THE HELP reviewed

The most popular movie in the USA is "THE HELP." At first glance this film about race and women's relationships might seem to be an odd pick for number one, but it packed our little theater on a Monday night. The movie was compelling and entertaining, and I recommend it with reservations.

THE HELP is a key American story, one that we enjoy again and again, working out (I think) feelings about ourselves and our history. We insist on this story in the same way that children may insist on hearing repeatedly a tale about how a duckling gets lost and then gets found. It's a safe way to deal with something uncomfortable and make sure it ends well every time.

This is the generic story (found in THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS, HUCK FINN, AVATAR, THE BLIND SIDE, etc.) A member of the dominant culture comes to value those in the dominated culture and helps them, and rewarding friendships develop. The story's protagonist, of course, is the helper from the dominant culture (the culture that buys the most movie tickets).

Black intellectuals have criticized THE HELP--which sets out to show fictional black servants telling their own stories--as being unrepresentative of reality. I have to say this: the blacks strike me as being more real than the whites in the movie. The whites are mostly cartoon figures. I would not want to see this movie with a Tea Party audience.

I wonder what black viewers without doctorates think of the film. I suspect they enjoy it, as I did.

For me what kept THE HELP from being first rate was its sentimentality. That's often what separates the rest from the best. Everything gets slightly softened. The movie is comfortably moving, unlike life. That adds to popularity. The black intellectuals have a point, but this glimpse into how people treat one another--I've seen Latina house cleaners treated badly in Healdsburg--has value. And the movie kept the audience interested.