On the surface, ‘The Help’ is a story about civil rights. However, it is also a story of friendship. ‘The Help’ follows the story of two black maids, Aibileen and Minny; Miss Skeeter, an aspiring writer and their friends and families in Jackson, Mississippi 1962.
Miss Skeeter’s family have had a coloured maid throughout her entire life, as have most white families in the area during this particular time. This is deemed as normal and does not strike Skeeter as strange until she one day she returns from university to discover her maid has ‘quit’. She can sense that there is more to the tale as it is out of character for Constantine, her maid, to just vanish without so much as a letter of explanation – but her mother still insists that she just quit and left to go and live with her daughter. It is this event that causes Skeeter to see things in an entire different light and she is suddenly very aware of the injustice and suffering that these maids endure daily. They can raise the child of a white woman, but can’t use the same toilet (?).
However, usually when a phenomenal book is turned into a movie, it’s terrible and the director doesn’t do the characters justice. However, what we must remember is the film is just an interpretation of the novel. Here the film version by Tate Taylor in my opinion doesn’t do the book justice, but it isn’t terrible. There are many details throughout the book which the director hasn’t took notice of whilst creating this film adaptation. I am now going to compare and contrast both the novel and book below.
Comparisons:
The movie does an excellent job of portraying the deep love between Minny and Aibileen just like the book does. Not to mention, Minny’s attitude it is perfectly portrayed throughout the film.
Also, when reading the book the only person I could believe embodied the character they were suppose to play was Bryce Dallas Howard as Hilly Holbrook. I believe she acted just as the character Hilly Holbrook would have in terms of her manipulative attitude and how devilish she acts. In fact she was that good I hated her character just as much as I hated her throughout the novel. In addition, I must state that I enjoyed the role of Jessica Chastain who played Celia Foote as she expressed the quirkiness just as the novel did.
Contrasts:
In the novel, Skeeter is described as big and tall. However, in the film adaptation Emma Stone, who plays Skeeter in the movie is 5’4″ and slim which is a huge dramatic contrast and doesn’t fit the character of Skeeter in my opinion. Also in the novel it is Aibileen who tells Skeeter the truth about Constantine, in the film adaptation it is in fact Skeeter’s mother who tells her the truth.
However, apart from missing the crucial details the film does in fact present some contrasts that almost make it seem childlike. For example the colours, most colours throughout the film adaptation seem to be bright and yellow which make it seem more like a happy film, when realistically it is not. On the other hand, even the colour of the book is a more murky colour and is the complete opposite to bright yellow. As well as the colour yellow throughout the film (on the bus, posters etc) there is also a lot of sunshine which to me gives the film a comical feel when realistically it is a serious issue.
A more important contrast between novel and film is that the novel focuses on the class of the time whereas the film mainly focuses on individual characters because it is initially for entertainment purposes only. Lack of attention to detail is also presented when the film includes Constantine’s daughter. Constantine’s daughter in the novel was called ‘ Lulabelle’, who was born looking white. However, in the film adaptation she is coloured and is named ‘Rachel’. By making her African American I feel that they missed the whole point of the scene caused by Skeeter’s mother.
In addition, some of the plot points throughout the movies are slightly out of order; others are slightly different. For example, when Minny works for Celia Foote she miscarries her fourth child. In the novel, Minny is unaware that Celia was even pregnant, which then leaves the miscarriage as a complete shock. It does remain shocking on screen too, however, Celia does tell Minny she’s pregnant when she first hires her, which steals away the slight surprise from the end.
Finally, Kathryn Stockett wrote an essay at the end of the book, “Wasn’t that the point of this book? For women to realize, We are just two people. Not that much separates us. Not nearly as much as I’d thought.” As a whole this has opened my mind with the fact that these “barriers” we make really are ours to tear down. Not just racial barriers, but any barrier that separates a person from a person because like Aibileen’s story separation isn’t much when we just look so similar. Although there are many difference between both novel and movie, both adaptations of the story do initially highlight this message.
The Room of Requirement. 