Black and White with Tears

No one warned me that I'd need to bring tissues to see The Help. Reading the novel, which was amazing, did not churn me to tears, but seeing the same story on the screen brought the civil rights struggle right into that theater in Seoul, Korea. I could feel the tension, the frustration, the resistance, and the fighting. In myself, I felt the bitter seed growing just like in Aibileen--refusing to accept the "separate but equal" slogan of that era.

This will probably be my favorite film of the year. It was an excellent adaptation of the novel by Kathryn Stockett. Of course, some changes were necessary for the transfer to film, but the story's themes and characters were portrayed well, the acting and casting appropriate and not distracting, and the weighty material balanced with humor. Go see it.