Film: The Help 2011

The Help

Key Concepts
Narrative 
The film The Help is about the trials and tribulations of black maids working in white middle class families and a white middle class woman played by Emma Stone trying to help the black maids to get their stories out and make changes in the white middle class system (patriarchal society).

-The maid called Minny baked a pie for her boss as a peace offering about something that she did "wrong" (she used their toilet when she was not allowed to use it (Whites and Blacks cannot share the same toilet), she was then fired), however, Minny said "Eat my shit", it signified "this is the last time you will see me again, you will not bully me/treat me badly ever again, I had enough". or it be seen as a humorous form of revenge.

-In the movie when the book called "The Help" was released the perception of the black working class maids changed. In a way the book acted/seen as a "bible" of the black working class maids, the book contained all of the bad things that the white middle class people did to them.

Discourse 
The message of the film, is to gain awareness/make people aware to this day on what happened before. The consumers can consume it in cinemas and book since the film was based on the novel written by Kathryn Stockett.

Mode of address 
The film is telling us what happened before the American Civil Rights came about.

Ideology 
It tells us about the difference between different classes and how black people are treated differently because of the colour of their skin.

Key Theoretical Approaches
Marxism - The white middle class people exploits the black working class people(maids/the help).
and treat them unequally and terribly (they are not allowed to use the same toilet as the white middle class people). The black maids are not paid really well for their labour.
The black working class people (the maids) are so draw to religion, they think that God will save them and make their life a better. Religion creates false consciousness and dual consciousness, the black working class in film changed their views (dual consciousness) to make changes,  make people aware about their situation, they decided that they will talk about the things that their white middle class bosses did to  them. Skeeter (a white middle class female played by Emma Stone) is the one who wanted to bring about change and the editor/writer of the book "The Help" in the film.

Feminism - The character named Skeeter ( a white middle class female) got a job as a writer and her fellow female friends tease her for working as well as not being so pretty and attractive (The Beauty Myth, Naomi Wolf) . Skeeter female friends don't work they stay at home and dependent to their husband. This film is challenging the the patriarchal society and make changes.

Post colonialism 
Angela Barry talks about the representation and identity of blacks in the media. In the film black maids are presented as the troublemaker, entertainer and the dependant.
Troublemaker: because some of them went against the laws and rules of the white government or the white middle class families as a whole. e.g. not allowed to use the whites toilet
Entertainer: because the white middle class families laugh at black maids mistakes and punish them.
Dependant:  Black maids are dependant to the white middle class families they need them in order to gain money.

However, The film is about true to life story of African-American maids working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi, during the early 1960s.