Last night I went to see the Help with some girlfriends. Since some of you have asked for my thoughts on the movie, here we go. Now I haven’t read the book — it’s on my to be read list, but haven’t made the time for it. So I can’t comment on the book at all. Though after seeing the movie there are many things I want to clear up in the book.

First, it saddens me immensely that life in this country was like that as recently as 1962. So sadness might be my strongest emotion after the movie.

Second, it’s a story of courage and one that showed church and faith as a source of strength. Loved that.

Third, my heart broke to think that so many children were raised by indifferent mothers who had been raised by indifferent mothers. That saddens me at such a deep level. The final scene broke me. I can’t say more than that without spoiling it for those of you who haven’t seen the movie.

Fourth, the levels of prejudice shocked me. Whites against blacks. Whites against whites. And the way everybody cared so much about what others thought of them that they couldn’t do the right thing. Scary. And challenging.

The acting was good — especially considering so many of the white characters were caricatures. If people truly lived like that, I don’t know how they could be happy or fulfilled. I’m sorry, but I don’t see anything fulfilling about a round of bridge clubs and society lunches.

Yes, those things happened. A dark chapter in our history. And a movie like this will make us remember and if we’re strong, choose to live differently today.

A note: the language was pretty raw.

Before you see the movie, I encourage you to read the following articles.
This is not really about cake
Why I will not See the Help

Both are thought-provoking and articulate what was bothering me about the movie that I couldn’t quite identify.