Book Hangover and “The Help”

By Roxanne Felix

It’s in the urban dictionary – “book hangover” – when you read into the wee hours of the night, and suffer for it the next day. That’s what I have ….

I read “The Help” last night. I wanted to read it – and I was scared to read it. It had so much controversy and hullabaloo around it – black women’s voices and experiences written by a white woman.  Would it be shameful? Would it be empathetic?

But the movie had come out and I knew I would end up watching it. As a writer – I am always pulled to movies based on books. And I always need to read the book *first*.

So, I started in on it last night.

From a writer’s perspective – excellent story. I have a book hangover after all. Great pacing. Lots of tension. And you get caught up in these characters’ lives.

But there are faults. No faults that pull me out of the story. Nothing that stops me in the middle of reading a chapter where I want to throw the book against the wall.  But faults, nevertheless.

The strongest argument for and against this book I found in this blog posting (and its related links):

http://www.racialicious.com/2011/06/28/we-just-cant-avoid-the-help/

For the novel: A writer writes what they know. Even if that experience isn’t all knowing, all true, all accurate. That’s how lives are …. limited and biased. Can we expect novels to be any different from people? As one author said on this blog, “We have to be the change we want to see in others. Open minds means open pages.”

Against the novel:  The novel perpetuates damaging stereotypes. An understanding of the segregation, its causes and its solutions appear to be (as one author quotes) “amusing anecdotes” of African-American women portrayed in the novel. The Civil Rights Movement wasn’t an accident. It was a movement, initiated by hundreds of intelligent, passionate and brave women and men. They would have come to these insights way before someone outside their community asked them to “think and write about their life.”

The point is – I couldn’t very well criticize or laud the book unless I read it, right? Discussion has to be informed discussion. Take a read and see what you think. But as I write this, I realize what really pulled me in.

There is a new generation of “the help” in Canada. As a Filipina-Canadian, born right here in Alberta, I have a lot of privilege. Education. Work experience in Canada. My citizenship. But in no way do I forget what could have been my lot in life. Every couple of years, a new cousin arrives from the Philippines. Just like me – educated. But, despite their experience as nurses, midwives, marketing consultants – they start as a nanny here. Start from scratch. Now, if someone who criticized The Help, went to these present day women and asked to put together a *real* novel – with their real life experiences … well, then maybe all of this hullaballoo would be worth it.

Roxanne Felix is a Youth Program Manager at the Centre for Race and Culture in Edmonton.

The views presented above do not necessarily reflect those of the Centre for Race and Culture.

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