‘The Help': Black and White Make Oscar Gold
Make time to watch fine actresses bring light to volatile 1960s Mississippi.
There are some books that are so colorful they’re hard to forget. Kathryn Stockett’s debut novel The Help (available at Bay Books) featured the distinct voices of African-American maids in 1960s Jackson, Miss. Readers across the world embraced Stockett’s story as the maids explained the effects of racial injustice while simultaneously helping a white woman come of age in a shockingly segregated community. Now the book has been made into a film worthy of the Oscars. If you want to see it at the Village Theater, you might want to purchase a ticket in advance. Why? The film is selling out, and for good reason. When converting a novel to a visual medium, filmmakers too often make the story bigger, change the emphasis, pepper it with special …
