When I was a small child in Cuba B.C.* my family had "Help."
(*Before Castro)
Pita (pronounced in Spanish – PEE-TAH) was the family chauffer. He was a beautiful, old mulato that took us everywhere. Well, he took my mom and us kids everywhere. My dad drove himself to work and back. It fell to Pita to take us shopping and to the movies and to the beach. As he drove he would always tell us fantastic stories of his life. I remember him being hysterically funny and I remember that he and my dad were sit-around-the-back-porch-and-smoke-together friends.
Fausta was The Cook. We in turn adored and were terrorized by her. She was a very large woman and my memory gives her credit for the very best frijoles negros (black beans) that I will ever eat in my life.
Then there was Vicky. Her real name was Emildonia, but she made us call her Vicky. Our "manejadora," or nanny. She was beautiful and patient and kind. And we loved her desperately.
We left these beloved folks when we left Cuba in early 1961. They were very much a part of our family and it hurt to say goodbye. I often think back to those people and wonder about them and their stories. You know how much I like stories…
Fast forward to present day. (I promise you this ties in.)
Did you ever read a book and want desperately for it to be made into a movie? We bibliophiles spend a lot of time loving and hating on that premise.
We love the idea that our favorite literature may be coming to the big screen. We clap at the previews but then when we finally see the film are usually (at least mildly) disappointed in the way it was done. (I'm talking to you, Peter Jackson.) Am I right?
Such was the case with the book, The Help. Set in the south in the 1960's. From the press release for the movie:
It's about three women who build an unlikely friendship around a secret writing project that breaks societal rules and puts them all at risk. From their improbable alliance a remarkable sisterhood emerges, instilling all of them with the courage to transcend the lines that define them, and the realization that sometimes those lines are made to be crossed—even if it means bringing everyone in town face-to-face with the changing times.
I was invited by Dreamworks Pictures to a pre-screening of the movie, The Help a few weeks ago and then again this last week while I was in San Diego for BlogHer 2011.
Can I just tell you how much I loved it? In fact, I loved it so much the first time that I was delighted to get a second chance to see it. (Thanks, Dreamworks!)
I was not at all disappointed. The characters came to life almost exactly as I had pictured them. The story was funny and poignant and breathtaking.
As I watched the plot unfold, I remembered our own "Help" back in Cuba. I connected most to the character of Skeeter who wanted to use her gift as a writer to help these women tell their stories.
And I definitely reached for my tissues more than once, but that's not important right now.
I am in love with this film. Seriously. And not just with the story and characters, but with the look and feel of it. The cinematography is brilliant.
So I was triply (<–Is that a word?) delighted when the generous folks at Dreamworks were gracious enough to let me offer a giveaway.
1) The prize pack from Dreamworks Pictures includes all of these:
– THE HELP t-shirt in adult female sizes of S, M, L, XL (The winner can let me know their size.)
– THE HELP pocket jotter & pen
– THE HELP fan
– THE HELP nail file/mirror
2) I also have an extra copy of the book, The Help by Kathryn Stockett. (This is my own to give away. You're very welcome.)
So, to enter this drawing, please answer one or all of the following questions:
- If you read the book, do you have a favorite character?
- Did you ever have "Help?"
- If you have not read the book, have you heard good things about it?
- Do you have a story to tell? Tell me.
Remember that if you want to enter the drawing for the Dreamworks gift pack and the book, you must leave a comment on this post and I'll choose a winner on Wednesday, August 10th, 2011 at 5 pm Pacific. (That's also the day the movie comes out in theaters, Go. See. It.)
Thanks again, Dreamworks!
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the movie. I’m almost done reading the book (& LOVE IT!)and have been hoping that the movie does the book justice. Can’t wait to see it!OOH OOH OOH, i sooo want to win a “The Help” goody!!!! 🙂
If that is Viola Davis in that picture above, I am soooo going to see this movie. She is a wonder. Truly one of the best actresses working today.
Hola, I am a Cubanita from Davie, Fl.The book was given to me as a gift but haven’t read it yet. Was waiting to c the movie first, cause like you many times when I read the book n then see the movie I am often disappointed. I am very glad you loved the movie. I plan to go see it with a few other Cubanitas friends.
Yes, we were also lucky enough to have wonderful “Help” in Cuba. We had the sweetest lady who helped my Mami and my Abuela, her name was Casilda. We also had Popeye,he drove us, he did all the errands for my family and fixed EVERTHING around the house. after 45 plus years, we still remember them and tell stories of those very special times in my family lives.
Did I win???
First time I hear about all this, but sounds wonderful… thanks for introducing!
The book is on my list to read and am hoping to get to it between my bookclub books. I heard you get pulled into the book from the first chapter. So looking forward to reading it and then seeing the movie. Thanks for the give-away!
I read it and loved it! I passed the book on to my co-worker Ana….we have our own book club going. The character I liked most was Minnie – boy did she have spirit!! No, we never had help back in Cuba – but my mom did have 4 dishwashers in Michigan – her 4 daughters. I sure could use that fan here in Miami….
yes- we had nannies, no- haven’t read the book, and stories? mujer please!! like always, great blog. BTW I’m an XL. ;*)
Loved the book, loved having someone come in every two weeks to clean the house when my kids were toddlers and I can’t wait to see the movie. I adored all the characters…I couldn’t choose just one. Don’t make me please:)Jana
I jsut finished reading this weekend (I actually stayed up past my bedtime and read into the night!). I thoroughly enjoyed the book – and plan to re-read it, just to savor the characters more. I had a few “favorite” characters. Skeeter – for her gumption and independence. Celia – as a tragic woman, who tried so hard to fit in with a group that was everything she wasn’t. Mae Mobley – I would love to read what happens to her, to her character, to her kindness. All the maids – for their perserverance and courage.Growing up, we never had help. I have no idea what it’s like to have either. That being said, I don’t know if I’d like it or hate it.
I loved Skeeter, she was just an inspiring and strong character. No, we didn’t have nannies just grandmas…don’t they count?
I am presently in the middle of the book myself. Have I told you the story of my Grandma Onie Henderson?In Sept of 1958, my mother stepped off the train in Los Angeles after a 4 day trip alone from Kansas City with three children under the age of 5. My father, who had been in California for 6 months, “getting settled” before finally sending for us, took us that night to a bare apartment he had obviously only just rented. It was night. We were hungry. We slept on the floor. My mother was 24, 1,800 miles away from her family, penniless, and married to a man who was never going to worry about his family’s welfare or provide properly for them. He left “for work”. Momma was stunned, and reality hit her like a ton of bricks. No furniture, no food, no extended family nearby, and 3 hungry children. I had just turned 4 two weeks earlier. My brother was 3 and my sister was 18 months old. The next day, she was out in the hallway, crying, panicking, not knowing what to do, when Miss Ione Henderson, the “colored” maid for the Jewish family across the hall saw her and asked what was the matter. Everything spilled out. My mother said she had to somehow get a job and support her kids, but had no one to look after them. Onie said, “I’ll take care of your chirren.” That day, Onie saved us. She drove her blue-and-white 1955 Mercury from South Central LA (108th & Wadsworth) to Culver City, Monday through Friday, arriving at 7am. She cleaned, cooked, she chased after the three of us. She paddled our bottoms when necessary, wiped our tears and soothed our fears. And when I started kindgergarten the next September, she drove me to school and picked me up each day. She made dinner each evening, and when Momma arrived at the bus stop from her legal secretary job Downtown, we all walked to meet her. We all ate togther. On weekends Onie would take one of us home with her. On my weekend turns, I played with the children of her church ladies in her neighborhood. I went on charity calls to deliver food to the “po’ folks” in her congregation. I went to Sunday worship with her at her Baptist Church. Onie sang in the choir. I loved her blue satin robes and the gospel music, and the shouting, and the joy in her church, so different from my own staid, stilent, mournful, Catholic dirge of a Mass in a language I did not understand. In Onie’s church they talked about Jesus, and His wonders, and how He knows all about us. How He is our friend and our Savior. And when people would say, “Sister Henderson, who those white children with you?”, she’d say, “These are MY chirren!” I loved her so.
No, there was no segregated bathroom in our house, or anywhere we went here in LA. But I witnessed many instances of Onie’s struggle against racial inequality. She always refused to let “white folks” treat her with disrespect. I saw her strength and her courage. She answered my questions about “the troubles between colored folks and white folks”. She and Mama stood together many times against ignorant people on our block, at our school and at our grocery store.
We called her Grandma Onie. My daughters called her Grandma Onie. She was born in Mississippi in 1903 to a sharecropper family. She had a 3rd grade education. She had come to Los Angeles in WWII, as so many African-Americans did, for a job in an airplane factory. She would never say where her children were, except “in Chicago”, or what had happened to her husband. A mother at 13, she had been a domestic worker most of her adult life. She taught me so many things. She was the holiest person I have ever met. The stories I have about our time with Grandma Onie would fill a book, which I may some day actually pen.
Grandma Onie lived to be 90 years old. At our last visit to her rest home bedside, she kissed my daughters and said to me, “I’ll never see you again.” I held her hand and kissed her cheek and said “don’t be silly, I’ll be back next week.” “I’ll be waitin’ at The Gate for you” was the last thing she said to me. She knew. She passed a few days later.
She fills my heart and my days still. I think of her many times a day. I talk to her in times of trouble and joy. She watches over me and my little family, I know.
And so, it is easy to see why “The Help” speaks to me. Grandma Onie saved us, in all the ways a person can save others. She was our family and I think maybe, in a special way, we were hers. She gave me many things which I carry in my heart. She taught me so much.
I’ve seen the previews and I can’t wait to see the movie!!!! We left Cuba when I was 5, but I remember my mom had “help”. She had a lady that would clean and cook and help take care of us.Besote!!!
Ody
I read the book when it first came out and loved it, especially Skeeter’s character, of course! My family has had a lot of Help over the years. When we moved from Santo Domingo to Baltimore in the early 60’s, my abuelita sent over help by the name of Mimi. We were quite a sight in our little rowhouse in a poor section of town…we actually had a MAID!! Mimi was truly part of the family, helping my mother raise her 4 little girls when she had to go help my Dad get his pediatrics practice started once he finished his residency. She was afraid of Praying Mantises (do these strange creatures even exist in the tropics?), but loved fire flies! She had mom’s pressure cooker hissing at the crack of dawn practically every day. She went with us when we were finally able to move out of the “hood” into a lovely 2 story house in the suburbs, where again we were the strange “Spanish” family with a maid. Mimi left us in 1970 to get married and start a family of her own, but my sisters and I will never forget the day a huge box arrived at our doorstep addressed to the 4 of us. It was filled with the most beautiful hairbows we had ever seen. Mimi had gotten a job in a hairbow factory in New York! I still have pictures of us all proudly wearing Mimi’s bows, and think of her still to this day when I see a little girl with a big poufy bow in her hair.
When I was growing up my parents were gone a lot. We always had house help. One lady we had for a few years was so kind to me. Her name was Francisca. Every night she had a bedtime routine of rubbing Jergans lotion inside of her leather shoes. She would take her time and it was like she was layering love into those shoes as she worked the lotion into the leather with her fingers and hands after a long days work. With the same love, She would sometimes rub the lotion onto my feet or into my shoes as well. We would sit and she would work on her shoes and teach me the Spanish language. I felt so very special and loved by her in our time together. To this day, I love movies and books where the family has help. It’s almost like God chooses special angels to come into the homes and help families. The Helpers always carry a certain kind of Love in their heart. I saw the book ‘The Help’ and grabbed it up, I am reading it and am super thrilled that a movie has been made about it! ♥
My daughter and I agree on one thing we did not want the book to end. We are looking forward to have a “date” to see the movie and go for dinner. My favorite character is Aibeleen but I have a lot of respect for Minny too.From all the “Help” we had in Cuba the person I remember the most was “el maestro cocinero” His name was Mario Guerrido but we kids used to call him Berrido for fun. My parents always called him Maestro and he was the king in the kitchen and his orders were sacred even my mother was under his thumb within the kitchen walls. Berrido had no kids and he always called me and my niece “Mijita” he spoiled us and made special treats for us my favorite was steamed lobster with a big blob of mayo on top and merenguitos tostados. Once the militia came over and took my father and brother to jail and they took all the male employees in our house too. The maestro was two weeks in jail with the rest of them. Years later my father commented that he knew everything my family was doing against the revolution but never open his mouth no matter how much pressure he was put under. After we were settle in this country my parents try to get in touch with him and bring him over but they moved and we never got the opportunity to do it. But they manage to bring the lady that did our laundry and her sister her name was Virginia.She worked very hard to educate her sister, she went to the same private school that I did and took piano lessons with the best teacher in town. “She will do nobody’s laundry” was her motto, and she did it!
What a thrill to get “the help” it has been on my listof books to read….I have heard wonderful things about
it. And yes, as I was growing up my family always had
help at home,
Wow, Debbie. That is beautiful. Lucky you and your family to have had Grandma Onie, and lucky her to have had you.
Marti, I remember telling you last October that you would love this book….so glad that I was right! I have not seen the movie yet, but plan to very soon. I’ve heard wonderful things about it.My favorite character is Minny, porque no tiene pelos en la lengua.