Skeeter, Minnie and Aibilene say goodbye.
I went in expecting to love it. A week after it came out, enough of my Facebook and blogging friends had seen and raved about it. I heard it was very close to the book, that it delivered a powerful and thought-provoking message. I couldn’t wait to see it.
Imagine my disappointment when very little of that assessment turned out to be true. Hollywood, as it is wont to do, took a wonderful story and twisted and turned it and left out just enough to make it, well, worthless.
The movie gave small glimpses into very important events from the book without fleshing most of them out to their fullness, rendering them useless to the plot and even worse, dumbing them down when it comes to the overall picture the book portrays of Civil Rights era Jackson, Mississippi. It would have been better to choose one or two themes that could be fully fleshed out and leave the rest out. It left me feeling cold and frustrated.
And then there were the plot points and conclusions that the movie-makers just downright got wrong. Anyone who has not seen the movie or read the book and doesn’t want to know a couple of the bigger reveals, please stop reading here. I don’t generally give spoilers in this blog, but these are things that need to be addressed.
OK … if you’re still here, you know or want to know, so here goes:
I hated, hated, hated the way the movie handled Constantine’s leaving and also the final reconciliation between Skeeter and her mother. If you read the book, you know Constantine gave her daughter up for adoption (a daughter the white family she worked for did not know) because she was born “high yellow,” meaning she looked white, even though both her parents were black. The daughter, in the book, came to the plantation house while Skeeter’s mother was having a Daughters of the American Revolution meetings and pretended she was white and tried to join the group, at which point, Skeeter’s mother kicked the daughter out of the house and Constantine went with her. Skeeter’s mother, at no point in the book, admitted even the slightest remorse for this.
It was powerful and meaningful and jarring.
In the movie? Constantine’s daughter is black. The white family knows her well. And her crime? Coming through the dining room door during the movie rather than going through the kitchen door as Skeeter’s mother requested. Then the mother tells Skeeter that they sent Skeeter’s brother to Chicago to bring Constantine back, but she’d died and the mother is extremely remorseful.
At the end of the movie, Skeeter’s mother tells her she’s brave for writing the book and that she wishes she could be as brave as Skeeter. In the book, it’s never revealed whether Skeeter’s mother knows she wrote the book and no such sweet and touching scene occurs. Skeeter’s mother goes down as a raging racist.
And then there’s Stuart. You don’t see much of him in the movie. You don’t get to meet his parents, who, it turns out, put one face on publicly for political reasons, but deep down are actually quite liberal in their thoughts on how black people are treated and would like to see change. Stuart, in the movie, comes across as a shallow pig of a jerk. In the book? Not so much. It would have been better to leave him out altogether, since the movie completely glossed over the purpose of the character.
The movie was a poor excuse for a caricature of the wonderful story and message presented in the book.
I could go on. I’m actually pretty upset about it. Mostly, I’m upset because it seems others aren’t quite as … picky … as I am. Hollywood puts out drivel and people lap it up and praise it. The Help is only the most recent example in a very long list of crap. I’m getting tired of it.
At least the acting was good.
i was one of the ones who liked the movie….i lapped it right up. i guess i’m not as picky! constantine’s portion bothered me in the movie and i couldn’t figure out why they changed stuart’s job from politician to offshoreman. i suppose that in the grand scheme of hollywood…as far as i could tell, they were alot closer to the themes in “the help” novel than they stayed in many other books based upon novel. i thought the actors were cast brilliantly. they were very close to how i envisioned them in my head as i read the book. the emotions were present in the movie…..i laughed; i cried. i suppose i’m not much of a movie critic and maybe it’s because the last movie i got to see that wasn’t animated was……well, i honestly don’t remember….but i felt it was a good movie that was worth my 2 hours and my $8! i hate you didn’t like it….
They didn’t change Stuart’s profession. They just left some stuff out. He was working on oil rigs in the book, too.
That’s one of my biggest complaints. It would have been better to leave him out altogether than do what they did with his character. They took a very complex, interesting character and made him very one-dimensional.
The actors were wonderful, but whoever adapted the book to the screen I didn’t think did a very good job.
where did i get the idea that he was in politics?? it’s been awhile since i read the book. hmm. maybe that’s why i loved the movie so much….i’ve forgotten most of the book!
His father was in politics.
Distance from the book definitely improves the movie. I saw Angels and Demons years after reading the book and didn’t remember enough to dislike the movie.
I have not seen the movie yet—been meaning to but just have not made it yet. I went ahead and read your spoiler and was surprised at the things that they changed. I guess it is Hollywood after all, huh? I still want to go see it and see if I agree with your review. I usually like the book versions of things better than the movie version but we shall see! Thanks for the honest review!
Most people love the movie, so you probably will. I guess I’m just cranky.
This is why I, for the most part, avoid movies that were adapted from books.
I usually try to watch the movie THEN read the book. Maybe I should have waited on the book, but I was pretty excited about it.
I imagine that those who love the movie, never read the book.
You would think that. But the people who are gushing over the movie (that I’ve seen, anyway) did read the book. That’s one of the reasons I thought I’d like the movie.
NOOOOO!!! Say it isn’t so. My health hasn’t allowed me to go see it yet. But I loved the book and if they took out the meaningful parts (and quite ugly parts) just to gloss over Constantine and her daughter. Her daughter was black? Oh I could go on and on about my disappointment from your review. I will still see it but it will be for a bit of light entertainment, not the thought provoking experience the book gave me. I read the book after you recommended it, as you know, and I have recommended it to many people. One of the best reads I have had in years.
Yeah … they totally changed that part. It was ridiculous. Still ugly, but in a very different way and the mom redeemed herself after, all sorry about it and stuff. It was a very neat little bow they tied on it. And I didn’t like the way the portrayed Constantine, either. But I can’t put into words what exactly my problem was with it. You have to see it to understand. Or maybe you’ll disagree. Like I said, a LOT of people really liked it. So maybe you will, too.
Wow. I could NOT disagree with you more.
I didn’t just like the movie. I LOVED it.
Were there parts that were changed? Yes. Of course there were. Films and books are two different mediums and you use different methods to convey similar emotions.
The film wasn’t a page-by-page depiction of the book. It couldn’t be. That’s just not possible. But the film conveyed the spirit of the book, highlighting the ridiculousness of certain situations and the gravity of others.
The problem with the movie, to me, was not that it was slightly different than the book. It was that it took some very serious parts of the book and trivialized them by not giving them the respect they deserved. As I said in my post, the movie would have been better had the screenwriters concentrated more on fewer specific events instead of trying to fit little bits of everything from the book into the movie without giving enough time or structure to any of them.
And I HATED the Hollywood, everyone-gets-their-due ending. I HATED the way they changed Skeeter’s mother. She was a completely different personality in the book. She wasn’t sorry for anything she did. That did a serious disservice to the book and the story and the truth behind the book. Skeeter’s mother came off in the movie as a less couragous version of her daughter, while she was really a less bitchy version of Hilly.
Sometimes, it’s just better that they don’t make the movie than that they make the one they do.
But, like I said, I know I’m very much in the minority on this, and I respect that.
I did have a conversation over dinner the other day with a friend who saw it and hasn’t read the book. She had the same reaction I did, as far as seeing it as just a lot of Hollywood fluff. I just don’t think they sccomplished what they intended to accomplish with the finish product.
Maybe I’ll skip watching the movie and just read the book instead.
Thank you for your honest opinion! I think I’ll read the book.
Ugh, I agree.
The constantine thing was lame,,
The stuart being a jerk and then being okay later was a whole useless tirerade.
Things they should have added
1)Skeeter more or less dreading her mother’s critiques and commentary
2) Skeeter has a dad? Oh the dad in the book has intelligent things to say and do ? Let’s not mention him at all in the movie
3) That the reason the Aibileen joined in was cause of the neighbor boy that was beaten so bad he was BLIND! BLIND people, that is not just cause ‘god willed you to join’
4) WRONG kind of PIE!
5) Minnie’s day long fear of the husband returning home too early, how that impinged on the miscarriage scene which was not at ALL dramatic enough.
6) Overall just didn’t really carry the fear and rage that the women felt, and the saddness of Minny to send her daughter to work.
better than not having amovie as it reaches a wider crowd than normal..
but i want you to know that in the theatre I went to see,, at the end of hte movie there were about 15 young 15-18 year old girls giggling.
LAUGHING!
um this was not a comedy kids.
for real.
I read the book; haven’t seen the movie yet.
I will be sure to post my opinion.
But, after reading your thoughts…I just may save my money!
I agree with the post TOTALLY! If you didn’t read the book then the movie is good, the acting was amazing. However, to call this movie The Help did the book a disservice. Understanding that things had to be changed for the screen is understandable. For example having the guy on the bus know Abalieen vs. him being a stranger or changing how Minny was found by Mr. Johnny (not a great thing to change but fine).
However, making Constentine older made it seem like she died because she was old versus the fact that she was heartbroken. Why not show that Skeeter gave her job as Ms. Mirna to Abalieen? Why did they allow the meetings with Skeeter to happen during the day? WHY ON EARTH DID THEY MAKE RACHEL BLACK WHEN SHE IS SUPPOSED TO BE “HIGH YELLOW” (aka White)? This isn’t just some made up story! People living during this time feared for their lives talking about change and that was not shown in this film.
I’m dissapointed that the author allowed the changes that were done in the film especially the changes to characters. Avoid the movie! READ THE BOOK 1,000,000 times better than the movie.
My limited understanding of how the book to movie industry works is often the authors don’t have as much say as they should. It’s possible that happened with this. I know JK Rowling made sure to keep a lot of creative control over the Harry Potter movies and it shows in the product. There were certainly changes, but they did a much better job than they did with The Help.
I’m not so certain I would have liked The Help if I hadn’t read the book. And I’ve spoken to one friend who saw the movie and never read the book who wasn’t all that impressed with it, either. It was a botch job and I’m really kind of shocked that so many people love it so much. I’m not sure how to feel about that! lol
From what I understand the screenplay writer/director is a friend of hers and from what I heard from interviews she was on the set of the film often and she had some creative control of the film. If that isn’t the case well then her friend ruined her book in either case.
Most of my friends who read the book haven’t seen the movie yet
That may be. I hadn’t really looked into it. If she had that much creative control, shame on her for allowing it to come to that. And, yes, her friend ruined it.
I would tell you to tell your friends not to bother with the movie, but there seem to be very few people who haven’t loved it, so they probably will, too! A few of the people I saw it with really didn’t like it, either. But a few loved it. Most who liked it hadn’t read it, though.