Year-In-Review, This Is Not (Entry Two)
Emma Stone and The Help
Earlier this year, I reviewed Easy A and mentioned just how talented young actress Emma Stone is. Since then, she has appeared in Friends With Benefits (where she dumped Justin Timberlake before a John Mayer concert), made playboy Ryan Gosling fall in love with her in the ensemble drama Crazy, Stupid, Love, and convincingly portrayed a forward-thinking Southern white girl in 1960s Mississippi (more on that later). So, yes, she has real acting skills that go beyond comedy and being the love interest for nerds and losers (Zombieland and Superbad).
I first saw Emma Stone in the failed TV series Drive. To be honest, I didn’t notice anything special about her (although I did wonder why the show was canceled, it was decent and it had Nathan Fillion). It was not until The House Bunny that I made a point to remember Emma Stone. While Anna Farris was the main star of that film, Emma’s nerdy redhead character really stole the show. She somehow utilized her sultry voice, which normally sounds sexy on a woman, to make her character even nerdier and more of a loser. How on earth did she do that?
Still, even more intriguing is her personality. In her interview with Vanity Fair, she is revealed to have a deeper, quirky soul that keeps her away from the party lifestyle of celebrities her age. She truly is funny, as seen in both times hosting SNL, and fearless in her choice of roles. Her next big role is Peter Parker’s girlfriend in the latest reboot of Spiderman. Like her character, Gwen Stacy, Emma is more than just a pretty face.
In a somewhat unorthodox casting decision, Emma was chosen to be the lead character of The Help, a film adaptation of a best-selling novel about the lives of maids in Jackson, Mississippi in the Civil Rights Era. Her character, Skeeter, the brainy single girl who dreams of becoming a writer, is much taller than petite Emma (hence the name “skeeter”, short for “mosquito”). Putting that aside, she managed to keep up with the heavyweights in the film, the likes of Viola Davis, Sissy Spacek, and Mary Steenburgen. In fact, when it comes to ensemble acting, there are hardly any other movies that can compare to The Help this year. In addition to these illustrious names, there are Allison Janney (of West Wing fame), Octavia Spencer (whose comedic skills are just beyond amazing), and breakout star of the year, Jessica Chastain, who has done brilliant work in at least three or maybe ten other films recently. The usually demure Bryce Dallas Howard is unrecognizable as Hilly, the racist queen bee of the society.
If you haven’t read the inspiring novel yet, here’s a little plot description. Skeeter, just returned home after graduation, seeks a way to become a writer. After an editor from New York tells her to write “something real”, Skeeter decides to write about the lives of maids who work for her friends. Exercising caution along the way, Skeeter finds two maids willing to help her despite the enormous risk of writing such a book in that period. As Skeeter delves deeper into these maids’ stories, she has no idea how much impact the book will eventually have on all of them.
Until the trailer of the film came out, I had no interest in reading the book. I felt it would be just a tad depressing. It was, don’t get me wrong, but as I read more pages, I found the voices of the characters drawing me in. The story has funny moments where you least expect them (mostly from the character Minny who makes wise cracks especially when she shouldn’t) and certainly is capable of wreaking havoc on your emotions and tear ducts. Perhaps some part of me identifies with Skeeter. If only I had her courage and determination.
The film adaptation takes shortcuts in the story, of course. Some relationships are not developed as well as they could have been and a lot of the background story on the lesser characters, such as Jessica Chastain’s Marylin-Monroe-ish housewife, is not given any screen time. Nevertheless, the soul of the book is still in the movie and the emotional impact can still hit you hard. Particularly when the actresses are of such calibre. Well, the movie’s been nominated for a lot of things so fingers crossed they can recreate their box office success in the award circuit.
The Actresses of The Help
