Saturday, August 13, 2011

The Help

I went to the theater to see "The Help". I read (actually listened to - audio books while driving - can't be beat) the book a few months ago, wanted to see the movie.

I enjoyed the movie, although of course the movie is never as good as the book. But I was somewhat perplexed by the reactions of those around me in the theater. I felt that they completely missed the point. They laughed when I wanted to cry, they snickered when there was nothing funny, and they cried and/or sighed at times, but I just felt it was for the wrong reason. They should have read the book before they came to the movie - or maybe they did and they just plain don't get the point.

I tried to unobtrusively check out who was in the crowd - it seemed the inappropriate (in my opinion) responses were coming mostly from groups of younger women, perhaps in late twenties, early thirties - perfectly made-up and coifed blonde "real wives of Eastern Oregon" types. This bothers me even more. Are they that oblivious to what truly went on in our country before (and after) the Civil Rights Act? Yes, I grew up just at the tail end of that, but lived in the south for 5 years as a child, and certainly was not, even at that young age, unaware of the distinctions and complete acceptance of the inequality of the races.

I'm disturbed. It frightens me that perhaps they really don't get it.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ~ George Santayana

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