The Help- A Review
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This film accurately depicts the violation of several human rights articles, as seen in the universal declaration of human rights. The first article violated in the film is Article 1, which states that all humans all born free and equal. This is clearly violated in the sense that not all the people are treated fairly, and brings up the point of segregation playing a big part of society. Equality is a huge issue in this film, because it centers around the issue of racism, which completely represents inequality. Characters in the film are on two completely different levels and standards of living based on nothing else other than their skin colour. Another human rights article violated is Article 2, in which it says that: everyone is entitled to the rights and freedoms set forth in this article. Just stating the violations that occur is enough proof that this article is completely disregarded. “Everyone” is clearly not an inclusive term in the film, as people with different coloured skin were treated completely different when it came to their rights and freedoms and were only granted a limited amount of these rights. “No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms” is a direct line from the Declaration, from Article 4. This clearly states that slavery shouldn’t be happening, and yet that is exactly the issue that the film The Help is centered around. In the film, it’s most common for caucasian households to have slaves, servants, or maids, being people of colour. Article 5 states that no one shall be subject to cruel and inhuman treatment/punishment, which is also violated in the film. People of colour were forced into slavery, and were subjected to other cruel and humiliating punishments throughout the film. They were severely mistreated by the caucasian characters for no reason other than the colour of their skin. Both article 6 and 7 are violated in this film, and each goes hand-in-hand with the other. People are supposed to be seen as exactly that, people, in the eyes of the law. In this case, it does not work out in such a manner, as different ethnicities were not given the same protection as caucasian individuals when it came to the justice system. Articles 18 and 19 state that everyone has the right to freedom of thought, expression, and opinion. These rights are violated when it’s made clear that caucasian people are to have a certain opinion about people of colour, and vice versa. In addition to that, the character Skeeter, had these rights violated when she wanted to write about the stories of the women who were kept as servants or maids, and it was completely rejected at first. In addition to that, if the book had been written by a different character, Aibileen or Minny for example, the idea would probably have been completely rejected from the start simply because of their race and status. Their freedom of opinion and expression were taken away because others didn’t like what the women wanted to say. Commonly, the servants or slaves weren’t allowed to express their own opinions either, instead being forced or simply expected to go along with whatever they were told to do or how to think. Sub-section 2 of Article 21 states directly that all individuals have equal access to the public services in their country. Aibileen had said to Skeeter, that she was not allowed in the same hospitals, libraries, or even stores as caucasian individuals. This is a complete opposite to what the article is saying, as forcing people to use different buildings and services than that of the rest of the population shows discrimination. Article 23, which states that all individuals are subject to equal pay for equal work, is most definitely violated. Women like Aibileen and Minny worked much harder than other caucasian people at the time, and received much lower wages for their work, again because of their race. In the film, Article 25 is violated in quite an unfair manner as well. Everyone in society has the right to a fair standard of living, which includes the right to a style of life that entails adequate health and well-being of oneself and their family. This entails a reasonable amount of food, medical care, and social services. Both Aibileen and Minny, and many other characters in their community, were not given the entirety of the necessities in order to live a healthy lifestyle. Minny lived in what was basically a trailer, with a massive family consisting of several kids, as well as an abusive husband. Minny did not always enough money or food to support her children. She was also unable to go to the hospital when her husband hit her, making her life that worse off. In short, many, many basic human rights were blatantly violated in this film.
Violations of the Declaration of Human Rights always have an impact on individuals as well as societies. The film, The Help, is no exception. Since racism is the main focus of the movie, it is, or things connected to it, are what violates all of the human rights. Everyone in the society is affected in one way or another by racism in this film, as there is a major focus on segregation of the different races of people. However, the violations have the greatest effect on those that are treated as slaves or servants, because they are the ones suffering from the mistreatment. Those individuals suffer personally. Then there are the caucasian individuals who were born into or exposed to the slavery and mistreatment, who were lead to think that this is the only way to treat people, and how society is supposed to function. Society in general was absolutely affected because of both of these groups of people. The whole societal structure in the film was based around who was a slave, and who had the most slaves, and was therefore the richest. Society completely depended on the violation of these basic human rights, and that’s just really a skewed way for the world to be. It’s not even as if people felt remotely close to bad for violating these rights, they seemed to not even care that they were hurting these people in more ways than imaginable. Both groups of people, whether they were the ones violating the rights, or having their rights violated, were affected deeply and profoundly because of it.
The cinematography featured in The Help dramatically adds to the atmosphere, and which creates a feeling of catharsis in the audience, and gives a better understanding of how each of the characters feel in certain scenes. Music is included in the many scenes to fit the emotions on screen, and to reflect how the characters feel. In one such scene, Miss Celia sits in her backyard, burying the corpse of her dead baby, while in the background there is a rendition of piano music that is absolutely slow and saddening, which fits the scene perfectly, and reflects perfectly the sadness that she feels. In cheery moments, such as the book being released, and showing how the citizens of Jackson are enjoying the book, there is a very upbeat feel in the music, adding to the happy feeling in the environment. Another major piece of cinematography that was important in the film was the use of lighting in the different communities or settings. In the predominantly caucasian communities the lighting was brighter and it seemed to represent the surface-deep perfection of the communities in question, while darker lighting was used in the homes and communities of people of colour. This definitely gives the audience the feeling that the areas in which the “higher class” caucasians live, are safer, happier and generally better places to be, while the other settings are darker, grungier, worse places. Which, in a way, represents the oppression and freedom of the characters in the different communities. Camera angles are also utilized in the film to create feeling. For example, during the scenes that Aibileen shares with Mae Mobley, the shots are often close-ups of their faces, on the little girl’s level, which somehow makes the scene feel extra emotional. Another example of a good usage of camera angles is the scene in which Aibileen gets fired and has to leave Mae behind. The scene cuts in between Aibileen walking away and crying, Mae watching her go, sobbing, screaming, and banging on the window, and Mae’s mother, clearly upset by the situation. The jump cuts invoke emotion, and they showcase how each character involved feels. There are definitely some great aspects of cinematography used in this film, to create catharsis.
Violations of the Declaration of Human Rights always have an impact on individuals as well as societies. The film, The Help, is no exception. Since racism is the main focus of the movie, it is, or things connected to it, are what violates all of the human rights. Everyone in the society is affected in one way or another by racism in this film, as there is a major focus on segregation of the different races of people. However, the violations have the greatest effect on those that are treated as slaves or servants, because they are the ones suffering from the mistreatment. Those individuals suffer personally. Then there are the caucasian individuals who were born into or exposed to the slavery and mistreatment, who were lead to think that this is the only way to treat people, and how society is supposed to function. Society in general was absolutely affected because of both of these groups of people. The whole societal structure in the film was based around who was a slave, and who had the most slaves, and was therefore the richest. Society completely depended on the violation of these basic human rights, and that’s just really a skewed way for the world to be. It’s not even as if people felt remotely close to bad for violating these rights, they seemed to not even care that they were hurting these people in more ways than imaginable. Both groups of people, whether they were the ones violating the rights, or having their rights violated, were affected deeply and profoundly because of it.
The cinematography featured in The Help dramatically adds to the atmosphere, and which creates a feeling of catharsis in the audience, and gives a better understanding of how each of the characters feel in certain scenes. Music is included in the many scenes to fit the emotions on screen, and to reflect how the characters feel. In one such scene, Miss Celia sits in her backyard, burying the corpse of her dead baby, while in the background there is a rendition of piano music that is absolutely slow and saddening, which fits the scene perfectly, and reflects perfectly the sadness that she feels. In cheery moments, such as the book being released, and showing how the citizens of Jackson are enjoying the book, there is a very upbeat feel in the music, adding to the happy feeling in the environment. Another major piece of cinematography that was important in the film was the use of lighting in the different communities or settings. In the predominantly caucasian communities the lighting was brighter and it seemed to represent the surface-deep perfection of the communities in question, while darker lighting was used in the homes and communities of people of colour. This definitely gives the audience the feeling that the areas in which the “higher class” caucasians live, are safer, happier and generally better places to be, while the other settings are darker, grungier, worse places. Which, in a way, represents the oppression and freedom of the characters in the different communities. Camera angles are also utilized in the film to create feeling. For example, during the scenes that Aibileen shares with Mae Mobley, the shots are often close-ups of their faces, on the little girl’s level, which somehow makes the scene feel extra emotional. Another example of a good usage of camera angles is the scene in which Aibileen gets fired and has to leave Mae behind. The scene cuts in between Aibileen walking away and crying, Mae watching her go, sobbing, screaming, and banging on the window, and Mae’s mother, clearly upset by the situation. The jump cuts invoke emotion, and they showcase how each character involved feels. There are definitely some great aspects of cinematography used in this film, to create catharsis.