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Wednesday, August 17, 2011

The Help...Here's A Thought.

I've been reading so many reviews about this film. What strikes me as interesting is that many white women over 45 years old have posted reviews and mentioned their "beloved maids" while praising how much of an inspiration these maids were to them and their families. What has not been mentioned by any of the people that posted reviews on this page and others, is that to many black people their praise and admiration for these maids is very similar to how pet owners express fondness for their property! What these "employers" need to remember is that many black women could not find other work, had been groomed through the brutality of slavery to accept such tasks with a smile and simply were trying to survive under unfair and inhumane life circumstances. Furthermore, to convince themselves that a black maid in the south would have willingly served them out of the kindness of their hearts post-slavery era is just silly. As these "righteous white" reminisce of when they were tended to hand and foot by smiling maids that were really doing the best they could though their opportunities were limited, they should remember that you can go to any 3 - 5 star hotel and pay for such great service and smiles today. Just because the bell hop smiles in your face and calls your kids cute, doesn't mean they love you sincerely. In short, black maids were just trying to make a living and did their best to remain human by embracing what parts of humanity they were allowed to experience as women and mothers. It's what people do when they are deprived and seeking hope for better days. The smiles of maids just made white women feel better about exploiting these black women. It's ironic that the very author of The Help is now being sued by a maid close to her own family for...exploitation without permission. What a crazy world we live in.

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