It's a good thing last night's dinner plans got cancelled because I finally caught "The Help" on TV.
Based on the novel of the same name it is set during the peak of the Civil Right's movement in America. (Breif history lesson: The Civil Right's Movement was a political struggle to secure equal rights for minorities in the eyes of the law.) The story is about the housewives of Jackson, Mississippi and their relationship with the "coloured help".
The privileged ladies dump their young children on their maids while they indulge in gossiping, playing Bridge and their so-called philanthropy (ironically for the hungry children in Africa). In return for their long hours of service the black women only received injustice. Fed up of the whites controlling their lives, the maids agree to tell their woeful tales to Skeeter, an aspiring writer, for her first novel.
A touching story bringing to light the morbid issue of racism which is still present in most parts of the world today. The movie got me thinking about how we treat our servants. Although we do not go to the extent of humiliating and belittling them, do we treat them as equals? Do we offer them what we're eating or do we expect them to eat leftovers? Are they allowed to sit on the sofa or on do they have to sit on the floor?
I leave you with a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr.'s famous speech:
Based on the novel of the same name it is set during the peak of the Civil Right's movement in America. (Breif history lesson: The Civil Right's Movement was a political struggle to secure equal rights for minorities in the eyes of the law.) The story is about the housewives of Jackson, Mississippi and their relationship with the "coloured help".
The privileged ladies dump their young children on their maids while they indulge in gossiping, playing Bridge and their so-called philanthropy (ironically for the hungry children in Africa). In return for their long hours of service the black women only received injustice. Fed up of the whites controlling their lives, the maids agree to tell their woeful tales to Skeeter, an aspiring writer, for her first novel.
A touching story bringing to light the morbid issue of racism which is still present in most parts of the world today. The movie got me thinking about how we treat our servants. Although we do not go to the extent of humiliating and belittling them, do we treat them as equals? Do we offer them what we're eating or do we expect them to eat leftovers? Are they allowed to sit on the sofa or on do they have to sit on the floor?
I leave you with a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr.'s famous speech:
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
