Ethical Issues Analysis
An Analysis of the Movie ‘The Help’
Elizabeth Stefanko
2/5/2012
Virginia Commonwealth University
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Ethical Issues Analysis
The movie The Help is set in Mississippi during the Civil Rights era. It is a perfect
snapshot of the troubles a small town faces when thrown into a time of change. Skeeter Phelan
returns to her hometown after receiving her Journalism degree from Ole Miss. She is a fiery,
tenacious character who wants nothing more than to be a writer. Once thrown back into her
small town, Skeeter begins to see her world a little differently. She begins her journey at a
weekly bridge game with all of her high school friends. Quickly, Skeeter realizes they have
nothing in common. She does not approve of the way her friends treat the domestic help, others
that are not in their social group, or even each other. The movie traces Skeeter’s personal growth
as she sets out to find a focus for her writing career, but more importantly develops a passion for
exposing the exploitation of a class and race of people.
Important Ethical Principals Portrayed in the Film
There were three distinct ethical themes in the movie The Help. Class, race and gender
inequalities are explored throughout the movie.
Class
Skeeter belongs to an elite social group in her town. She is the secretary of the Junior
League. All these ladies, except Skeeter, are married housewives that retain domestic help.
Their days are spent at luncheons, bridge dates and numerous club events. The domestic help in
turn are charged with the raising of their children and all domestic responsibilities of cooking
and cleaning. Immediately, there is tension in the group because Skeeter does not fit this mold.
While she would like to have a boyfriend, she is not tied to the companionship of men for her
identify. This independence is threatening to the President of the Junior League and Skeeter’s
best friend, Hilly. Hilly is determined to have Skeeter date a friend of her husband’s and
hopefully marry him. However, Hilly’s attentions are not solely on Skeeter. She focuses much
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Ethical Issues Analysis
of her time belittling others to keep her power within the group. Hilly demeans Elizabeth by
making her feel inferior. Elizabeth tries to emulate Hilly, but on a limited budget. She can
afford domestic help, but the help knows she must help Elizabeth cover up that her belongings
are not expensive or perfect compared to Hilly’s. For example, Elizabeth’s dining room table
has a large scratch on the surface. Aibileen, her maid must cover the scratch when preparing for
bridge and must boost Elizabeth’s confidence when asked about her homemade dresses.
Racial
The movie is laced with many racial inequalities. Aibileen and Minnie are the main
characters from the black, domestic help group. The movie goer gets to see the inequalities
through their eyes. The domestics experience daily humiliations. When they ride the bus to and
from work they must sit in the back. Once at work, they cook, clean, and take care of the boss’s
children. Because of their color, the domestic help have to eat in the kitchen by themselves at
lunch using the same plate, utensils and cup every day. This routine is established because the
white family will not use the same kitchen ware as a black domestic. The degradation continues
under the constant pressure of Hilly. She has developed a bathroom initiative where every white
family builds a separate bathroom for their black domestic help. The purpose as claimed by
Hilly, is to add value to the home. She goes as far as to say that they are protecting their children
with this initiative because black people have different diseases and those diseases can be spread
to their white children if the same bathroom was used.
The domestic help are powerless. They must endure the insults, the poor working
conditions and the inhumane stances of their white bosses. If they do take a stand in any way,
the retaliation is either to fire them and spread rumors about the quality of their work or to have
them arrested for stealing. This is evident in two separate incidences with Hilly. She
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Ethical Issues Analysis
manipulated Elizabeth into firing Aibileen for stealing even though that was not the case.
Elizabeth did not want Aibileen to leave, but she would not stand up to Hilly.
Gender
Independent, well-educated Skeeter does not fit the mold of a white, southern woman of
wealth. The women of her hometown are all housewives who hire domestic help to do their
housework. Skeeter wants more. She is driven to be a serious writer. Her passion is her career,
not becoming a wife and mother.
The black women in this town during this era are domestic help. They have limited
education because they have often left school to become maids to help pay the bills for their
family. Aibileen and Minnie represent the typical life of a domestic. When Minnie is fired from
her job, the viewer hears her beaten by her husband because the loss of job could affect their
lives. Her husband receives no repercussions for hurting her.
How do the Characters Respond to the Ethical Issues
Skeeter
Skeeter tackles the unethical treatment of the help by writing a book. Courageous in her
efforts to expose the cruel treatment of a particular race and class of people, she understands the
dangers that she places herself and the maids in, but sees the value of exposing the problems in
this world. The book is the culminating act, however, Skeeter covertly addresses the inequalities
throughout the movie. She refuses to publish the Bathroom Initiative, but instead advertises for
commodes to be left on the lawn of Hilly’s home. This passive aggressive attitude continues as
she probes other women of her race and class to think about how they treat others. She
aggressively confronts her own mother about the reasons why their longtime maid and, in her
eyes, family member left. It is through this confrontation that her mother gives Skeeter the best
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Ethical Issues Analysis
compliment that she could receive. She tells Skeeter she is her role model. Her mother explains
that she should have been bold and not conform to other’s views when she fired her maid.
Aibileen and Minnie
Aibileen and Minnie address the inequalities of their lives by taking the chance to tell
their story. After realizing the book could have the power to change opinions and attitudes, the
ladies become driven to get the story right. They risk their jobs and their safety to meet with
Skeeter. When the book’s publication is jeopardized because the number of interviewees is
limited, Aibileen and Minnie make it their mission to get other maids to join their cause. The
retribution that many of the maids feel after the death of Medgar Evans and the imprisonment of
a falsely accused maid drives the domestic help to take a risk and join the cause. The domestics
can sense that Skeeter is a woman of integrity because she has the trust of Aibileen and Minnie.
Hilly
There is no change in the character of Hilly. She has all of the power in the Junior
League and uses that power to intimidate the others. Hilly confronts Skeeter after the book is
released. She realizes that Skeeter is the one person she cannot control. However, Skeeter
leaves for her dream job in New York and Hilly is left unchecked in their hometown. The movie
ends with Hilly pressuring Elizabeth to fire Aibileen. The reason is based on a lie, but Elizabeth
is unwilling to lose her status and connections to power so she caves to Hilly’s desire.
Ethical Implications of the Movie
The movie The Help depicts a moral crisis (Johnson, p.95). The treatment of domestic
help in the south was unethical. The main character, Skeeter, influences two domestics, Aibileen
and Minnie to be courageous and help her expose the mistreatment of black domestic help from
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Ethical Issues Analysis
their point of view in a book. In turn, the three ladies become the moral heroes of the story
(Johnson, p.95). Through the work they did together, each become stronger in their convictions.
Race
Because Minnie and Aibileen are willing to risk their safety and occupations, life in this
small town is exposed. The town would not change overnight, but the awareness of the unethical
treatment of a particular race and class of people is pushed to the front of people’s minds. It
allows people to assess their own actions and hopefully begin questioning what is right and
wrong. Through this enlightment, an entire race of people is able to live a better life as the years
pass. The film records the evolution of changing laws and signals the often painful struggles of
the Civil Rights movement.
Class and Gender
Skeeter defies the stereotype of what a young, white southern woman of money should
be. She works diligently to prove herself as a writer while tackling the unethical treatment of the
Black race. The change may not have happened right then, but the possibility of a different way
of life became apparent. Her ability to work and be successful in her own right, may have
inspired others to seek a different path of life besides motherhood. Skeeter’s power was quiet. It
was the type of inspiration that takes hold and slowly grows in numbers. The change may not
have happened right then, but the possibility of a different way of life became apparent.
Conclusion
The Help is a powerful movie. The possibilities to discuss class, race and gender
inequalities were endless. Each theme can be related to events that are going on now in our
world. People of all races, ethnicities and genders are being persecuted. Hopefully, there are
people like Skeeter, Aibileen and Minnie who are willing to risk everything in order to inspire
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Ethical Issues Analysis
change. Leaders cannot cause change overnight, but constant exposure to the right thing can
cause discussion and action in others. Thus, a movement can be stimulated by one person’s
courage to think differently.
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Ethical Issues Analysis
References
Johnson, C. (2012). Making ethical challenges of leadership: Casting light or shadow. Los
Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications.