You is Smart

“Am I gone believe what them fools say about me today?” ~ Kathryn Stockett in The Help

Tonight my goddaughter and I went to see the film, The Help. I highly recommend it. Actually, I think it is my new favourite film. It has the familiar flavour of The Secret Live of Bees—white and black women who work together and are strong, believable, courageous creatures that make you realize that henceforth you must live your life with more integrity.

I was thinking today about a recent situation or two on which I have perseverated. I needed someone to ask me this quote above like Constantine demanded of Skeeter. Why would I let wounded, or ugly, or mean people define who I am? Why would I believe what they say about me when I know it is not so?

Bring your girlfriends, your daughters, your mothers, and just about anyone else who will go with you to this film. Drag your menfolk as they whine that it is chiclet and a chick flick. Make them watch and then debrief it with them.

I try hard to encourage my goddaughter and one of the lines touched me deeply because I know that children need this mantra told to them hundreds, if not thousands of times, a day: “You is kind. You is smart. You is important." In particular, most of the female species, needs to have it penetrate the depths of their souls to balance the onslaught of negative messages we receive in the media, in classrooms, on the playground, on the sports field, and in relationships.

Women can be mean to one another and this story shows it on several fronts. I found myself rooting for the various underdogs in this film and wondering where such hatred is born. The Help is an intricate look at how people treat each other, and often miss the mark of recognizing a human face as they treat the other person worse than a piece of chocolate pie (you will have to watch the movie or read the book to understand that line fully).

The strong, single woman who writes The Help with the maids is fiercely determined and a fantastic role model for young women today. The maids are courageous, compassionate characters who will make you feel as if you should change the way you are living in order to be a better person. Even the sweet, “white trash” misfit makes you want to stand up and cheer as her story unfolds. I am glad that my sixteen-year-old goddaughter loved the film. I hope she will always know she is kind, smart and important and that she does not have to believe what fools may ever say about her.

Peace,

Suzanne