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Discrimination In The Movie The Help

Decent Essays

Within the movie “The Help” there are a variety of major issues represented, most directly the discrimination that existed in the 1960s. The movie itself follows the journey of a white, budding journalist and her relationship with two black maids, Aibileen and Minny, during the Civil Rights Movement in 1963 Jackson, Mississippi. To start off her career as a journalist she decides to write a book, titled “The Help,” recounting the experiences of the black maids in her town to help expose racism. The movie itself is very critical of the racial discrimination that existed in its time frame but some say that it silently communicates racist tones throughout the entire movie. This argument is justified as the movie often found itself highlighting …show more content…

Within the movie there’s a continued feeling of helplessness with the black maids, with how desperate their situations seem to be. But, that all changes when Skeeter decides to start writing about the hardships that they have. All of a sudden everything seems to be a little lighter, more hopeful as soon a Skeeter is implemented into the movie. Although it may be historically accurate at the time that there weren’t many black journalists, the black maids at the very least could’ve written their story themselves and perhaps taken a more forward and progressive role to reveal the discrimination that they faced. But, in the movie the black maids do nothing until Skeeter arrives. An example of this happens in the movie where there was no one was willing to talk about their own problems until Skeeter started asking around. Although this would have been accurate for the time period for the movie as they would have been scared of the repercussions, it gives a sense of helplessness for the black community. Some people would’ve for sure started to talk and write about ehr own problems especially at the time period that the movie was taking place with Martin Luther King and his civil rights march. This was the time period of major change in the U.S.A especially for black communities since they finally had a voice. Furthermore, once Skeeter finished writing her book it seemed as if everyone instantly started to read the book and started treated black maids better. Perhaps it time it would result in events that did happen in the movie, but obviously this wouldn’t happen overnight or even over a week as seen. All of this makes the viewer of “The Help” feel as if Skeeter was the main driving force of the movement in her town and she should be the one praised, not the black maids who had to suffer and risked everything by telling their

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