The Help

[agzg]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

Where does "sad and pathetic" end, though? I considered myself to be pretty well-read regarding most "struggles" experienced, because I read like a demon and had a family that regularly discussed current and historical events, from slavery and Civil Rights to the Holocaust and the Cambodian Genocide.

It wasn't until I got to college, when I learned (from friends of other cultures) about things like the Turkish atrocities against the Armenians. Does my lack of knowledge about the Armenian Genocide make me "sad and pathetic?"

I took a course specifically about Genocide through the ages in college and I swear the insight into "how could regular people let this happen" that I gained is something I really valued about that course.

/hijack

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by Low C Sharp

Oh, they're still common sense, even among white people. I don't move knowledge out of the realm of common sense just because a lot of people lack it in a given community. Common sense ain't common.

I was typing quickly earlier. That should have been *common knowledge.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by agzg

I took a course specifically about Genocide through the ages in college and I swear the insight into "how could regular people let this happen" that I gained is something I really valued about that course.

/hijack

Excellent course.

This is a good thread as I hoped that it would be. BTW, in case nobody knows, there is a new movie out called "The Help" that is based on a novel of the same name.

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Excellent course.

This is a good thread as I hoped that it would be. BTW, in case nobody knows, there is a new movie out called "The Help" that is based on a novel of the same name.

LOL

[CrimsonTide4]

Originally Posted by LXA SE285

Just curious, as someone who hasn't read the book: How did you—and others—feel about the author's use of dialect?

Dialect doesn't bother me. I don't see it as "Negro dialect" but others might. Zora Neale Hurston used dialect too. *shrug* Bigger fish to fry in the grand scheme of things.

[rhoyaltempest]

Originally Posted by LXA SE285

When I was in college in the '80s, an AA friend of mine had a roommate who had never even met a black person before she graduated from high school (her hometown, in northeast Alabama, was something like 98% white).

I met many like this in the early 90's when I attended a small university in upstate PA. I couldn't believe it. It was like we were transported back in time, literally. We (the small group of Blacks on campus) experienced blatant racism, not so much on campus but in the small town. There was only one black family in the whole town and it was the home of a professor at the university. I learned a lot from that experience and will never forget it.

[rhoyaltempest]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

That is very common.

Since elementary school, I have become accustomed to being THE BLACK PERSON for the whites who have seen but never had a real interaction with a Black person.

It has always been fun being nice enough to get them to invite me to their house to meet their family for dinner. Then I ask them where the fried chicken is, steal their televisions and good jewelry, and my Cousin JuneBug and I go to the pawn shop. I'm joking.

The isolated and segregated whites tend to at least hear some mention of Martin Luther King, Jr, even if there's a negative connotation. They may have even heard their families talking about (insert racial slurs and negative comments). Point being, these people generally aren't blank slates. What they do with those slates, especially once they have the power to learn on their own, is up to them.

Dead (at the bolded). I can sooo relate to what you're saying. I have often been the black person in class through elementary, middle school, and college yet I have also been to all black schools (high school for example). I moved around a lot so I was able to experience both worlds.

[rhoyaltempest]

So I went to see the movie today and I thought it was good. I went about 3:00pm and the theater was full of senior citizens...lol. I do need to see it again though when it comes out on DVD before I can give my overall take on things (I always watch a movie I'm interested in at least a 2nd time since I always see things the 2nd time that I didn't see the first). Overall, I think it's worth it to go see it. Also, I didn't have an issue with the dialect that the maids used. It's obvious in the movie (and if you know about the era) that many Blacks rarely went to school if at all since it was more important to work for their families. However, I don't believe that dialect equals being unintelligent. I found Aibilene and Minnie to be quite intelligent.

I didn't read the book but I may read it now.

[Ch2tf]

So I screened the movie about a month ago and just started reading the book a few days ago.

I'm not far enough into the book for a full comparison, but I felt like the civil rights issues were glossed over and for the most part divorced from the characters. The bus scene with Aibilene and the dude was beyond confusing, as was the name dropping of Medgar Evars. Because of this, I can understand the the critique from one of the reviews posted earlier about it seeming like racism was just the result of peer pressure, though it didn't play out to me that way (probably because of my frame of reference and knowledge about the topic). I did like however, that it did show that some peoples actions (not necessarily opinions) do change because of outside pressure, i.e. Elizabeth Leefolt.

As someone who cries at almost anything sad (and joyful) for that matter, I suprisingly didn't cry as much as I anticipated. But I did appreciate the balance between the humor and the "gritier" topics.

I was expecting the dialect to bother me based on commentary I had heard or read prior to the movie, but it did not stand out as overly aggregious to me.

While I find it hard to believe/comprehend, and recognize that I was and never will be in a position privileged enough to have lived without this sphere of knowledge, I recall in my freshman writing class we were reading from an anthology (topic at the time Christopher Columbus and the discovery of America) and there was at least one student who was upset/angered about the negative depiction of CC. While he had been taught the story of the "discovery" of America in school wherever he was from, he had never been taught about the death and disease aspect of said story. What he did after learning is on him, but it is very possible for young adults, who we'd like to think would be more knowledgeable just aren't.

[OleMissGlitter]

Growing up in New Orleans and living in Mississippi now, I thought the novel was very true to the time in which it was written. I saw the movie as well and I cried and laughed! My husband even liked it. I thought everything was wonderful about it! (Really loved it when they mentioned Ole Miss a few times!!!) I think it is a must-see! Of course read the novel too!!!

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by Ch2tf

While I find it hard to believe/comprehend, and recognize that I was and never will be in a position privileged enough to have lived without this sphere of knowledge, I recall in my freshman writing class we were reading from an anthology (topic at the time Christopher Columbus and the discovery of America) and there was at least one student who was upset/angered about the negative depiction of CC. While he had been taught the story of the "discovery" of America in school wherever he was from, he had never been taught about the death and disease aspect of said story. What he did after learning is on him, but it is very possible for young adults, who we'd like to think would be more knowledgeable just aren't.

Traditional first year students are late-teens/barely adults fresh out of high school. That is why the college experience (inside and outside of the classroom) is a huge learning experience. If he was an upper level collegiate or post-collegiate, I would say he ignored information that he probably had access to and such ignorance is pathetic.

******

Black Female Historians Slam 'The Help'

http://www.theroot.com/buzz/black-fe...ians-slam-help

[rhoyaltempest]

Originally Posted by OleMissGlitter

Growing up in New Orleans and living in Mississippi now, I thought the novel was very true to the time in which it was written. I saw the movie as well and I cried and laughed! My husband even liked it. I thought everything was wonderful about it! (Really loved it when they mentioned Ole Miss a few times!!!) I think it is a must-see! Of course read the novel too!!!

I read an article about the real Aibilene who indeed worked for the author's family. I'm sure although fiction, there is much truth in the story.

[OleMissGlitter]

Originally Posted by rhoyaltempest

I read an article about the real Aibilene who indeed worked for the author's family. I'm sure although fiction, there is much truth in the story.

I totally agree. I know both of my parents grew up with maids in New Orleans who had bathrooms outside of the house. (Which is just weird to me.) My parents said just about every family in New Orleans back in the 50s/60s had help of some type. Some had help 5 days a week, some had help once a week, and some even had more than one maid. My mom's maid would even show my grandmother her purse before she left every day. (Apparently she did this on her accord to show she was an honest woman.) My dad’s friend invited his maid to his wedding when he got married in the 70s. He sent a limo to pick her up because he felt she had been like a second mother to him. He wanted to make sure she was treated just like family on his big day. I had a maid until I was about 5 or 6, and boy did she make the best grilled cheese sandwiches!

[violetpretty]

Totally unrelated to above discussion, but related to The Help...I was wondering...did Kathryn Stockett choose Skeeter's given name Eugenia because it's an old Southern name or could she have had inspiration from a certain Tucker Fitzgerald?

[Low C Sharp]

Common knowledge ain't always common, either. There's a lot of common ignorance out there.