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Literature and Writing Videos 23 videos

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The Help Summary 50816 Views


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Description:

Minny pulls quite a stunt in this story. Just try not to make a scene when Grandma Mimi won't tell you what her chocolate cream pie's "secret ingredient" is next Christmas Eve.

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:00

Anybody have a tissue A little Help here

00:00

The Help a la Shmoop.

00:02

Want some help Well here I am I'm a book about people writing a book...pretty

00:06

meta right But I'm so much more than that.

00:09

For one thing I have three narrators instead of just one which is boring.

00:13

Two of them budding writer Aibileen and firecracker Minny are house maids...in

00:17

this book thats basically a kinder name for slave.

00:20

The third person telling my story is Skeeter a white journalist with a great idea

00:24

for a book...or

00:26

dare I say a masterpiece...about

00:29

the non-glamorous lives of southern servants.

00:31

All right hang on because Im taking you back in time It was 1960s Mississippi

00:35

and everyone was looking for a change.

00:38

Nasty socialite Hilly Holbrook was working on a proposition to require outside bathrooms for all black servants.

00:43

Aw thats sweet.

00:45

Aibileen was doing her best to keep little Mae Mobley's mom from crushing her soul. ..

00:49

Good luck Aibileen but I think Mae Mobleys name already accomplished that.

00:53

Skeeter was pondering the injustice of her world dating a senators son and trying to

00:57

pull her book together for a publisher.

01:00

And Minnie was having a hard time finding work after Hilly fired her.

01:04

Something about a new pie recipe but not one you'd ever want to borrow.

01:08

Skeeter and Aibileen teamed up to create their dream book but they struck out big

01:12

time getting interview subjects.

01:14

Who wants to contribute to a tell-all expose when it can get you fired or

01:19

even killed I might not even have existed if horrible Hilly hadn't sent her maid

01:23

to the slammer for stealing a ring.

01:26

Suddenly Hilly had a big target on her perfectly coifed head and everyone wanted to

01:30

tell Skeeter their stories.

01:32

The only one who wasnt on Team Skeeter was her boyfriend the civil rights-phobic Stuart. Oh well.

01:37

I was worth it.

01:39

Minny was instrumental in getting all those maids to speak uppretty impressive considering she was

01:43

dealing with an abusive husband and a neurotic new boss Celia who tried to hide

01:47

Minny from her husband John.

01:50

I guess Celia thought he wouldn't catch on that all of a sudden the house

01:54

was miraculously clean and full of fried chicken instead of a bowl of ramen on the table.

01:59

Celia needed all the help she could get though and not just with her cooking.

02:03

She couldnt have a baby and Hilly had made her a social pariah.

02:07

Yet another reason not to date Hillys exes.

02:10

A lot of things were revealed at the big Jackson Junior League fundraiser and not

02:14

just Hillys fangs.

02:16

Celia tried to mend fences with Hilly by buying her a pie and ended up

02:20

tearing Hilly's dress and barfing on the floor.

02:23

Should've gone with flowers and chocolate...

02:26

Minnie told Celia why Hilly was out for their collective blood...

02:29

turns out Minnie had previously given Hilly a couple slices of pie with a very special ingredient...love.

02:34

Nahhh just kidding it was poop.

02:37

Man just when you thought it was safe to enjoy your pastry Turns out that

02:41

dump dessert was the key to making Skeeter and Aibileens brainchild a success.

02:45

Once that tasty little anecdote was in the book Hilly didn't dare disclose the identities

02:49

of the authors or the whole town would know she was full of it...literally

02:53

The downside to this little victory was that Hilly set out on a mission to

02:58

make everyone else as miserable as she was.

03:00

She set off Minny's ticking time bomb of a husband forced Aibileen out of her

03:05

job and threatened to sue Skeeter.

03:07

But dont worry.

03:09

I have a mostly cheerful ending with Skeeter and Minny moving on to brand new

03:13

lives and Aibileen planning a future around her writing gift.

03:17

All right I'd better stop because I'm getting a little choked up and crying always

03:21

wrinkles my pages. NOTE end of file

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