As The Help lands on DVD and Blu-Ray today, Movie Fanatic got a few words of wisdom with the stars of the smash hit movie -- Emma Stone, Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer -- on the special place their important film holds in each of their hearts.
Films such as The Help are priceless in reminding viewers that there was a time not so long ago where the idea of a black president was not even in the realm of possibility -- freedoms were not enjoyed by all. “There is a danger it’s forgotten and it’s very important that it’s not,” Davis said. “I think that we enjoy the privileges that we have today not knowing what went into creating them -- we take them for granted kind of like they were born under a rock and the blood shed and the people who sacrificed their hopes and dreams in order for this younger generation to have this privilege of loving whoever they love and dreaming whatever they want to dream and being whoever they want to be.”
Davis added that the themes of the film are easily what drove millions to see it and what will keep The Help resonant for generations to come. What specific themes most touched her? “The courage of the underdog for a start and the courage of the ordinary person who is being repressed by culture, who has been dictated to, to have no expectations of themselves and rising above all of that to extraordinary heights,” Davis said. “It’s a story about the outsider, it really is, and it’s a story about love and courage and friendship.”
As for Davis’ co-star Stone, she added that the reason why the themes are so powerful is because they are universal. “It’s about being human,” Stone said. “It’s the story of the underdog, the story of bravery in the face of being jailed or being killed. It’s a story about racial inequality, gender inequality -- there are so many messages and themes. Courage is probably the biggest theme of all.”
Spencer, who is getting serious Oscar buzz for her performance added that, “Friendship is a huge part of the story and at the center of all of it is the fact that these unlikely friendships are born. These women were from very disparate backgrounds and no one would have suspected that these friendships would come to fruition in the way that they do.”
For Spencer, being on location in Mississippi was as important as getting inside her character’s head as well as pleasing the millions of fans of the best-selling book The Help.
“It’s real and you know that when you walk into the room people have lived there, it’s got its own history. When you are on a sound stage it stops at eye level and you have to keep the reality in your mind but we never had to do that with The Help. When we were in those real houses you never looked up and saw lights hanging down, we were standing in a real place.”
Stone’s career is skyrocketing with her roles in Crazy, Stupid, Love and the upcoming Spider-Man reboot; her participation in The Help was a special moment for her she will not soon forget. “It was absolutely life changing and not just in the sense that I learned so much and it was such an enriching experience personally,” Stone said. “I think very differently now after The Help, so it was an incredible and very important experience for me.”