So, yesterday I had the pleasure of joining the Ireland AM team on the couch to discuss Kathryn Stockett’s novel, The Help. Resident movie critic, Gordon Hayden, and I chatted about our reactions to the award-winning film. If you’d like to take a look, here’s a link to the clip. It’s approx. 8 minutes long.
As always, I felt the book won out. When I first watched the film I was shocked by how twee it felt. I suppose it was naive of me to expect anything much heavier, but really now… By the time I reached the scene with wise old maid Constantine reassuring a young, earnest Skeeter about her self-worth I realised I was going to have to re-adjust my expectations.
As with most adaptations much of the story has to be omitted. But shouldn’t a talented director still be able to capture a lot of the story’s subtle nuances? Even at two and half hours long the film misses so much of the book’s story. Why so long? Maybe because the director, Tate Taylor, was a close friend of the author? Maybe this afforded her more involvement in the filming that it may have with a stranger?
Word is Stockett held out for quite some time before agreeing to let Taylor direct the movie. Apparently she even cut all communication with him for two weeks while she mulled it over. Word has it he called her up to ask why she was stalling. She told him the other, presumable bigger, names being bandied about as possible directors. Taylor’s response was that those directors could very easily leave the project sitting for years. He argues that he was passionate about the story and, being from Mississippi, knew the background well enough to stay true to the content and the context. Stockett agreed and the project moved ahead.
Taylor brought his friend, former roommate and actress, Octavia Spencer, with him. I imagine there was no way anybody else was ever going to get the part of Minnie. Stockett has spoken about being so charmed by Spencer’s personality when they first met that she used her for inspiration when creating feisty maid Minnie. Above is a clip of Spencer chatting to media after receiving an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, 2012. Note Ted’s question, at 2.08, about the film “making is look like it took a white chick to inspire all these African-American women and what do you say to that?” Good man Ted (whoever you are)!
There’s been plenty of criticism about The Help‘s treatment of such a contentious issues. A quick online search throws up some interesting results, such as the spoof cover pictured above. Despite all this, I still recommend reading the book. It’s a great story. Stockett wasn’t trying to change the world when she wrote it. She was homesick, pining for the South and the familiar voices of her youth. I believe her work was a labour of love, not intentional exploitation. Right now she’s working on her second novel, also set in Mississippi, this time during the Great Depression. Again it revolves around group of women who push boundaries in order to survive during testing times. I look forward to reading it.
