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BY: KYLIE MCGIVERN
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Bestselling book turned film, “The Help” is now open in theaters, and while the story tackles segregation in Mississippi during the 1960s, the message has viewers split as well.
HLN has more.
“It’s about a young journalist, who writes a book from the view of the black maids working for wealthy white families.”
Author Kathryn Stockett is taking heat for racially-fired criticism.
CBS reports.
Reporter: “...many loathe that a white woman dared tell the story through the eyes of black maids Aibileen and Minny, in black dialect.”
“She look like a winnin’ horse at the Kentucky Derby.”
Reporter: “I know you’ve heard, ‘How dare she.’”
Author: “I felt that, I was saying those exact words myself as I was writing it. When I grew up we did not talk about race.”
The author is now speaking out about the story, which was inspired by her personal experience.
The Help filmmaker and Kathryn’s childhood friend defended her story.
CNN reports.
"It boils down to this: Kathryn had a right to tell the story because this woman, Demetrie, made Kathryn the woman who she is.”
An indiWIRE blogger writes she’s glad the untold story is now in the spotlight.
“It’s about time women were front and center in a civil rights story... The heart of the story is the experiences of African American women.”
Others argue the film receded back to Hollywood stereotypes - white people as heroes.
The New York Times reports...
“To protect viewers, sometimes at profound damage to the historical record, white heroes are featured and sometimes concocted for these movies, giving blacks a supporting role in their own struggle for liberation.”
Transcript by Newsy.
