Social Inequality in The Help - Movie Review Example

Movie Review: The Help Human society has been evolving ever since it was established, and the numerous factors that helped in its development and continuous change can be attributed to the struggle for power among its inhabitants. The inequality that results from such power struggles causes strong conflicts that not only challenge the values and beliefs of the society’s inhabitants, but also could very well cause its collapse (Bartos and Wehr 50). This portrayal of social inequality, power struggles, and fights to attain freedom and equality under the law has been portrayed under many narratives, and even became a sociological concept, which is now known as the Conflict Theory. The theory gives emphasis on the conflict, competition, change, and constraint that are often found in highly-developed societies (Shepard 22). Such conflicts are the main themes by which many struggles in society are built upon, like equality, freedom, recognition among other things. Most of the conflicts as described in the theory are between a few people that hold an immense power over numerous lower-classes, and that through the emergence of the conflicts topples the established hierarchies in the societies. The ascension of one form of power after removing another form of power is the embodiment of the shifting of command, which in turn proves that the changes happening in any given society are continuous processes that usher growth and development (Shepard 23). While the theory has been known for quite a long time, its applications were not much realized until the emergence of numerous Civil Rights groups around the late 1950’s to early 1960’s, especially when the Black Americans started fighting for fair and equal treatment from the United States government and citizens. Before the peaceful change in the society happened, overt violence and discreet discrimination were the things that freedom fighters had to face, causing great pain and strife at the cost of gaining freedom and equality. The success of the uprisings has ushered for a societal succession, but the means for it to happen were not clear for most people. It is good to know however, that for people to greatly appreciate the changes that were mobilized by Civil Rights activists, several movie portrayals of many prominent representatives of these uprisings as well as some events that lead to the well-known political rallies were shown to the public, and are still being made today. But what makes the portrayals even more haunting is when most, if not some of these portrayals were the collective ideas and memories of the unnamed people who participated in such events. For this paper, the 2011 movie titled The Help, which was based on a book by Kathryn Stockett with the same name is seen as a good example of a movie that was able to show viewers the social struggles that were happening in the southern parts of the US, when Jim Crow laws were still being used as guide in segregating the blacks and the whites. The Conflict Theory and The Help All throughout the movie, the conflict theory can be seen in the different parts when a prominent white lady would chide her black American maid, when a man would deliberately put down a woman, and when a white woman would clash against another white woman (“The Help”). Such scenes are able to show that the power that a certain group of people would have over another group of people whom they see as inferior would not remain as so perpetually, and that due to the tendencies of societies to change, what may be seen as the norm at a certain time frame would eventually change, even making a complete turnaround if given the time, even more so when a greater number of people would give their all in making the changes happen. One scene in the movie that effectively portrays the conflict theory as raw as it can be is the scene where the socialite, Hilly, a white woman with a rather obnoxious personality, and Minny, a strong-willed sharp-tongued black maid retaliated to each other’s offensive and demeaning actions (“The Help”). What makes the succession of events a good example of the power struggles within a household is due to the implementation of the Jim Crow laws in Mississippi, where the setting of the whole movie was in. The Jim Crow laws effectively make the segregation of white people from other races or people of color possible, from bathrooms to restaurants, from movie theaters to water fountains, thus preventing the integration of different cultures into a singular one. Analysis of a Selected Scene from the Movie in the Conflict Theory Perspective Initially, the conflict between the two ladies started when Hilly prohibited Minny from using the bathroom inside the house and forcing her to use the outhouse, despite a violent thunderstorm that was known to have caused serious damages to property and deaths to at least 10 people (“The Help”). However, in spite of being warned not to use the bathroom inside the house, Minny still used it, and she got fired by Hilly for doing so, even if Hilly’s mother objected to such an injustice. In retaliation to what Hilly did to her, Minny baked a special chocolate pie as a pretentious way of apologizing and appeasing to Hilly. During the course of Hilly eating the special chocolate pie, Minny dropped the bomb on her saying that the pie actually contains her own excrement, also the reason why Hilly’s mother can’t eat any of it. Hilly took vengeance on Minny by backstabbing her in front of all of her socialite friends, so that none of them would take her in while she was out looking for a job (“The Help”). While not immediately happening after the events happened, near the end of the movie, Minny was able to equalize the situation when the book that their group of African-American maids was published, because she contributed the story about the special pie, and Hilly seemed to get it that it was what happened to her, only that her name was changed, causing her to feel a lot of shame and an even greater degree of hate towards Minny. However, she was stopped in her tracks because if she made any more moves against Minny, her identity as the person that ate the soiled chocolate pie would be made known in their neighborhood, even in Minny was sent behind bars (“The Help”). Thus, it was shown in the succession of scenes how a powerful and affluent woman as portrayed by Hilly would be easily be toppled by a person from a lower social status such as Minny. Such displays of the assertion of power and reason are the things that make the conflict theory highly relevant throughout the course of the movie and its storyline. Based on the events that happened in the given scenario in the movie, it can be analyzed through a sociological context of the swaying of the balance of power. First, the initial command is assigned to Hilly, mainly as something which she and similarly other white people have inherited from their predecessors, which date back to the 1700’s when slave trading was still common and an acceptable norm in the US. Due to these circumstances, everyone in the land knows that the whites have greater power over the black due to their differences in social status, and that the whites occupy positions of power, as well as immense amounts of wealth that were mostly the fruit of the labors of the blacks. This way of thinking has been very persistent in the mindset of most US citizens, especially the populations of the southern states, where the Jim Crow laws were tightly and keenly observed even during the 1960’s, before the signing of the Civil Rights Amendments (Bartos and Wehr 51). While in modern times it can be seen that the circumstances where Minny had to use the bathroom outside the house and located somewhere which is considerably farther during a strong thunderstorm may seem very absurd to most people. However, in the perspective of people living in the south during the 1960’s, it is something normal, and that due to the segregation policies under the Jim Crow Laws, what Hilly did to Minny was justifiable under the law (“The Help”). Hilly, being the wife of the master of the house has greater power of Minny, who is considered to be not just at the lowest rung of the hierarchy of the household, but also of the society. If Minny chooses to remain under the lowest steps of the hierarchy, she is expected to just stay quiet and follow the orders of the masters of the household. This kind of situation would ensure the continuity and persistence of the control of white people within the household. Also, such a situation is expected by most of the members of the society. Breaking this order of things would cause numerous conflicts between a person of a lower status and a person of a higher status, which subsequently cause the conflicts and power struggles observed in the next scenes in the movie. After Minny got fired from the household, Hilly seemed to be satisfied in exercising her full power by putting the livelihood of one person on the line. However, she also forgot the fact that Minny is also a human being that is capable of thinking. Minny, being a strong-willed and a quick-witted person herself showed an act that challenges the norm within the neighborhood: she avenged herself and her dignity by giving Hilly a tainted chocolate pie, which she placed her own excrements in (“The Help”). Such an act asserts Minny her worth as a human being, not just a lowly servant and a black person against an oppressive person such as Hilly. These kinds of oppressions are what causes conflicts within a given society, and also gives way to the succession of powers and authority (Shepard 24). Thus, it can be seen from Minny’s retaliation the toppling of the balance of power in a small-scale society, which may not have a long-term result, but nevertheless it is still an effort of doing such which is worth mentioning. Hilly’s retaliation towards Minny’s revolting act shows that she still has greater power over her, despite being duped to eating a tainted dessert. After firing Minny from her house, she made sure that no one in the town would be accepting such a hard-headed maid, and she made all sorts of negative publicity so that by the time Minny would be going door-to-door looking for a job, anyone who has heard from Hilly would not let her in (“The Help”). While initially her plan of exacting revenge by adding feces into the pie has avenged her for a short while, it had a disastrous effect on Minny, especially when she also has to support her family through her housekeeping. It can be seen in these scenes that Minny still hasn’t asserted her power enough, or rather she still has not enough power to overcome such circumstances such as losing her job and having a hard time finding a new one (“The Help”). While eventually, near the end of the movie, Minny was able to redeem herself when her story about the chocolate pie was published in a book that had rapid circulation, it took a long time before she was able to recover from her attempt in trying to win a power struggle with Hilly. She had to endure other hardships along the way, which is normally the price that a losing party pays in a conflict between a stronger power and a weaker power. Using the concepts in the conflict theory, the clash between Hilly and Minny shows that in a power struggle, one party would be subjected to harsh treatment, and in order to attain freedom or even redemption, the losing party must be able to endure the hardships. The particular sequence of scenes is able to show a power struggle in small scale, wherein there is an entity that exercises dominance (Hilly) over many people on the lower ranks of the house (Minny), and that the lower-ranking person has tried to assert her self-worth and power over the higher-ranking person by retaliating to the punishments given (“The Help”). Unfortunately, because Minny’s power is only limited within the confines of the house, she was not able to shield herself from Hilly’s retribution, especially when she was much more influential outside the household and within the community that they live in. Such results are expected when the losing party is not strong enough to push the balance of power towards their side, and if the dominant party has remained to be as strong as before, which is consistent with the ideas of conflict theory with regards to the disagreements that happen when there is a constant struggle to attain equality and freedom. Works Cited Bartos, Otomar J. and Paul Wehr. Using Conflict Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Print. Shepard, Jon M. Sociology. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2010. Print. The Help. Dir. Tate Taylor. Perf. Emma Stone, Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer. 2011. Motion Picture. Read More