The goddamned End of THE HELP

I was surprised when I heard that I was going to be a "guest speaker" to "share my thoughts" on The Help. It seems all I've been doing is bitching about it, and how much I despise it. Anyway, I guess I need to save a few things to say for next week, if I still have any strength left in me to continue with the blathering.

Time to hand in the final week's "homework".

It's finally done.

and I'm done with it (maybe not so quite yet)

I. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1.  Who was your favorite character and why?

Let me just starting by saying I hate all three main characters, Skeeter in particular, and I really don't want to bitch about my reasons for the gazillionth time. But if I have to pick a favorite, it's got to be Hilly Holbrook. Granted, she is still a stereotypical character, like all the others, but at least she is consistent. Every story needs a villain, and Miss Hilly is created to serve this purpose. Just like the step-mother or queen character in so many fairy tales, she is evil, pure and simple. She doesn’t even try to be nice. If she hates a person, she'll make damned sure that this person knows and he/she (of course mostly she) is going to suffer the consequences. She doesn’t bluff, she delivers. And she respects boundaries. Every person in her community has their own status. For Hilly, one should know his/her place, and should never try to mingle with classes inferior to them; as for sucking up to the superior ones, like Elizabeth to her, she is perfectly fine with that as long as she is one being sucked, no pun intended. The help will always be the help, and should never consider themselves equal to their bosses. When Skeeter crosses that boundary to be associated with the maids, she is exiled from their circle. 

The second question is about Hill's doings. I just have to laugh. These questions are raised by the author herself, so it appears to me that she never even once considered the possibility that anyone would like Hilly. Why does the fact that she is a terrific mother and that she is the reincarnation of devil have to be contradictory? Have you ever read in a fairy tale that a step-mother treats her own daughter badly, or the queen spares no effort to destroy hers? I don't think so. 

11.What did you think about the PIE?

No, it's not a typo. and yes, I skipped all the questions in the middle. 

As a device to serve the plot, it being Minny's safeguard measure, it's absolutely clever.

As a story itself, it simply makes no sense. Well, by the end of book, I'd be surprised if anything in it actually does. After taking a dump, would you scavenge it, fiddle it i, and then mold it into whatever shape required? I think any person with the slightest shred of sanity or dignity would, well, "flush after use".