Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

4 reviews

michaelion's review

emotional funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

My opinion might be biased. Of the few movies me and my mom have watched together in my life, I could probably count them on one hand, this was one we both loved when it was available On Demand on Dish or DirectTv or whichever one of those cable providers had that service. The next year I bought the book at the Scholastic book fair, one with a cover from the movie poster, and I read that book six times. The spine is worn out and the edges of the cover are all bent up because I used to try to carefully put it in my backpack, but I haven't carried a backpack since sixth grade, so all my backpacks were actually big bags / purses anyone could see from a mile away, so of course my homework and any books I carried would slide and get smooshed and wrinkled and folded up if I dropped something in there and it landed wrong.

I don't know what impact this book left on me. I assume an important one. I still love the book despite the controversy, maybe also in spite of it. My grandmother was born in Jackson. She and Mae Mobley would've been a week apart, if they were both alive and real, respectively. Her side of the story, what would've been my grandmother's I mean, isn't shown, but maybe someone story she would've known was. Maybe her auntie or cousin or someone who she went to church with, had her mother not moved out of the South before she was three months old. I don't know. The story's very real. Whether or not it connects to you personally, who doesn't have a soft spot for those?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Racism, Excrement, Grief, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Violence, Miscarriage, Vomit, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Death, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Alcohol, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Child abuse, Classism, Death of parent, Fatphobia, and Misogyny

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Hate crime, Police brutality, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Dementia, Infidelity, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Suicide

edesia_guest's review against another edition

informative reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

I don't think Stockett did a good job on providing black women with a job. The main character Skeeter is annoying and I know she is there to show how white people are sheltered and don't understand the hardships of black people especially black women. I feel like she does a good job in looking at women and sexism but it's obvious the experiences are written by a white woman who does not know a whole lot about what happens and the misogynoir black women face everyday. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Classism, Chronic illness, Bullying, Body shaming, Abandonment, Misogyny, Mental illness, Dysphoria, Domestic abuse, Violence, Sexism, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Alcohol

Minor: Homophobia, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault

veerau's review

dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Abortion

Moderate: Violence, Homophobia, and Domestic abuse

rose492's review

hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I read this book several years ago and really enjoyed it. However, this time I noticed some huge problematic flaws.

This is basically a white savior story where the main character Skeeter swoops in and makes change in Jackson in the 1960s. Though Minny and Aibileen have initiative and are good characters,  Skeeter seems to solve all their problems! She gives up so much to help them when she doesn’t even have to! Yay for her for not being so racist!! This was written by a white author and it felt as though she saw herself in Skeeter. I was honestly shocked I didn’t notice any of this on my first read. A line that really stuck out to me was “I am in the old Jackson kitchens with the maids, hot and sticky in their white uniforms…. I let their colored memories draw me out of my own miserable life.” She’s getting over a breakup. She writes this book to get over a breakup. There was some interesting perspectives from the point of view of minny and Aibileen, but the skeeter parts were just bad. I found the topic of the book very interesting, but it wasn't written in a good way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism

Moderate: Murder and Sexism

Minor: Homophobia