The help电影《相助》背景介绍

• 美国南方的女人跟中国的“南方女人”意思可不大一样，除了“南方 出美女”这点共通处之外，美国的南方女人可比中国南方女人彪悍多 了，这一方面是因为在以农牧业为主的保守南部世界要站稳脚跟，女 人性格上不强悍些不行；另一方面南方的长久奴隶制使黑人女性在整 个社会结构中占据了相当重要的地位，她们垦荒种地、扫撒整理、烹 饪清洁，家里家外无所不包。对一个习惯了将委屈与不公往肚子里吞 的政治弱势群体，内心不坚硬彪悍可怎么在一个恶劣的环境中生存 呀？！ 根据美国女作家凯瑟琳·斯多克特2009年同名畅销小说改编的电 影《相助》（The Help）讲的就是六十年代初美国南方密西西比州杰 克逊市这些南方女人的故事，尤其那些给白人中产贵妇们充当家仆厨 子的黑女人们的故事。六十年代初的美国正是马丁·路德金博士所领导 的平权运动激烈之时，白人主妇vs黑人仆役，这怎么不是种族歧视血 泪控诉的好题材！实际上，这类型的种族控诉电影好莱坞从不缺乏， 经典的有《如何杀死一只知更鸟》（To Kill a Mockingbird）、《谁来 晚餐》（Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner），近期的则有《烈血大风 暴》(Mississippi Burning)、《美国历史X》(American History X)、 《撞车》（Crash）等。只要这个困扰着美国社会两百年的不平等问 题一天得不到解决，这题材便永远保持活力，绝不落伍。
• Unlike her friends who attended university to find husbands, Skeeter finds her friends are all married and having children, while she is single, has a degree and wants to begin a career as a writer. Her first job is as a "homemaker hints" columnist in the local paper, and she asks Aibileen, the maid to her good friend Elizabeth, for her help in answering domestic questions. Skeeter becomes uncomfortable with the attitude her friends have towards their "help," especially Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard) and her "Home Help Sanitation Initiative," a proposed bill to provide for separate bathrooms for black help because she believes that 'they' [black people] carry different diseases to 'us' [white people]. Amidst the era of discrimination based on color, Skeeter is one of the few who believe otherwise, and she decides to write a book, The Help, based on the lives of the maids who have spent their entire lives taking care of whi您的隐私，PowerPoint 禁止自动下载此外部图片。若要下载并显示此图片，请单击消息栏中的 “选项”，然后单击 “启用外部内容 ”。
Awards for the novel
• • • • • • • • New York Times bestseller (Fiction, 2009, 2011) Amazon’s Best Books of the Year 2009 Orange Prize Longlist (2010) 柑橘奖初选名单 Indies choice Book Award (Adult Debut, 2010)独立书选大奖 Townsend Prize for Fiction (2010)汤森德小说奖 Exclusive Books Boeke Prize (2009)最佳平装书波克奖 SIBA Book Award (Fiction, 2010)南方独立书商联合大奖 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award Longlist (2011)都 柏林文学奖 • Christian Science Monitor Best Book (Fiction, 2009)基督教科 学箴言报最佳书目
• “Every morning, until you dead in the ground, you gone have to make this decision. You gone have to ask yourself, "Am I gone believe what them fools say about me today“”Your mom didn't pick her life. It picked her. But you, you gonna do something big with yours." 这是另 外一个黑人女仆Constantine看着13岁的白人女孩Skeeter 自己躲在树下正为又一个男孩说她丑而难过时说的话。这 句话也stuck with me，挥之不去。这是怎样的简单朴素却 常常让人忽视的大智慧。怎么这么巧都来自这些底层的黑 人？让我想起另外一部黑人电影the pursuit of happyness。 Will Smith对自己的儿子说你别打篮球了，做些有用的东 西吧。。后来他又向儿子认错，忏悔，说"Don't ever let someone tell you, you can't do something. Not even me.” 这些话都是那么的powerful, 都让我反思。这些智慧大人 也许会慢慢摸索明白，可一张白纸的小孩子，大人说什么 就信什么的幼童，不是应该一早就有这份自信吗？我真的 得时时提醒自己。
• The Help is a 2009 novel by American author Kathryn Stockett. The story is about African American maids working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi, during the early 1960s. A USA Today article called it one of 2009's "summer sleeper hits". An early review in The New York Times notes Stockett's "affection and intimacy buried beneath even the most seemingly impersonal household connections" and says the book is a "buttonpushing, soon to be wildly popular novel". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said of the book, "This heartbreaking story is a stunning début from a gifted talent".
• 意料之中，看完帮助，已是热泪盈眶。 想起曾经看过的那些美国社会中关于种族歧视的电影， 不是苦大仇深控诉社会就是遮遮掩掩难以点破那层窗户纸。 而帮助却如同一股清新的溪流那样，缓缓道来。斗争可以 用幽默的笔触带出，符号般存在的几个白人“反派”女孩 也实在叫人讨厌不起来。观众在观看的过程中，同情和受 到鼓舞的感情是占据主导地位的，我相信导演特意淡化了 种族歧视这个主要的冲突点，用充斥全片的明亮的色调来 调和，给观众的感受就是希望，而不是仇恨。但帮助很明 显的缺点就是控诉力道不够，温情有时候又过了头。看到 结尾，书是顺利出版了，但几个黑人女仆的命运依旧是难 以让人放心下来。
Cast
• Emma Stone—Miss Skeeter • Bryce Dallas Howard—Hilly • Viola Davis—Aibileen • Octavia Spencer—Minny
The Plot
• Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis) is a middle-aged black maid who has spent her life raising white children and has recently lost her only son. Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer) is another black maid whose outspokenness has gotten her fired many times and built up a reputation for being a difficult employee, but she makes up for this with her phenomenal cooking skills. • Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan (Emma Stone) is a young white woman who has recently moved back home to her family's plantation after graduating from the University of Mississippi to find that her beloved childhood maid, Constantine (Cicely Tyson), has quit while she was away. Skeeter is skeptical because she believes Constantine would have written to her.
Critique from Internet
• "You is kind, you is smart, you is important" 这 是黑人女仆Aibileen 对她照看的白人小女孩每天 都说的话。这话听得我窝心又痛心。黑人女人和 黑人男人真是不同的物种。这里的黑人男人会把 家和孩子象垃圾一样扔掉自己逃走，他们的女人 却不知哪来的自信，不但自己顽强的坚守，还能 把这份自信传给自己的死对头白人的孩子。这份 自信也许是caregiver能给孩子的最好最好的礼物 了。我感动，是因为心里明白, how true these words are；痛心，是因为相比她们，自己做的实 在差的太远，真的很惭愧。
Film Adaptation
• A film adaptation of The Help was released by Dreamworks in 2011. Stockett's childhood friend, Tate Taylor, wrote and directed the film. • Parts of The Help were shot in Jackson, MS, but the film was primarily shot in and around Greenwood, MS, representing Jackson in 1963. • At the 84th Academy Awards, Octavia Spencer won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in this film. The film also received three other Academy Award nominations: Academy Award for Best Picture, Academy Award for Best Actress for Viola Davis, and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Jessica Chastain.
对一个习惯了将委屈与不公往肚子里吞的政治弱势群体内心不坚硬彪悍可怎么在一个恶劣的环境中生存根据美国女作家凯瑟琳斯多克特2009年同名畅销小说改编的电影相助thehelp讲的就是六十年代初美国南方密西西比州杰克逊市这些南方女人的故事尤其那些给白人中产贵妇们充当家仆厨子的黑女人们的故事
The Help
The Help