I really like the character Celia Foote in the movie. I thought her role broke the mold of every white person in Jackson being racist.
Her role showed that there were white people that believed it was right that all humans were equal. My second character I felt was likable was Minny Jackson. She was so upfront and kind to Celia. Minny was never afraid and always encouraged Celia to have a good outlook in life. I like how Minny teaches Celia how to cook and in the end Celia repays her by cooking a beautiful meal for her. In the end Johnny tells Minny that it was because of her that Celia??™s life was better because of her.
This was a true example of a human helping a human regardless of race. This shows me that the golden rule is true, treat people the way you would like to be treated. I don??™t think a person??™s flaws such as racist attitudes and behaviors can be forgiven because it is the norm in the surrounding culture. I don??™t understand how it could have ever felt right to own slaves much less it being ok to think one race is more superior to another. We are all an equal part in race; it is called the human race.
We as humans should treat each other as we would want to be treated. Yes there are going to be cultures that are racist, but there are going to be some in that group that feel it is wrong and should stand up for a change. I truly feel that had Aibileen stayed working for Miss Elizabeth, Mae Mobley would not have grown up to be a racist. In the part where Mae Mobley told Aibileen ??? You??™re my real mommy??™ Aibi!???, tells us that hopefully some white children grow up to not be racist.
I do think racism is inherent and taught. If you are around it at a young age and grew up to believe being racist was ok then I believe that is how you learn it. I don??™t think a person is born a racist.
I hope that Abilieen??™s message to Mae Mobley, ??? You is kind, you is smart, you is important.??? stays with her forever and she can break the cycle. I do think that there is still racism in relationships where people of color work for people who are white. Unfortunately, there are still racist white people in our workforce today. There are still white people from the older generation that feel colored people shouldn??™t be on the same level as white people. I feel that there will always be racism, no matter how hard we try there will be some people that will never break the cycle of racism and that is what they were taught.
There are a couple of lessons I learned from this movie. The first one was from Skeeter, follow your dreams even if no one believes in it. If it wasn??™t for her wanting to write the book, none of the maids??™ voices and stories would have ever been heard. Another lesson was from Aibileen, stand up and speak against what you think is wrong. It took a lot of courage to tell the stories she did and get the other maids to do the same. I believe both of these lessons are relevant and still apply today.
I am so glad this movie was part of your movie review choices. I really enjoyed the movie and I feel that it give us a glimpse of what it was like back then. There are not very many movies that I can honestly say I tear up in, but this is defiantly one of them.
