The characters in THE HELP are re-cycled images.
Louise Beavers and Fredi Washington in the film "Imitation of Life"
Much like my lead-in sentence for this blog post has been copied from another post on this site, when reading Kathryn Stockett’s novel, I had a serious case of Déjà vu while getting to know the characters of Aibileen, Minny, Constantine, Skeeter, Hilly and Lulabelle.
It’s no wonder many readers feel by the end of the novel that they know these women. They’re familiar images, and in the case of the black characters, stereotypes of the “good” negro, blacks who were supposed to be a credit to their race by being agreeable, affable, docile, humorously cantankerous, but more important, that they be able to put the needs of their employers above their own. I should also add, this character usually put the needs of their own family second to those of their white charges.
Their reward in many of the movies and novels written by white authors, was to have the reader either feel sympathy or admiration for their sacrifice. The end result was that the black character would be tolerated for being what he or she was, and hopefully, acceptance would follow.
As for the white characters, one had to be the liberal hero and the other the unyeilding villain. Skeeter is the heroine of The Help, and Hilly is the shrewlike villain.
So for everyone thanking the author for writing The Help, and exposing a slice of life they never knew existed, I’m listing a number of other movies and books that dabble with racial storylines.
POP QUIZ
This story is about black domestics, and the white families who employ them.
The choices are:
a) Imitation of Life
b) Gone With the Wind
c) The Help
d) Beulah
e) Gimme A Break
f) Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Gimmee A Break leading lady Nell Carter
This story has a tale of a tragic mulatto.
Pinky Promo poster, starring Ethel Waters and Jeanne Crain
A black woman light enough to pass for white interwoven, once again during a turbulent time period:
a) Pinky
b) Showboat
c) Kings Go Forth
d) Night of The Quarter Moon
e) Band of Angels
f) The Help
g) Imitation of Life
h) Uncle Tom’s Cabin
i) Queen
Showboat starring Howard Keel, Kathryn Grayson and Ava Gardner
This story has an unhappy ending for the African American character:
a) The Help
b) Showboat
c) Imitation of Life
d) Uncle Tom’s Cabin
e) Kings Go Forth
f) Pinky
1950s Tan magazine asking a question that's still relevant today in Publishing
While the white characters either had a love interest or a happy ending, the black character (s) didn’t fare as well.
a) Gone with the Wind
b) The Help
c) Showboat
d) Imitation of Life
e) Porgy and Bess
f) All the Fine Young Cannibals
UK Book Cover of the Help
These famous, but cringe worthy lines were uttered by minority characters, true or false:
a) “I don’t know nothin’ ’bout birthin’ no babies!”
b) “Now, let’s see now. Where is we figurin’ on goin’? How can we be goin’ someplace if we don’t know where we’s goin’? “
c) “I’m white… white… WHITE!”
d) “Say maybe she getting mal-nutritious.”
e) “Fetched y’all up a mess ‘a crawdads… fo’ you an’ yo’ friends!”
f) “You can’t run away from trouble. There ain’t no place that far.”
g) “Holy Mackerel!”
h)”How do you tell a child she was born to be hurt?”
The answers will be provided shortly…
Night of the Quarter Moon poster
Posted on October 4, 2010
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