The Help - A Labor of Love. Few movies move me to tears, but The Help did just that and then some. The story takes place in Jackson, Mississippi where a white woman, raised by black maids, decides to write about her experience. In the 1960's, it was tabu for whites to associate with blacks. And, in many jurisdictions, the law forbade the two from interacting on a personal level. Kathryn Stockett took a huge risk when she decided to collaborate with several black maids and write about their story.
The Help was a Labor of Love in the making... not only for it's prolific author, Kathryn Stockett, but also for her best friend, Tate Taylor, a childhood buddy and amateur Director with whom she entrusted the rights to direct the film. Both were rejected and discouraged from writing the book and making the movie, but something more powerful than the human spirit propelled these two to expose the naked truth about discrimination. And the rest of the naysayers are eating 'Minnie Pie' today (you'll have to see the movie to get a huge laugh from this line).
Speaking of lines... one of the best and most powerful line in this movie is when Viola Davis tells a young white girl... 'You is Kind, You is Smart, You is Important.' Oh My God... we could all have benefited from hearing these most powerful words as children. It is said that change begins with a whisper... Pssst, come closer, I want to tell you something. A little closer... closer... okay, that's close enough... now listen carefully... don't walk to this movie... run! And you best be bringing the tissues with you, because the tears are going to flow. It is powerful, it is poignant, it is purposeful... and it is most befitting, on this lovely Labor Day, to encourage you to see this film!
