The Help

I finally got around to reading the book, largely because everyone on the planet has read it and it’s inspired passionate responses (positive AND negative) and I figured I’d see what the fuss was about. This is important mostly because when I first read the back cover of the book, I thought GOOD GOD, someone created a White Magical Negro story. I was not interested or even a bit intrigued. Mostly I was waiting for the fallout.

Many months have passed and the fallout has been more or less what I figured I’d see, with the multiplier of a film release. I have not seen the film. I’m not interested in seeing the film, as I’m fairly certain any nuance captured by the novel will be bludgeoned out of the screenplay but this is definitely worth a read. I’ll wait.

In conversation with some friends at a dinner party this weekend, we were talking about the danger of viewing our history through the perspective lens of now. Is it good to do? Sure. But in doing so, it’s important to remember that our history WAS. It was a living, breathing and fallible time of its own – not unlike those who lived in it. It’s difficult to point to any piece of art and say THAT IS BAD BECAUSE IT’S NOT HISTORICALLY ACCURATE. We can SAY it, but the truth is there isn’t much art that IS historically accurate, because everyone lives their OWN history. No one’s is exactly the same, despite sharing the same historical context and major events. We all live out our own melodramas with our complex relationships and interactions, our arrogance and colossal fucking errors. They are the things that help to shape us and our worldview. History is complicated and how we interact with it is moreso.

So here’s what I’m going to say about The Help: it’s an engaging read. It’s a bit of a window into a place and time not many of us inhabited. Is it perfect? No. Is it historically accurate? Probably in parts and based on the afterword, it’s true to the writer’s own personal history. Should it make you think? Yes. And given all that, it’s worth the read.