Posts Tagged ‘Judaism’
Film- “The Help”
South Dakota State Capitol, in Hughes County
Sunday evening past I took myself to see “The Help.” Moving is an inadequate word yet true. I have not read the book; reviews were hither and yon as expressed by readers on Amazon – of the book, not the movie. The movie is one everyone should see, everyone can resonate with the themes of despair, fear, the threat of death, loss of work and hypocrisy; one can also identify with the love, the compassion, the courage even in silence.
I grew up in Minnesota and South Dakota. In Minnesota, till I was a junior in high school, I lived in one of the most diverse suburbs (of course, in those days we didn’t use that word as we do now); it was half Jewish, had a Buddhist Temple and a Jewish Community Center instead of a Y (that was downtown with some awesome old bowling lanes – I digress). Though I was of the majority in color, I was of a slight minority in faith. This was a revealing when I quoted Scripture in junior high, my teacher asked me the source – which was the New Testament – and then dismissed it out of hand. I understood then not everyone believed as I did – REALLY, they did not. Wow.
In “The Help,” the terribly hypocratic annual benefit for African children was a must attend event. The chairwoman of this benefit (played glacially by Bryce Dallas Howard), while raising money for children across the world, would not even lend her maid $75 to ensure her second twin son’s tuition for college. This maid and her husband had saved, scrimped and stored up to send their sons to COLLEGE but, as a “Christian woman,” the chairwoman would not help her – not in her own back yard. Who am I overlooking in my neighborhood, my town, my state, who could use my help?
This is a powerful film. I commend it to you. When it finished, I clapped. Hesitatingly, others joined me and we gave it a tepid though sincere applause.
Related articles
- Food drive marks Mother Teresa’s 101st birthday (nydailynews.com)
- I hate this book more than any other book ever published. (wdtprs.com)
- It’s hot outside…. go to a movie! (cinderelliesister.wordpress.com)
