'Melissa Harris-Perry Revisits Everything She Hates About The Help In Oscar Preview'

[Number23]

11. I understand what you're saying. Now maybe you can understand what *I* am saying

From my perspective, having actually watched the movie, the only people denigrated in it are the self-obsessed, smug, ignorant, and racist white people in the film -- who fully deserve to be denigrated.

And from my perspective, there are hundreds (probably much, much more) of black people, male and female, who are angry, disturbed, disgusted etc. by the film's very existence.

"Despite efforts to market the book and the film as a progressive story of triumph over racial injustice, The Help distorts, ignores, and trivializes the experiences of black domestic workers. We are specifically concerned about the representations of black life and the lack of attention given to sexual harassment and civil rights activism."
http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/08/11/black-women-historians-come-out-against-the-help/

'"The Help" is just the latest movie to sugarcoat oppression by painting enlightened white people as heroes'
http://www.salon.com/2011/08/12/why_hollywood_keeps_white_washing_the_past/

'Professional black women chat about The Help's portrayal of black women and the stereotypical "mammy" role.'
http://www.theroot.com/views/help-wanted-weighing-new-film (This is just a lighthearted response. A nice read.)

A nice historical perspective here:
http://acriticalreviewofthehelp.wordpress.com/2011/08/28/what-do-black-people-think-of-the-help/

Snip: "Early criticism of Kathryn Stockett’s novel was ignored, especially any dissent coming from the black community. Our voices were not widely publicized in lieu of the glowing reviews for Stockett’s “authentic” black characters. There again, this was in keeping with previous novels penned by white authors."

There's alot of black people talking about this. And of course there are some that support your point of view. But there are many, many others that don't.