Helper Film

[Cary Polachek]

TheHelp is a 2011 period drama film written and directed by Tate Taylor and based on Kathryn Stockett's 2009 novel of the same name. The film features an ensemble cast, including Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Octavia Spencer, Jessica Chastain, Allison Janney, Cicely Tyson, and Sissy Spacek. The film and novel recount the story of a young white woman and aspiring journalist Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan.[5] The story focuses on her relationship with two black maids, Aibileen Clark and Minny Jackson, during the Civil Rights Movement in 1963 Jackson, Mississippi. In an attempt to become a legitimate journalist and writer, Skeeter decides to write a book from the point of view of the maids, exposing the racism they face as they work for white families. Black domestic workers in 1960s America were referred to as "the help", hence the title of the journalistic expos, the novel and the film. "The Help" brings to light the challenges and discrimination that African American people faced.

DreamWorks Pictures acquired the screen rights to Stockett's novel in March 2010 and quickly commissioned the film with Chris Columbus, Michael Barnathan, and Brunson Green as producers. The film's casting began later that month, with principal photography following four months after in Mississippi. The film is an international co-production between companies based in the United States, India, and the United Arab Emirates.[3]

The Help premiered at the Jackson suburb of Madison, Mississippi on July 30, 2011,[6] and at Beverly Hills on August 9, 2011, and went into general theatrical release in North America on August 10, 2011 with distribution by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures through the Touchstone Pictures label. The film was a critical and commercial success, grossing $221 million worldwide and receiving positive reviews from critics, who mostly praised the acting (particularly that of Davis, Spencer and Chastain), though the film's depiction of race drew some criticism as having a white savior narrative.[4] The Help received four Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, Best Actress for Davis, and Best Supporting Actress for both Chastain and Spencer, with the latter winning the award. The film also won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

Elizabeth and Hilly's mutual friend Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan is an unmarried aspiring writer, recent graduate of Ole Miss who has been rejected by Elaine Stein, an editor at Harper & Row NYC. Securing a local job writing a housekeeping column, she witnesses the city's systemic racism and the demeaning mistreatment of maids.

Hilly insists on installing separate bathrooms, which she wants enshrined in building code. Skeeter's mother Charlotte tells her the family maid Constantine quit, but Skeeter does not believe her. She decides to write a book of interviews with the maids to expose their experiences.

Minny is soon fired by Hilly for defiantly using an indoor bathroom during a dangerous tornado. Hilly vindictively renders Minny unemployable by spreading the lie that she stole from her, forcing her teenage daughter to quit school to work.

Celia Rae Foote, a pregnant housewife ostracized by the socialites, seeks a maid as her house in Madison is massive and she can't cook. She gratefully hires Minny without telling her husband Johnny, Hilly's former love interest. Celia suffers a miscarriage, then reveals she had had a shotgun wedding, then miscarried. They discuss Hilly's envy of Celia over Johnny. Celia treats the black eye Minny's husband has given her.

Aibileen and Minny let Skeeter interview them after going to a dynamic sermon. Elaine Stein tells Skeeter she needs many more maids' stories for the book but fear of retribution prevents others from coming forward.

Aibileen tells Skeeter about her only son's tragic death, due to his negligent foreman after an on-the-job accident. Skeeter slow-walks a piece in the Junior League newsletter on the "separate but equal" bathrooms for Hilly, instead submitting an embarrassing misprint.

Hilly refuses to advance money to her new maid, Yule May Davis, who needs $75 to send both her twins to Tougaloo College. When Yule May pawns a lost ring she found under a sofa, she is violently arrested after Hilly reports her. This incident and Medgar Evers' assassination inspire more maids to share their stories.

Skeeter confronts Charlotte about Constantine's departure. She confesses that during a Daughters of America luncheon at her home, she fired Constantine when her daughter Rachel refused to enter the house through the kitchen. Rachel subsequently moved her heartbroken mother to Chicago, where she later died. Upset, Skeeter bursts into tears and runs out.

"The Help" is published anonymously and read widely by black and white communities of Jackson. Skeeter shares the proceeds with the maids, who each get the equivalent of several weeks' pay, with "more to come." Skeeter's boyfriend Stuart breaks up with her, realising she wrote it.

Minny subtly reveals the "terrible awful" to Celia, calling her "Two Slice Hilly". Panicked, Hilly threatens to sue Skeeter for libel, but backs down when she realizes she would have to publicly admit to the pie story. Charlotte intervenes, ordering Hilly off the property, then mother and daughter reconcile.

Johnny tells Minny he both knows she has been working at their house, and promises her permanent job security, so she and her children can leave her abusive husband. Aibileen's congregation honors her for her leadership in the publication. Minny and Aibileen convince Skeeter to take a NYC job offer.

In revenge, Hilly pressures Elizabeth to fire Aibileen, claiming she has stolen silverware. She defends herself, Hilly storms out in tears, and Elizabeth fires her. As Aibileen bids farewell to Mae, who's crying for her, she begs Elizabeth to love her daughter, who also cries. As she's leaving, she decides to quit domestic work to become a writer.

In December 2009, Variety reported that Chris Columbus, Michael Barnathan, and Mark Radcliffe would produce a film adaptation of The Help, under their production company 1492 Pictures. Brunson Green of Harbinger Productions also co-produced. The film was written and directed by Tate Taylor, who optioned film rights to the book before its publication. The novel's film rights were obtained by DreamWorks in March 2010.[7] Reliance Entertainment and Participant Media co-produced the film.[8]

The first casting news for the production came in March 2010, when it was reported that Emma Stone was attached to play the role of Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan.[9] Other actors were since cast, including Viola Davis as Aibileen; Bryce Dallas Howard as Hilly Holbrook, Jackson's racist, town ringleader; Allison Janney as Charlotte Phelan, Skeeter's mother; and Chris Lowell as Stuart Whitworth, Skeeter's boyfriend and a senator's son.[10][11][12] Leslie Jordan appears as the editor of the fictional local newspaper, The Jackson Journal.[13] Mike Vogel plays the character Johnny Foote. Octavia Spencer portrays Minny. Spencer inspired the character of Minny in Stockett's novel and voiced her in the audiobook version.[14][15]

Filming began in July 2010 and extended through October. The city of Greenwood was chosen to portray 1960s-era Jackson, and producer Green said he had expected to shoot "95 percent" of the film there.[16] Parts of the film were also shot in the real-life Jackson, as well as in the cities of Clarksdale and Greenville. One of the few real locations in the book and the film is Brent's Drugs, which dates to 1946. Other locations that can still be found in Jackson include the New Capitol Building and the Mayflower Cafe downtown. Scenes set at the Jackson Journal office were shot in Clarksdale at the building which formerly housed the Clarksdale Press Register for forty years until April 2010.[17]

The Help was the most significant film production in Mississippi since O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)[18][19][20] "Honestly, my heart would be broken if it were set anywhere but Mississippi," Stockett wrote in an e-mail to reporters. In order to convince producers to shoot in Greenwood, Tate Taylor and others had previously come to the town and scouted locations; at his first meeting with DreamWorks executives, he presented them with a photo album of potential filming spots in the area. The state's tax incentive program for filmmakers was also a key enticement in the decision.[18][19][20]

Two soundtracks were released for The Help: an original soundtrack and an original score. Geffen Records released the soundtrack album on August 4, 2011.[21] It remained authentic to the 60s period.[22] The 12-track collection, collated by music supervisor Jennifer Hawks,[23] features songs from the likes of Johnny Cash, Frankie Valli and Ray Charles. As a collective, the songs spotlight the peak of the fight for equality in the United States during the civil rights movement.[24] Mary J. Blige's "The Living Proof" is the only original track.[25] She composed it after a second viewing of the film. In an interview with Fandom Entertainment in 2011, Blige said she was "moved in so many ways". Her raw emotions inspired her to compose the lone song for the film.[26] The score album, featuring original cues composed and conducted by Thomas Newman was released by Varse Sarabande on September 6, 2011.

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures distributed The Help worldwide through the studio's Touchstone Pictures banner.[27] On October 13, 2010, Disney gave the film a release date of August 12, 2011. On June 30, 2011, the film's release date was rescheduled two days earlier to August 10, 2011.[28]

The film was released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (under the Touchstone Home Entertainment label) on Blu-ray Disc, DVD, and digital download on December 6, 2011. The release was produced in three different physical packages: a three-disc combo pack (Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital Copy); a two-disc combo pack (Blu-ray and DVD); and a single-disc DVD. It was also released as a digital download option in both standard and high definition. The DVD version includes two deleted scenes and "The Living Proof" music video by Mary J. Blige. The digital download version includes the same features as the DVD version, plus one additional deleted scene. Both the two-disc and three-disc combo packs include the same features as the DVD version, as well as "The Making of 'The Help': From Friendship to Film", "In Their Own Words: A Tribute to the Maids of Mississippi", and three deleted scenes with introductions by director Taylor.[29][30][31]

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