THE HUmanities Film Series Presents

THE HELP

Friday, April 27 at 9 PM

ETC Lecture Hall

The Help is a 2011 adaptation of Kathryn Stockett’s novel. An ensemble piece about a young white woman, Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan, and her relationship with two black maids, The Help arrived in theaters among some controversy. Skeeter is a journalist who decides to write a book from the point of view of the maids in her community in the Civil Rights era South, exposing the racism they are faced with as they work for white families and the plight of black women who raise white children who ultimately become their future employers. Octavia Spencer’s performance as Minny was celebrated with a Best Supporting Actress win at the Academy Awards even as leaders in the African American community criticized the novel and film as depicting blacks as in need of a white savior.