The Help

• Who produced 'The Help'?

  Kathryn Stockett
• When was The Help produced?


  2009
• Where was Stockett born and raised?


  She was born in Mississippi and raised in the 1970s, yet before a real shift in attitudes
• When was The Help made into a movie?


  2011
• How is Skeeter shown as different from others?


  She has a more sympathetic view to the treatment of black Americans and helps to reveal the experiences of some black maids
• When is The Help set?

  In 1962-64 Mississippi
• What was the Summer of 1964 known as?

  The Freedom Summer where major efforts were made to enrol black voters
• What did James Meredith do?


  Attempted to enrol at the all-white University of Mississippi in 1962
• What happened due to the enrolment of James Meredith?


  Chaos broke out with campus-riots leading to two dead, hundreds wounded and many others arrested
• What did Kennedy deploy for James Meredith?


  Roughly 31,000 National Guardsmen called to the federal forces
• What happened as of 1962?


  October 1st 1962, Meredith became the first black student to enrol at University of Mississippi
• What is a key method of conflict throughout?

  Segregation
• What is one example of segregation?


  Physical segregation such as black Americans trapped in ghetto areas
• Who helped to enforce physical segregation?

  Levitt Brothers built racially exclusive towns and villages, claiming that if a black family moved in it would devalue property
• How does Minny lack power?


  She is an outspoken maid, fired from her job, however her nature of speaking up makes her powerful
• How is Aibileen seen as lacking power?


  She is forced out of her job by Hilly
• What is a criticism of the text's production?


  It misrepresents African-American speech and culture with the regional accent giving an exaggerated child-like dialect
• How are black males depicted in The Help?


  Most black American males depicted as drunkards, abusive and absent
• How is the representation of black males?


  It is misleading and distorted
• What was missing from the life of black domestics?

  The physical and verbal abuse they suffered in white homes in the 1960s with the film making light of these for comedy
• Why is the story not believable?

  It is unlikely that black maids would be so rebellious
• Who was a major criticism of The Help?

  The Association of Black Women Historians in 2011
• How many copies did The Help sell?

  3 million copies by 2011
• What was the film marked as?


  A progressive triumph over racial injustice
• What happened in Mississippi which showed a level of black activism?


  Members of the Mississippi Free Democratic party, a black party within Mississippi were sent as delegates to the Democratic Party National Convention in order to rival the all white representation of the state
• What is absent from the novel?


  The massive political turmoil within Mississippi at the time
• Who did Stockett speak to before writing the novel?


  Only one white employer and one black maid
• Why did the book's message draw criticism?


  The ultimate focus of the book is on the bettering of the white Americans' life and we aren't intended to root for the improval of black lives or the advancements of the Civil Rights Movement
• Do black lives change within the novel?


  The lives of black Americans remain stagnant within the novel, Minny's daughter, Sugar, goes on to become a maid which shows how nothing is changing
• What does Rachel Griffin argue?


  Chances of change for Aibileen were slim, how would she be able to achieve her dream or live without proper benefits
• What percentage of Southern black women worked in domestic services in the period when 'The Help' is set?

  90%
• What does the ABWH argue the Mammy characters allow viewers to do?

  To ignore the systematic racism which bound black women to underpaid existance
• What does ABHW argue about black institutions?

  They argue that the black family is an instituion which has provided support for centuries and this image is distorted due to representations within 'The Help'
• What is the difference of the assassination of Medgar Evers in the book vs real life?


  In real life it creates a level of courage within the black community, whereas in the book they appear to be distressed
• What did the ABHW find unnacceptable about 'The Help'?


  They said it finds it, 'unacceptable for either this book or this film to strip black women's lives of historical accuracy for the sake of entertainment'
• What part of Southern Society is ignored in the novel?


  The KKK and white supremacy and the risks which it brings to black lives is ignored entirely within both the film and the novel