Photo Flash: THE HELP Premieres in Hollywood

The Help is a 2011 comedy-drama film adaptation of Kathryn Stockett's 2009 novel of the same name. The film is Tate Taylor's directorial debut, and stars Emma Stone, Mike Vogel, Bryce Dallas Howard, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, and Allison Janney.

Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis) is a middle-aged African-American maid who has spent her life raising white children and has recently lost her only son. Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer) is an African-American maid whose outspokenness has gotten her fired many times and built up a reputation for being a difficult employee. Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan (Emma Stone) is a young white woman who has recently moved back home after graduating from the University of Mississippi [2] to find that her beloved childhood maid has mysteriously disappeared. These three stories intertwine to explain how life in early-1960s' Jackson, Mississippi revolves around "the help"; yet despite the intimate quarters in which whites and blacks live, there is always a certain distance between them because of racial lines.

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