Readers and guests of this blog give their opinion
Posted in: The Readers Speak
Have Your Say
Posted on June 16, 2010
- Letters to the editor 1963 and 1964
- The Real Housewives of Jackson, Mississippi Circa 1960
- ** Updated ** Links to posts on Aibileen Clark and the latest lawsuit APPEAL info
- About me
- PDF of #100Voicesrespondtothehelp
- A list of critical reviews for American Dirt
- Welcome
- A Mash Up of other Novels and The Help
- It’s 2011, and there’s still a Negro* problem in publishing and Hollywood
- The Importance of Speaking Out
- The Help (movie) cleans up after itself
- Chapter Observations
- Commentary
- For Students
- A List of Interviews with Kathryn Stockett
- Things That Should Not Be (in The Help)
- Why The Help gets on my last nerve
- Classics We Now Question
- My Reading List
- A History of being Misrepresented, Marginalized and Made a fool of
- Separate But Unequal in The Help
- Reviews for the novel
- Wall of Shame and Courage Photos
- Ten + issues that tarnish The Help **Updated!**
- Speaking for Ourselves: We don’t need any “Help”
Karen
June 28, 2010
This book was chosen by one of the women in my book club. I just finished reading it. Here are some of my responses to it, expanded from a stream-of-consciousness critique I wrote in my journal:
“A version of the white savior narrative. I wanted more voices that would call Skeeter out– adding to her slave-gotten trust fund is this ‘civil rights’ project that functions for her as career advancement. I was angry but not surprised that Stockett’s Aibileen lets Skeeter off the hook for so much: for example, not including her (Skeeter’s) mothers’ story in the project.”
“I don’t think Skeeter ever really suffers. Though she loses her best girlfriends, it’s still always an opportunity for her to move on to bigger, better things. It’s telling that in the conclusion, the maids experiences all mirror Skeeter’s– as if it’s one big happy family all moving on to a better life.”
“It’s like a rewritten history that tones down civil rights so it fits the present outcome– a reconfigured white supremacy where all radical currents of overturning de jure and de facto segregation have melted out of the discourse… no economic reparations… no real systemic changes towards remedying long-enforced economic inequalities.”
“Saccharine sweet girl power ‘progress’… A Disney-worthy re-imagining of civil rights.”
and of course, the dialect:
“What’s up with the dialect Stockett uses for Minny and Aibileen? Is it researched and edited by an aware editor of color from Mississippi? Or, what I suspect, just cobbled together from white imagination?”
I’ve since read enough to know that the dialect is a product of individual white imagination.
A list of other things that p*ssed me off:
The word “waddled” when used to describe black women walking. Though Stockett uses “waddled” to talk about at least one white women, it’s a dehumanizing description (ducks waddle) when it’s describing a black woman. The exact same words that are damaging when describing black women do not have the same historical implications when used to talk about white women.
Minny’s sweat pads. Really? Did Stockett really have to go there? See above comment about damaging ways of describing black women.
Leroy’s whole character. He’s one of few representations of black manhood in the whole book. The only things we know about him are pretty negative. In that way he reminds me of Hilly, who seems like a cartoon villain. You’d expect to see her waxing her mustache and tying white damsels to train tracks. She’s already got the cape.
Celia somehow not understanding segregation and/or racism. I’m supposed to believe that?
She grew up poor in the U.S., not poor in some imaginary racial utopia.
I wish I could vote in the poll, but no answer is quite right. I finished it. I didn’t care for it. I won’t recommend it.
acriticalreviewofthehelp
June 28, 2010
Karen,
Thanks for your reply.
I’m going to correct the poll to reflect your answer.
I’ll title it “I didn’t care for it and won’t recommend it”
Many thanks for also listing the responses from your book group. It’s important that the issues with this novel not be silenced by all those who believe the book has no flaws, or that the flaws mean little when compared with the book’s message.
Karen
June 28, 2010
Thanks for changing the poll! I voted. And I completely agree about how important it is that the dissenting views on this book are public and available. I’m really glad to see your blog has a section for students. That’s so important. This blog could be a supportive resource for students if they’re assigned to read this book, see the problems, but find no shared understanding among teachers and classmates.
To be clear, I haven’t met with my book club ladies yet. I’m not really sure what they’re going to say about this book. The quotes above are taken directly from my book club journal… I like to think out what points I’m going to make before we meet up. Sorry if the quotation marks were confusing. I can report back here in a couple of weeks once we’ve had our discussion.
I’m really looking forward to more of your chapter summaries!
acriticalreviewofthehelp
June 28, 2010
Thanks for coming back Karen.
Thanks for pointing out many of those great points came from your journal. I apologize for missing that
crucial point. And yes, I’d definitely love to know what your book group thought about the novel.
Karen
July 7, 2010
You know, I thought of another little thing that bothered me about the book… Aibileen mentions to Skeeter that her son was writing a book inspired by Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. Does Skeeter even think to track down a copy and maybe learn some things from Ellison’s work? No, she doesn’t. So that makes me wonder what the heck Stockett is doing by adding a throw-away reference to Ellison? Is she trying to name-drop, showing off that she’s a white writer who can name one famous black author and a famous book he wrote? Is she trying to link her own mediocre book to the brilliance of Ellison’s? What’s the goal? Because all I get from the passing reference to Invisible Man is more evidence that Skeeter really isn’t invested in the lives of the women she’s supposedly helping… and neither is Stockett, obviously, because as you have pointed out so well, we’re reading the same old cliche of black womanhood, recycled from Uncle Tom’s Cabin and all the rest of it. If Stockett really had read and thought about Invisible Man wouldn’t she have some awareness of the irony of what’s going on in her own book? In Invisible Man the protagonist’s individuality and identity is ignored by the well-intentioned white people who use him and his skills for their own political advancement. In Stockett’s book, Skeeter is like the whites in the NYC communist party… she uses the lives and stories of black women for her own career advancement. Of course, the black women in Stockett’s book are cliches and stereotypes… Mammies and Sapphires only. No real individuals like the protagonist of Invisible Man, so the comparison only goes so far.
acriticalreviewofthehelp
July 7, 2010
Hi Karen,
You make a very good point, and I wonder if readers know just how weak a protagonist Skeeter really is. I think part of the problem is Skeeter never really faces anything. Much of what she goes through is superficial. She worries over her looks, worries over her job prospects, worries over Constantine. Worries over Hilly. But hardly worries over her own mother’s health, and in the end, leaves for her dream job while the maids have to face the consequences. There are no dire consequences for her. But she’s also part of the problem. Skeeter never really faces down Hilly. She just up and leaves.
Oh, and though the comments don’t reflect it, I’m getting some good stats. More people are viewing the pages here, which is what I’d hoped for!
Karen
July 7, 2010
I fully agree that Skeeter’s a big part of the problem. To me it feels as though Skeeter never really comes to an understanding of what she’s doing. Is she fighting to dismantle a form of white supremacy or is she building up her professional portfolio with an edgy little project that has to stay secret?
Does she even understand what racism is? It’s not just Hilly being mean and ignorant. I want her to come to the awareness that racism is what built her home, kept her fed, and paid her way through college… that racism is what allows her to be the nice white lady who writes a book and gets a few pats on the back from the less powerful people who depend on her.
I want the veil to role back enough for her to see herself as something less than a hero.
And yes, I want her to have to make some tough decisions and face some real consequences. I don’t see how she has either the strength of character or the bonds of love that would enable her to stand strong against racism in the face of terror.
acriticalreviewofthehelp
July 7, 2010
Yes! you have broken it down and stated it so succinctly! I need this for my post on Skeeter being two faced. I hope you will allow me to quote you, as you have said it so much better than I ever could!
Karen
July 8, 2010
By all means! Quote me to your heart’s content. That goes for all my comments here.
I kept thinking how Skeeter would never cut it as a civil rights activist. She’s nothing more than a “white savior” character who develops within a safe and easy plot. It makes me wonder how other recent examples of the “white savior” narrative treat their “heroic” protagonists. Do they face any real consequences in their worlds? Or is this a new, more-mediocre-than-ever brand of “white savior.”
I admit I didn’t see The Blind Side, so I don’t know what sort of trauma that white main character may have faced. That movie comes to mind because it’s another recent example featuring the “heroic” white lady that was wildly popular with many white women.
acriticalreviewofthehelp
July 8, 2010
Hi Karen,
There were liberties taken with the Blind Side, especially when the movie made it seem as though the young black man (real life football player Michael Oher) knew very little about the game and Sandra Bullock’s character had to “teach” him. There’s another book coming out from Michael Oher to tell his side of the story. I saw his interview on CBS and though he didn’t seem too thrilled with his movie portrayal, he was being gracious about it. Taking artistic license, even with films based on a true story seem to be the pattern norm these days. Much like the defense for The Help’s depictions are excused under “But it’s only fiction!” movies get a pass with “Based on a true story”
You mentioned recent films or books where there’s a sort of white savior character. There was lots of criticism over “Avatar” because the hero was a young man who was sent to study the indigenous population of a new planet and bascially became their “savior”. Another movie along those same lines was “Dancing With Wolves” and some critics mention “Gran Torino” “The Last Samurai” and there’s a bunch of old Hollywood westerns where this theme is repeated. But it isn’t just adults that are the saviors. Little kids (I don’t think I’ve seen a movie where the savior isn’t a white kid, though with some research I could probably find some) But in most recent movies and even TV shows, the default savior is usually white. Oh wait, I saw an excellent movie called “Children of Men” with Clive Owen. Figures it wouldn’t be an American movie but British, where a black woman was pregnant at a time when births were extremely rare.
The cast was diverse and the acting and setting, somewhere in the near future was excellent. I would have liked to include “The Last Airbender” movie, but M. Knight didn’t cast a young Asian in the role. If there ever was a time to do so, that would have been a perfect vehicle for a talented asian youth to make his mark. Many of the roles in the movie seemed well suited for minority actors, especially since there are so few available. The site http://www.racebender.com has a more detailed explanation. After reading what they had to say, I decided not to see the movie. I don’t know what the problem is with having more diversity in films these days. It seems like we’re going backwards and not forwards. Some people were upset when Will Smith was the lead in “I Am Legend” and even when his kid became the The Karate Kid. LOL had they not seen the ghastly New Karate kid with Hillary Swank? (who’s greatly improved acting wise with age). If not for the Twilight franchise, Tyler Perry’s movies and Will and Jada’s production company, it would be pretty woeful for minorities on screen 🙂
Karen
July 8, 2010
Great point about the similar ways that “but it’s only fiction!” and “but it’s based on a true story!” get used to explain away and justify. I never thought of that. I chose not to see The Blind Side after reading about it. But I would maybe watch it after reading Michael Oher’s side of the story to get a real sense of how his character gets depicted when he’s not able to have any say in the matter.
Thanks for your list of other films, some of which I’ve seen, others I haven’t. I’m going to do more reading and thinking about this. I think it’s a big deal, this business of hero-making.