their history in America? Secondly, just because you're capable of even worse behaviors in your own country doesn't make what transpired in America at that time right by any stretch of the imagination

Beyond that, either you're trolling, or I'm about to get my first snip-come-ban for having to witness and withstand dumbassery and simply not being able to take it

What I would suggest to you my friend, is that you make an attempt to actually learn about the history of someone's culture before you make such ignorant remarks in reference to them. It's not that difficult to look up information regarding the Civil Rights Movement, or the histories of all minorities in America to gain insight and understanding to their respective plights, and how such issues inspire American films on the topic of social injustice.

...and furthermore, if you're here on a board dedicated to a black American artist- born in the Pre-Civil Rights era, who has sung throughout his career of social, political, and racial injustice- boasting of the fact that you treat your maids like shit in India- then, indeed, you might just be emotionally unintelligent to the point of being a bit special, and should not expect to make a lot of friends here.

Hope that helps!

Ottensen said:

domainator2010 said:

I'd like to have a discussion about this movie, I just finished watching it.

For starters, we over here in India treat our maids much worse than they've shown in the movie.

But.... what I wonder is..... WHY was this movie made? What is the point? Is this White America's way of apologising?

Okay, I'll bite.

First of all, when does the work of one author become the blue print for an entire segment of society addressing dark periods of their history in America? Secondly, just because you're capable of even worse behaviors in your own country doesn't make what transpired in America at that time right by any stretch of the imagination

Beyond that, either you're trolling, or I'm about to get my first snip-come-ban for having to witness and withstand dumbassery and simply not being able to take it

What I would suggest to you my friend, is that you make an attempt to actually learn about the history of someone's culture before you make such ignorant remarks in reference to them. It's not that difficult to look up information regarding the Civil Rights Movement, or the histories of all minorities in America to gain insight and understanding to their respective plights, and how such issues inspire American films on the topic of social injustice.

...and furthermore, if you're here on a board dedicated to a black American artist- born in the Pre-Civil Rights era, who has sung throughout his career of social, political, and racial injustice- boasting of the fact that you treat your maids like shit in India- then, indeed, you might just be emotionally unintelligent to the point of being a bit special, and should not expect to make a lot of friends here.

Hope that helps!

I live in Jackson and have lived here my entire life so I was anxious to see the movie not only for the storyline, but also to see some of the places in the movie where they filmed on location right here in Jackson. I know all about the segregation that previously existed so I wasn't really expecting to be shocked by anything that I didn't already know but I did see something in the movie that shocked me. I was shocked to see that the people that employed these maids were so racist that they wouldn't even let them use the restroom in the very house they were cleaning. I mean, where the hell did they think the maids were going to use the restroom?

It definitely explains a situation that happened to me as early as the year 2000 which I was shocked by. My mother was getting ready to move across town and she wanted her house throroughly cleaned the way that people normally wouldn't think to clean such as scrubbing the baseboards on the floor etc. Someone recommended this black guy to her. He was the exact same age as me. I'm 44 now so the two of us would have been in our early 30s in the year 2000 so neither of us would have grown up during segregation times since we were both born in 1967 right at the end of it. He wasn't crazy or anything but he was just a little "slow" so he made money by mowing lawns, cleaning houses, helping people move, etc. Anyway, it was a Saturday morning and my mother had to work so she had me to stay there with him while he cleaned so the house would be looking good when the realtor starting showing it the following Monday. The guy and I had been talking all morning and were enjoying each other's company since we were the same age, had hung out at a lot of the same spots when we were growing up, etc., and basically had a lot in common.

Anyway, the guy had been cleaning for a while and walked toward the front door and said he would be back in a few minutes. I asked him where he was going and he said he was going up to the convenience store on the corner to use the restroom. I jokingly said "What's wrong with our restroom? Hell, I can see why you wouldn't want to use it before but you just cleaned it yourself so you know it's clean.". He told me that in most of the houses that he cleaned, the people didn't want him to use their restroom. I told him that was just in his imagination and that there was nothing wrong with him and that he should stop thinking that everyone was looking down on him. I thought that he was being insecure because he's a little "slow" in the head and was trying to help raise his self esteem. Then he told me that they told him out of their own mouths that he couldn't use their restroom. The very restrooms that he himself had cleaned. I was absolutely shocked and I had to actually talk him into using our restroom because he was actually scared to use it. I finally yelled at him and said "If you don't get your ass in that restroom, I'm going to be mad as hell!" (jokingly of course). He used it but he was still very hesitant about using it.

When I saw "The Help", I immediately thought of him. He had never lived through segregation but still had people to treat him as if that era was still going on. True, he's a little "slow" in the head and any other black person in this day and age would cuss someone out if they cleaned their toilet and couldn't even use it afterwards, but for people to treat someone "slow" like that the way they have apparently treated him, means that they would still treat black people like that if they thought they could get away with it. I definitely can see why that movie would be made.

I really appreciated this movie - living in Australia we did not go through this (although we have our own shame on how Aboriginals were treated many years ago) but this movie really highlighted the problems that segregation caused. I loved the way the "help" got their own back on the rich white people & really shone out as better people than the people that hired them.

I recommend this movie.

Ottensen, are you crazy? I wasn't BOASTING, I was trying to be apologetic!

I just wanted to say to Americans that, as far as you've gone down the road of nastiness in your own country, there are still places worse, so you should feel slightly happy, maybe....?

Oh for a forum that allowed INTONATION to be somehow included in the post!

Yes, in my house we have a maid - we have one fulltime one, one for cooking, one for doing the dishes and clothes in the morning. Besides that we also have a driver, etc.... The maid isn't allowed to use our toilets, there is a servant's one downstairs.....

Most middle class Indian families do.... it's a pretty bad situation.