Introduction
This paper is a cultural assessment of the movie “The help”. The setting of the movie is Jackson Mississippi in the 1960s. During this time, racial discrimination was very prevalent as well as the civil right movement. The cultural assessment will include a description of the movie family, family processes, values, socialization and child-rearing, healthcare beliefs, adaptation, and assessment of development or functional competency. It is important to realize that cultural assessment entails being open-minded to others and understanding that we all have our differences (Kelley, 1997, p. 32).
Description of the Movie Family
The movie takes place in the southern city of Mississippi in the 1960s. A young lady by the name of “Skeeter” has returned home to pursue her dreams as a writer. The movie shows how Skeeter developed a bond with two African American maids named “Abilene Clark and Middy Jackson”. Their relationship stemmed into a phenomenal outcome where Skeeter was able to give them a voice. Skeeter was a white woman, who did not side with her white friends as they disrespected and mistreated the black maids. She is portrayed as a respectful and kind individual who wanted to help the black maids share their experiences as maids. Skeeter came from a family where she too grew up with a black maid that she loved dearly and who was fired because of her age. When Skeeter decided that she wanted to write a book detailing the experiences of the maid, she was met with resistance and also anger because they did not want the truth to be revealed. The book exposed the hurdles that the black maids encountered as they worked to care for the households of white families.
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Assessment of Culture and Ethnic Traits
Sociocultural
Within the movie, two races and two classes of people are clearly defined. There are blacks who are depicted as lower class and whites are shown as a part of the upper white class. The culture of the movie showed a separation of black and white races which was common nature at that time. It was also common to see white families employ black women to help care for their household. The father figures in the family played a strong role by being the head of the household and going to work every day, while the women were responsible for the care of the home. In the movie, it appears that upper-class women were not trained in cooking or cleaning, even though they are depicted as housewives. Elizabeth, Hilly, and Celia sought out the help of black maids like Aibileen and Minny who helped with the household duties including caring for their children. The black maids were from a lower class that did not have much education. Some maids started as teenagers to help their families. They were paid only ninety-five cents per hour, with everything they had to do.
Environmental
Home allows a family to plant a seed that will someday grow into a tree with roots to hold the family together. The environment in which the home is needs to be appropriate so that the family can grow (Friedman, Bowden, & Jones, 2003, p. 250). Everyone lived in Mississippi. The white families lived in big homes that had a lot of space and their babies had their own rooms and beds. They also had nice-looking lawns and furniture. I did find the environment to be noisy at times. The children in the white families were cared for by their black nannies and grew closer to the nannies than their own parents. In contrast, the black nannies lived in poorer areas where they had smaller bedrooms to work with. Their children shared the room and bed, but they were close. The children may not have felt safe during the civil right movement when there was fighting. Additionally, the homes were close together and the homes looked outdated. The church was an important factor in the nanny's lives; they attended regularly and were well supported by the congregation.
Communication
Effective communication is beneficial in order for the individual to receive your message. Communication points out the exchange of data which also includes opinions (Friedman et al., 2003, p. 267). In the movie “The Help” communication was both functional and dysfunctional at times. Racism played a role in what could be said of upper-class white employers. This impeded their ability to could communicate freely. In general, the conversations between the upper class and the maids were very unpleasant. Unfortunately, the maids had to keep their opinions to themselves which seems like a lot of burdens to carry. When Skeeter went to meet with Aibileen in her home; she listened attentively without disrupting their thoughts which was a functional conversation. During the movie, there are many occasions where dysfunctional communication is seen. One example is when Minny wanted to use the bathroom at Ms. Hilly’s home and she told her to go outside even though it was raining hard with high winds. They eventually did not listen to each other and communication was impaired.
Power/decision making
The movie shows women as decision-makers in the white community. Hilly is an example of this because she made the decisions in her home. She was also very influential on her friends and was able to fire Minny and tarnish her name. This made it hard for Minny to find another job in an environment where she was already struggling. In the black community among the black women, the men were the decision-makers. In Minny’s case, her husband abused her regularly and made the decision that their daughter would quit school to work as a nanny when she lost her job. There was no negotiation of that matter.
Roles
The roles within a family may differ from person to person when asked. In the movie, the upper-class white men worked as the breadwinner and the women were housewives. Aibileen and Minny played nanny roles in the movie and were employed to care for the home and children. The children depended on the maids more than their parents because they spent so much time with them. Also, it is noted that the maids are passed down from generation to generation like Minny who first worked for Hilly’s parents. Celia is considered to be an outcast among the upper class and tries to play the same role as the others in finding a maid to help her. Families have to be open to changes as time goes by (Friedman et al., 2003, p. 339). This is how Skeeter worked with the maids, to help their story be heard.
Values
The values that a family holds dearly are affected by society's values and others (Friedman et al., 2003, p. 364). In white families like Elizabeth, the value of family is not very evident. Everyone seems to do their own thing. Her husband works and she socializes while Aibileen cares for her home and daughter. Elizabeth disciplined her daughter by giving her slaps on her buttocks when she sat on some old toilets on Ms. Hilly’s lawn. She lost the sense of value in the fact that her daughter was now potty trained. Aibileen and Minny value family time and trust in their church family. Skeeter valued her work as a writer more than anything else. Marriage was important among the upper class, and that’s why Skeeter’s mom was constantly pressuring her to go on dates to find a significant other.
Socialization and Child Rearing
A lot of our social skills come from our family, however, in the movie, I noticed that the parents did not socialize much with the children. There was no playing games or cuddling time. Skeeter and all the children who were cared for by their nannies learned to socialize through their interactions with them. The white families allowed the nannies to fully care for their children which caused them to miss out on close relationships. The maids taught their children how to be maids, so they could someday be able to take on that role. In the movie, Minny is seen telling her daughter how to behave on her first maid job at the age of 14.
Healthcare Beliefs and Practices
In the movie “the help” set in the 1960’s it was believed that black people carry diseases that were not the same race in the white community. The schools and the bathrooms were separated. It was thought that diseases could be spread from the toilet seat. When Aibileen son needed to go to the hospital, he was forced to go to one that would accept blacks. The hospital was not able to care for his needs adequately.
Adaptations
To be adaptable an individual or family must be able to change their behavior to be suitable for the situation (Friedman et al., 2003, p. 161). Being able to adapt was not easy in the movie, especially for Aibileen and Minny. They had to keep their true feelings but worked with disrespect in order to provide for their families. They also had to adapt to the segregation that surrounded them. Skeeter had a hard time adapting without her nanny who took care of her as well as her role-writing.
Assessment of Development or Functional Competency
The Beaver’s system incorporates a rating scale of families relating to their ability in six areas (Friedman et al., 2003, p. 11). The children in the white upper class do not have a sense of closeness to their parents. The women maintain the home and make the decisions related to the home. There is no negotiation between the nanny and their employers; they have to follow directions without their opinion. In regards to mythology, conversations between the maids and their employers were one-sided since they could not freely express themselves. I also noted that the children were open with their nanny. In the third area of Beaver’s model, the maids were constantly being disrespected by their employers who did not care about their feelings. Autonomy was not promoted because that would allow the sharing of the bathroom, which was forbidden. Being accountable is seen with Skeeter who goes forward with writing the book. The maids put their faith in her that she will make it happen. Closeness is seen between the maids and the children that they care for. Anyone can see the love and care that is given.
Summary and Conclusion
In conclusion, “The Help” was a movie capturing racism and the major role the black maids played in the movie. In 1960, black maids were called “The Help” and worked to care for the home by cooking, cleaning, and caring for the children. Both the black maids and their white employers did not embrace each other’s culture. This could be because of the prominence of segregation during that time.
References
- Friedman, M. M., Bowden, V. R., & Jones, E. G. (2003). Family nursing: Research, theory, and practice (5th ed., pp. 11, 161, 250, 267, 334, 364). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
- Kelley, B. R., (1997). Cultural diversity in clinical practice. In J.A. Fox (Ed.), Primary health care of children p. 32. St. Louis: Mosby.
- The Help. (2011). Hollywood Movie.
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