FILM REVIEW

"The Help"

Film Review

Main Characters 

AIBILEEN CLARK as Viola Davis 

MINNY JACKSON as Octavia Spencer

EUGENIA "SKEETER" PHELAN as Emma stone

CELIA RAE FOOT as Jessica Chastain

HILLY BROOK as Bryce Dallas Howard

Summary

The Help is set in the early 1960's in Jackson, Mississipi, 

and told primarily from the first-person perspectives of three women: Aibileen Clark, Minny Jackson, and Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan. Aibileen is a maid who takes care of children and cleans. Her own 24-year-old son, Treelore, died from an accident on his job. In the story, she is tending the Leefolt household and caring for their toddler, Mae Mobley. Minny is Aibileen's friend who frequently tells her employers what she thinks of them, resulting in her having been fired from nineteen jobs. 

Jackson, Mississippi, a place where there is no equality between the black and white race.The black race is seen as inferiors, while the white race consider themselves superior. There were scenes that show the gap between the races, like how whites had a higher work position while the blacks were laborers. There's also a list of laws about how each race should be treated. 

Social Context

A clear and simple historic portrayal of the relationship between two races. A system that supports both races alike but a huge lack of balance in terms of positioning in society. The system would have been ideal if they were to let go of racial discrimination. 

Even if they were able to fight for their rights, the idea continues to live on in the minds of people. Some people still view the black race in a certain way. Will there ever be a time where everyone will receive the respect they deserve? 

Review

The actors of the film did their parts so well that I'm sure it would've moved the hearts of the audience. It was so natural as if it was a story that had actually happened. They endured a harsh life filled with nothing but abuse and mistreatment. If not for a young woman named Skeeter who gave them an opportunity to stand up for themselves, what would be of their world? 

Though as risky as it was, the maids gave it a shot, even if it meant that they would lose all job opportunities and go to jail. They wanted their story to be heard, I respect their persistence and courage, those virtues hold the power to create history if used well. You can't help but sympathize with the maids whenever they're happy or sad. It's that immersive I tell you, one of the best movies I've seen this year. 

A NIGHT IN THE HILLS

By:  Paz Marquez Benitez

Author’s Background: Paz Márquez-Benítez (1894–1983) was a Filipina short-story writer. She also wrote the short story “Dead Stars”.

Vocabulary:

Glimmer - shine faintly with a wavering light.

Intermittently - at irregular intervals; not continuously or steadily.

Imperious - arrogant and domineering.
Diminish - make or become less.

Triumphantly - In a way that shows great happiness or joy at a victory or achievement.
Stammer - speak with sudden involuntary pauses and a tendency to repeat the initial letters of words.

Contrive - create or bring about (an object or a situation) by deliberate use of skill and artifice.

Characters:

Gerardo Luna – Protagonist, a jewelry store sales person.

Gerardo’s Wife – Greedy, against his plan of pursuing his dreams.

Ambo – Orchid Gatherer.

Sotera – Mistress/Sister.

Peregrina – Future wife.

Setting:

Manila

Summary

Gerardo Luna dreamt of wanting to go to the forest, he imagined a beautiful image of the forest in his dream. He only spoke of this dream once, to a gatherer of orchids named Ambo as he wanted to buy some cheap earrings for his wife’s store. Ambo proudly talks about how well his orchid business was going this season. Gerardo was only interested about the image portrayed by Ambo about the forest where he found the orchids while Gerardo’s wife was more on the business aspect of Ambo’s story as told by Gerardo. Gerardo proposed venturing over to the forest, but his wife, again, was focused on business while Gerardo simply wanted to experience living in the forest for once. He brought it up to his wife after disagreeing in their previous conversation. His wife passed away, he took it as a cue to make his dream come true. Ambo arrived once more with tales about his adventures, and a proposal for Gerardo to accompany him to locate a proper land. He took this opportunity and came up with an excuse to leave the town. His sister Sotera proposed a plan to keep their pawnshop running, she wants him to marry Peregina. He did not want to decide on that now; he wanted to go to the forest with Ambo. After they arrived at the forest, he explored the beautiful sceneries and spoke with a high school dropout who wanted to work in Manila. Evening has come; he fell asleep as the bonfire was lit. He woke up 2 hours later and started getting paranoid about his surroundings due to the fire going dim. Though Ambo assured Gerardo that he would gather more wood to burn, he forgot. Gerardo had a difficult time falling asleep once more, as he cannot think of anything but the darkness surrounding him. He could not sleep. He felt absolutely alone. Aloneness was like hunger in that it drove away sleep. After his experience in the forest, he returned home and spoke to Peregrina saying: ““Pereg, as soon as I get these clothes off I shall come to ask you a question that is very—very important to me.”

Symbolism:

The bonfire symbolizes the reality of things, the dimmer it gets, the more you start lying to yourself by being paranoid about all sorts of things that’re none-existent in the first place.

Theme:

Expectation vs. Reality

Lesson:

Not everything is always what is seems, for a moment you think it would turn out to be a fun experience but it becomes the other way around.

TO WHOM SHALL I TELL MY GRIEF

By: Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

Author’s Background: Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (Jan. 19, 1860 – July 15, 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short fiction in history. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and writers and critics hold his best short stories in high esteem.

Vocabulary:

Vivid - (of a colour) intensely deep or bright.

Brandish - wave or flourish (something, especially a weapon) as a threat or in anger or excitement.

Disinclined - unwilling; reluctant.
Huddle - crowd together; nestle closely.
Altercation- a noisy argument or disagreement, especially in public.
Discomfit - make (someone) feel uneasy or embarrassed.
Indignantly - In a manner, indicating anger or annoyance at something perceived as unfair.

Characters:

Iona Potapov – Father that lost his son.

Mare – Iona’s horse.

Iona’s Son – Son who passed away.

Iona’s Wife – Iona’s partner who also passed away.

Officer – First passenger; nags a lot.

Passengers – Tried to tell his story to as they travelled.

Setting:

Winter, Russia

Summary

A new sledge driver and his horse work in a big town covered in snow. Their first fare is a military officer heading to Vyborgskaya. Awkwardly driving the carriage, the sledge driver called Iona told his passenger about the death of his son from last week. The officer is disinclined to listen as they arrive at the destination.

Again, Iona was waiting outside a nearby restaurant, covered in snow, for the next fare. Three young men approach and offer an unfair price but it matters not to Iona. After arguing about who'll sit where, one of the young men compliments Iona's cap then urges him to drive on. Iona enthusiastically accepts the compliment as well as the displeasure of the man, his loneliness receding. He, again, tells the story of his dead son from a week ago. The man only cares about moving on and complains under the urging of his companions

While on the road one of the men asks Iona if he is married, Iona awkwardly laughing tells them that his wife is long dead, and now his son left him as well. He questions why was it his son that died and not him.

He wanted to tell them his story yet they have already arrived and the three men jump off the sledge.

Iona is alone with his grief yet again; spotting a porter, he calls out and asks what time is it. The porter is displeased and urges him to drive on. Iona is again downcast and feels that appealing to people is no good

Unable to bear it any longer, Iona rushes back to the sledge yard. To his dismay he finds out that he had barely earned anything today. A person who has enough to eat, must be much more at ease, sighs Iona.

He approaches a man who just woke up and offers him a drink as he yet again tries to share his story. The man did not listen nor care for it and went back to sleep. It has been a week since Iona's soon has died, yet he has not talked to anyone about it. He seeks someone to hear his story, to listen to his grief and laments of life. Left alone again, Iona seeks out his mare, complaining about his age and low earnings.

He laments yet again about his son's death and future as a cabman. Patting his mare, he starts recounting his story, his son's death. The mare warmly breathes on his hands as Iona tells it all about it...

Symbolism:

The Mare symbolizes a person who barely speaks but always listens.

Theme:

Grief and Loneliness.

Lesson:

Sometimes all we need to feel better is someone to listen to you, not someone who overlaps your story with theirs thinking they shared the same exact experience.

THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO

By: Edgar Allan Poe (1846)

Author’s Background: Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is widely regarded as a central figure of Romanticism in the United States and American literature as a whole, and he was one of the country's earliest practitioners of the short story. Poe is generally the inventor of the detective fiction genre and is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction.

Characters:

Montresor – Narrator, murderer, type of guy that you wouldn’t trust.

Fortunato – Victim, jester, wine taster.

Luchesi – rival wine taster, used as a distraction for a topic.

Setting:

·         Carnival

·         Montresor’s house

·         Montresor’s Catacombs

Summary

It all started with the narrator describing Fortunato the wine taster, how even though he had a weak point, he was a man to be respected and even feared. Narrator aka Montresor met Fortunato at the carnival and spoke to him about the pipe (barrel) of Amontillado (A sherry wine) at his place. He asks for his advice, as he wants Fortunato to feel like he was the best at wine tasting. Interested, Fortunato takes up on his offer though he was drunk at that time. They arrive at Montresor’s place, he mentions that the place is all to their selves as the servants are out for the night; it was to provide enough time for Montresor to execute his plan. They went down into the catacombs then Fortunato started coughing, Montresor showed concern, offered more wine, and asked him if he would to return upstairs. However, Fortunato disregarded so and was persistent to check out the famous Amontillado. They reached a hole that is the size of an adult man, beside a wall of human bones. Montresor began chaining Fortunato in there and slowly started to fill in the space with bricks. Before the final brick, Montresor mentally tortured Fortunato and finally pushes the last brick.   

Theme:

Secret Murder

Formalistic Approach

The progression of the story and the mystery factor are the two main points of this literary piece.

It is my first time reading this sort of genre but I have already discovered it through other means like games and movies. It was slightly problematic and confusing as to who is talking about what and how it was phrased. The only form of repetition shown here was the use of the “luring” method like in most mystery/crime stories. However, the author has shown a deeper variety and unexpected plot twists for the littlest and unsuspected reasons that you would have to figure out with analyzation which would later make sense after a bit of investigation. The author mostly used metaphorical figures of speech, especially when they descended into the catacombs. There was no clear indication of the relation between the beginning and ending, however, I assume that before Montresor buried Fortunato completely, he might’ve uttered his intentions and hate towards Fortunato contradicting to when he somewhat praised him at the beginning. The tone and mood was the typical happy atmosphere that slowly twists into dark topics and such. The author utilized these factors to create a potential never-ending “template” for other creations of literature in the future.

HOLLY SONNET 10

By: John Donne, 1572 - 1631

Author’s Background: He is considered the pre-eminent representative of the metaphysical poets. His works are noted for their strong, sensual style and include sonnets, love poems, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs, satires and sermons.

Summary

This poem goes on about death being a figure that has been known to be mighty and dreadful. A common image or personification of so-called “death” was portrayed by the famous Grim Reaper also known as king of the dead. He causes a victim’s death by coming to collect their souls. The author says otherwise, he writes that death is not something or someone to be feared. It should be considered as a sort of reward or another form of slumber. Finally, he claims that death is only temporary as according to his religion, they are going to “awaken once more” in the afterlife where death will no longer exist.

Biographical Approach

Some of the similar aspects to the author’s life in regards to his work “Holly Sonnet 10” was during his early life of when he married Anne Donne and she bore 12 children though only 10 survived and three of which died before they turned 10. He went through despair as he slowly lost a child one by one. He distracted himself by writing Biathanatos though not published at that time but it was later published after his death, it was only a means of defense from suicidal thoughts during that time. His wife Anne Donne died after 5 days of giving birth to their 12^th child which he also wrote about his love and loss entitled “17^th Holy Sonnet”. Donne's earliest poems focused on topics like corruption, mediocre poets, and pompous courtiers. He claims that one needs to know his religion inside out, instead of blindly following it. Characters or subjects of his writings are all mostly non-fictional, significant people, society at that time, etc...

DEAD STARS

By: Paz Marquez Benitez.

Author’s Background: Born in 1894 in Lucena, Tayabas (now Quezon). Marquez – Benítez authored the first Filipino modern English language short story, Dead Stars, published in the Philippine Herald in 1925. Born into the prominent Marquez family of Quezon province, she was among the first generation of Filipino people trained in the American education system which used English as the medium of instruction.

Vocabulary:

Immemorial - originating in the distant past; very old.

Mortgage - expose to future risk or constraint for the sake of immediate advantage.

Temperament - a person or animal's nature, especially as it permanently affects their behavior.

Repose - a state of rest, sleep, or tranquility.

Indolence - avoidance of activity or exertion; laziness.

Incontrovertible - not able to be denied or disputed.

Exuberant - characterized by a vigorously imaginative artistic style.

Characters:

Alfredo Salazar – Son of Don Julian, over 30 years old and a bachelor. Engaged to Esperanza.

Esperanza – Alfredo’s wife. Self-conscious and well raised woman.

Julia Salas – Naïve, innocent, and young. Judge Del Valle’s sister-in-law.

Don Julian – Alfredo and Carmen’s father.

Carmen – Alfredo’s sister

Judge Del Valle – Julia’s brother-in-law.

Donna Adella – Julia’s sister

Calixta – Note carrier of Alfredo and Esperanza

Dionisio – Husband of Donna Adella

Vicente – Husband of Carmen

Brigida Samuy – The illusive woman who Alfredo was looking for in his business trip.

Setting:

·         House of Don Julian

·         House of Judge Del Valle

·         Church of Our Lady of Sorrow

·         Calle Real

·         Sta. Cruz, in Calle Luz, Julia’s hometown

Summary

This story talks about a man who had to choose between what he wanted to do and what he had to do. Alfredo, a man over his 30’s and a bachelor, lived happily for four years, engaged with his wife Esperanza. One day, Alfredo started to think back to his pas and wondered: “Is something missing?” He felt as if something was no longer the same, as if he was blinded by a curse. Esperanza started to notice something was off in their relation though she chose to keep silent about it. At some point, Alfredo met a man named Judge Del Valle and through him, he encountered a maiden named Julia Salas. They had a fruitful chat at the porch while the Judge was absorbed in a game of chess. They really enjoyed each other’s company. Esperanza was starting to get worried “why is Alfredo coming home so late these days?” she thought. She decided to drop the topic after he mentioned his reason. She did not want to indulge in unprovoked jealousies. Just before Holy Week, Don Julian invited the judge and his family to spend Sunday afternoon at Tanda where he had a coconut plantation and a house on the beach. Julia and Alfredo took a stroll by the beach, she told him about her return as requested by her parents back in their hometown. Alfredo happened to stumble upon Julia one last time before her departure. He secretly wanted to confess about his feelings but ‘twas too late as Julia found out about their upcoming wedding. At that moment, he knew that she turned cold and it was no longer possible to continue their relation. He returned home only to have a discussion with his wife where she broke out into tears and reveals to him that she knew something was wrong. Staying true to his words, the wedding happened to avoid further problems. A few years later, he was called to go to the town where Julia lives in. After being engaged to Esperanza for so long, he realized the distance between Julia and him.

Symbolism:

When a star dies, it leaves some remnant behind. There was something in Alfredo that convinced him how he had feelings for Julia. “She was his dead star” is what he realized after their final goodbye. Not all dreams are meant to be followed. 

Theme:

The Later years in Marriage

Lesson:

Every relationship needs a strong foundation, built with honesty and openness to each other. Walls are non-existent between lovers. Any doubt needs to be dealt with as soon as possible.

FOOTNOTE TO YOUTH

By: Jose Garcia Villa

Author’s Background: Jose Garcia Villa (August 5, 1908 – February 7, 1997) was a Filipino poet, literary critic, short story writer, and painter. He was awarded the National Artist of the Philippines title for literature in 1973, as well as the Guggenheim Fellowship in creative writing by Conrad Aiken.

Vocabulary:

Virility - (in a man) the quality of having strength, energy, and a strong sex drive; manliness.

Cursory - hasty and therefore not thorough or detailed.

Clamor - a loud and confused noise, especially that of people shouting.

Impassioned - filled with or showing great emotion.

Assert - state a fact or belief confidently and forcefully.

Characters:

Dodong - Started as a teenager in love.

Teang – The girl Dodong fell for.

Father – Regretful of his youth, hesitant to give advices.

Mother – caring mother, she relates to Teang’s pain.

Blas – One of Dodong’s children.

Tona – The girl Blas wants to marry.

Setting:

Farmland - Agricultural land is typically land devoted to agriculture, the systematic and controlled use of other forms of life—particularly the rearing of livestock and production of crops—to produce food for humans.

Summary

One day, Dodong was waiting for his father to tell him about his intentions with Teang. He was hesitant at first but was determined to tell him. His father was always a silent hard working farmer. Dodong mustered up the courage and started heading homeward while thinking about how to tell him. Though he may be 17, Dodong believes that he is ready to marry Teang. He arrived home, and then they all had supper. Afterwards, Dodong went upstairs to talk to his father. He wanted to tell him quickly before his mother returns. Finally, he told his father about his intention, eagerly expecting his consent. The father looked at him with cold eyes and said nothing; it is as if it reminded him of his younger days. The father had no choice but to agree to his son’s proposal. Later on, Teang got pregnant, Dodong was waiting outside, too ashamed to face his parents. After Teang gave birth, they called Dodong to come over and held his hands to give him the strength to face this moment. Years went by as Dodong had more children. Dodong realized that he threw away his youth and went through such difficult times. He wondered what would have happened if he had not married so early. Blas, the first child, being 18…One night, he came home happy and flustered it was late and his family was asleep. Dodong saw Blas as he couldn’t sleep. Blas softly muttered: “Itay, I am going to marry Tona”. Dodong told Blas to follow him outside to talk. Dodong rememebered his father’s words and said the same to Blas. Dodong saw himself in Blas when he was younger. Dodong could not help but give his consent. He felt sad about what will Blas go through.

Symbolism:

Youth is the period between childhood and adult age. In this stage, they are yet to know the true meaning of responsibility. It is a light subject to them as they only see things on one side. They mainly focus on the fun in life, may it be good or bad.

Theme:

Early Marriage

Lesson:

Marriage is a very heavy decision as it can result into problematic situations. Especially when one is barely in his/her 20’s or has not finished his/her studies. It is difficult to thrive without the proper preparations. You have to find a way to provide for your family as well.