Homophobia In The Movie The Help

A strong fear, dislike, and discrimination towards homosexuals; homophobia. When people think back to the 1960’s they definitely don’t think of homophobia, but surprisingly it was also a problem depicted in The Help. Although it obviously wasn’t the main point the movie was putting across, they definitely snuck it in there for a reason when Charlotte Phelan, Skeeter’s mother, says: “I read the other day about how some girls get unbalanced. Start thinking these… unnatural thoughts. Are you..? Do you uh…find men attractive? Are you havin’ unnatural thoughts about girls or women?” This goes to show how people back then had to all be the same and if someone ever encountered homosexual thoughts they were frowned upon. There was even a cure in their

eyes “A special root tea!” During the 1960’s homosexualism was still seen as a choice and something that is not normal. It’s something that should be fixed. People don’t seem to notice that nobody chooses to be homosexual. Why would they put themselves through that kind of torture and bullying from society?
Though the movie is based around race The Help also looks at the rules and norms controlling gender in Jackson in the early 1960’s.

Women had a duty to their husbands to have children and their worth is judged on her ability to be a good mother. The fathers are always out working and making money for the families while the mothers stay home and are housewives. The importance of being a mother is portrayed when Celia Foote says “We got married because I was pregnant… Johnny wants kids now… What’s he going to do with me?” This is when Minny learns that Celia had a miscarriage. Celia sees herself as worthless because she is incapable of having a child as this is her third miscarriage. She feels the need to have a baby to please her husband. As white women their life goals are to get married and have children. Nothing more. Meanwhile black women were meant to be maids and sacrifice their homes and family for those of their employers. The black women were also intimidated by the white women’s husbands as men have all the power in their homes to fire them. Typically men are seen as superior to women. Through writing and story-telling the three women all dare to challenge the gender norms society has set up for them and get gratification in the process. These challenges are also footsteps toward a healthier

community.
The Help also gives us an inside look on how the segregated society worked. Although there is some variation in economic and social class, race was the one thing that determined where you stood on the spectrum in Jackson, Mississippi. Race also decides the amount of access one has to work, money, and educational opportunities. This would be shown when Skeeter is interviewing Aibileen, the main maid in the movie, and asks her if she knew as a little girl that she was going to be a maid. Aibileen goes on to answer that yes; her “mamma was a maid and her grandmamma a house slave.” If you were black, you automatically fell underneath even the lower class according to Hilly Holbrook, one of the most cowardly villains in The Help. The bright side of middle-class life is that they work for themselves but in The Help’s Mississippi, life was all about the downside in that the relationship between the employer and the employee is strictly about money at the expense of any affection or kindness. Hilly’s attitude thoroughly demonstrates this and you can easily see that Hilly feels as if the African Americans are below her. She sees them as nothing but dirt and treats them very poorly and disrespectfully.
Treating someone poorly based on their race; racism. This is probably the main point the movie puts across and it’s not a neutral concept at that. Every scene has at least one example of racism, discrimination, or stereotyping. There were strict laws, rules, and norms hindering the lives of the blacks. There were even laws preventing white people from crossing the colour line making it difficult for the whole idea of publishing a book from the point of view of the African American women. The Help strongly analyzes the worst of the untrue stereotypes given to the black people in the community. They are dirty, lazy, and “carry different diseases than the whites,” according to Hilly. They are also seen as less intelligent and this is shown by the way “Hilly raises her voice about three octaves when talking to black people and Elizabeth smiles like she’s talking to a child.” (Stockett, Ch.12) Although this wasn’t specifically mentioned in the movie, it is noticeable. One of the clear examples of discrimination and racism towards the black people is the whole idea of the Home Health Sanitation Initiative. This is basically a bill being passed in the movie to have a separate bathroom outdoors for the coloured people to decrease the chances of the whites being “infected”. Another form of discrimination is when someone was shot in the city and all coloured people get kicked off of the bus and are forced to walk home in the dangerous streets. There is even a book about the Laws Governing the Conduct of Nonwhites and Other Minorities that restricts the blacks from doing certain things. If that’s not discrimination and inequality then who knows what is. Another ironic example of racism would be the Junior League’s benefit to raise money for the children in Africa and how the white women believe that the babies won’t survive without their help. The members assume that they know better how to provide for the babies than the black women do and this is assumed because “the whites are better than the blacks.” Racism is established when one race feels and thinks itself superior to other races. Everything the white women do in The Help is an attempt to claim their superiority.