<p>Who’s looking forward to this movie? I can’t decide if I am. </p>
<p>I thoroughly enjoyed the book. But, the movie trailer looks like they’ve dumbed it down into a cute summer chick flick. </p>
<p>What do you think?</p>
<p>I haven’t seen the trailer but I’ve been looking forward to the movie with the usual trepidation I feel about books that I love. :)</p>
<p>oh I haven’t seen the trailer- but I can easily imagine that.
probably rent it.</p>
<p>I am! I haven’t read the book, but I thought the preview made it look like it would be really good. I didn’t get the “cute summer chick flick” vibe, but maybe I would feel different if I’d read the book. I generally don’t like chick flicks and lean toward dramas, particularly with strong female leads (as netflix suggestions puts it). That was what I was under the impression this would be.</p>
<p>I think it would be worth seeing even despite the trailer if that’s what you think, though. I can see the film industry making a trailer that makes a movie LOOK like a “cute summer chick flick” because that’s what people expect in the summer and they want women to see it-- it may not be that that’s the tone of the movie.</p>
<p>Emaheevul, read the book before seeing the movie. It’s a quick read. I loved the book and will probably avoid the movie because I’m afraid it will be so far off from the tenor of the book. As a daughter of the rural south growing up in the 60’s/70’s and having a maid who was like my second Mom, the book really struck a cord with me and I’d hate to see the movie mess it up.</p>
<p>I loved the book, too. I think I’ll end up seeing the movie, just to satisfy my curiosity. But, I reserve the right to dislike it. ;)</p>
<p>I also loved the book, but think the trailer looks a bit cheesy. I really hope that isn’t the case and the movie will be as great as the book.</p>
<p>Recently I read an article that during the movie filming, all foods shown are cooked by locals to show the true feel. This article even included the recipes for some of the foods mentioned in the book; all loaded with Crisco and butter :)</p>
<p>LOL, Crisco. There are a few funny lines about it in the book. </p>
<p>I saw that Kathryn Stockett, the author, has a cameo in the movie. From the photo, it looks like she’s a member in the audience at a Junior League meeting. 
[The</a> Help Official Movie Site](<a href=“ザヘルプM｜男性の性についてのお悩み解決”>ザヘルプM｜男性の性についてのお悩み解決)</p>
<p>I think this was the original article:
[The</a> Help: Southern Food | Food & Wine](<a href=“http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/the-help-southern-food]The”>http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/the-help-southern-food)</p>
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<p>Me too!!! More than anything, after reading this book, I just wanted to be able to talk to the two ladies that over the years of my childhood, pretty much raised me while my mother worked. I am pretty sure I never really said “thank you” and I wish I could do that.</p>
<p>Personally, I cannot wait to go and see the movie! No way it could “ruin” that book for me and, if the portrayal is good, it will make it come alive!</p>
<p>I hesitated to read the book. I loved it! I finally downloaded it on my kindle after rave reviews here and could not have enjoyed it more. I do think the movie will be glossed over. I don’t think it will be as raw as the book was in parts. I will still go with my girlfriends to see it.</p>
<p>As another southern girl that was raised by a live in house keeper, the book brought back so many memories. My daughter also loved the book, but I am sure she didn’t hear her maid speaking. While one can read the dialect, actually hearing it in the words made it that much more real. </p>
<p>Like churchmusicmom, I never said thank you due to the fact I was too young, but also it was expected that the maid took care of us. So to Dorothy I say, thank you for making sure I became the woman I am!</p>
<p>I loved the book and can’t wait to see the movie. The author was pretty involved, so it should be OK. I never hesitate to see the movies of books I like. I either like them- or not- but I still want to see them.</p>
<p>I am so, so hesitant to see the movie, because, as others said, I don’t want them to have screwed it up.</p>
<p>After I read the book, I was just heartbroken. I, also, grew up in the south in the 60s. I remember a black maid that used to come to our house, but I don’t know how many days a week, maybe just one or two. Her name was Jean, and she even came to my baby shower for my oldest kid. It would absolutely kill me if I ever found out my mom did not let Jean use the bathrooms in the house… at least I KNOW we didn’t have a separate black bathroom. This house that we lived in until I was 12, was very, very small. In fact, I remember being in a crib in my parents room until I was 2 1/2 and my oldest brother left for college. So I could never quite figure out why my mom had help. But I guess having three boys in the house created a lot of laundry! I don’t remember at what point Jean stopped coming, but I don’t ever remember her being at our newer, larger house. At that point, though, I was the only one left at home with my parents, so maybe it was easier for my mom.</p>
<p>One story that distinctly stands out to me, though, that has haunted me for much of my life, dealt with my grandmother. She lived in Lake Charles, Louisiana, but would come to visit for a few days a few times a year. She had a third-grade education and had my dad at 18. Some guy who we all thought was our grandfather (although he died before I was born) married her to ‘make things proper’, but as the story was told years later (neither my mom or dad ever spoke of any of this - my oldest brother learned about it from my grandmother directly) it appears as if, every time he looked at my dad, he was reminded of the man my grandmother had gotten pregnant by, making for a miserable relationship between he and my dad. Anyway, this was my grandmother’s experience and she was a very typical uneducated, but bigoted person. During the summer time, I occasionally would leave a note for our mailman (who walked door to door - no mailboxes at the street) to ring the doorbell when he got to our house, and I’d bring him a glass of cold water, or lemonade. He was always so, so appreciative and sincere, and it made me feel good. One day when my grandmother was visiting (my mom was out running errands) and she saw me talking to the black mailman at the door, she freaked out. She told me to come inside, then laid into me about how I shouldn’t be opening the door to black men, that who knows what he might do. So she attached shame to what I thought was a good deed, something that made me feel good. I’ll have to say from that day on, I lost a lot of respect for my grandmother, something to this day, one of my brothers feels like was cruel of me to do. </p>
<p>So I definitely have an infinity toward the stories of how black people were trying to transition to a more accepting world during the 60s. And I don’t know how I’d like it if I feel I’m being manipulated by a movie, just for ratings!</p>
<p>I really disliked the book. I thought it was a cheap, chick-lit, made for mass media type of genre fiction. It kind of had a summer movie release vibe from the get-go, like it was a screenplay instead of a novel.</p>
<p>It’s the type of book that is perfect for a teenage girl in high school or early college who doesn’t like to read but wants to give off the impression to others that she is intelligent and enjoys reading. Either that, or for mid-age housewives who are emotionable and cry when they listen to “opera” singers Andrea Bocelli and Paul Potts.</p>
<p>As an alternative, I’d suggest Toni Morrison’s “Beloved”, which is a much better, more high quality piece of literature dealing with the same topic as “The Help”.</p>
<p>wow, newccuser, I have never felt quite so denigrated for enjoying a book before. Congrats to you on that.</p>
<p>My parents, thankfully, were NOT typical southern parents. They made sure that I knew better than to think that skin color meant anything regarding a person’s individual worth. In Tuscaloosa Alabama during the 60’s and early 70’s, we had friends over of all colors and, only now do I really understand, sexual orientations. These dear people would come to our home have jam sessions late into the night (my dad and mom had a piano, an organ, drums and vibes all in our family room). That was cool! And I also remember my father refusing to drive the woman who worked for us unless she would sit in the front seat with him. She felt it was not “proper” for her to do so, and he would not move unless she did. :)</p>
<p>newccuser- You obviously don’t understand the South and its history. I have lots of friends who grew up in Alabama and Mississippi who are older than me. They said the book is absolutely dead-on.</p>
<p>I don’t complain about the book’s topic. It’s the shallow characters, banal prose, and predictable plot that rub me as being no greater “literature” than James Patterson or Nicholas Sparks.</p>
<p>Everybody else has their right to enjoy the book (just like I have my right to dislike it). Perhaps I just enjoy playing devil’s advocate and automatically rebel against anything mainstream. I for one am happy to see it hit the big screen - I feel that’s probably where it belongs better anyways. By that, I mean as something suitable for mass consumption; as something that an audience can passively (as opposed to critically) enjoy, then forget about as soon as it’s over. That’s what differentiates “The Help” from true literature - it’s something that’s perfectly fine for a money-maker, but nobody will remember it in a decade or two, whereas true literature such as Toni Morrison’s “Beloved” will remain just that, beloved for posterity.</p>
<p>Did we claim it was great literature? I missed that part. I like a lot of different kinds of books. No one said this was Shakespeare.</p>
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<p>Perhaps you do.</p>