YMMV / The Help

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • While Stuart could easily be seen as just another person in society who fails to realize racism is awful—and is unsympathetic for leaving Skeeter as a result, he could also be seen as thinking a public exhibition of it in the form of her book is exploitative and problematic as well. His thinking it's not her place—being a sexist mindset or not—could also be part of it too.
  • As much as Elizabeth could be hated for firing Aibileen—and putting Mae Mobley through that—just because Hilly wanted her to, in addition to not wanting to incur Hilly's wrath, Elizabeth could also think Aibileen would suffer worse though if she didn't just fire her like Hilly wanted her to. It's easy to tell that she's reluctant to do so, but afraid to not do it too. She's shown to also be somewhat jealous of Aibileen's bond with Mae Mobley as well and that could speak to her own inadequacies as a mother being a motivation too—and could maybe speak to her asking Hilly's help in getting rid of her, though either way, Elizabeth feeling guilty in the matter is definitely clear.
• Award Snub:
  • Many people were expecting Viola Davis to win Best Actress that year over Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady (even Streep herself was sure that Davis would win).
  • Weird example with the MTV Movie Awards in 2012. Bryce Dallas Howard was nominated in the infamous Best Onscreen Dirtbag category—losing to Jennifer Aniston for Horrible Bosses—and given the horridness of her character and her actions, could've easily been nominated in a regular Best Villain category instead—and more appropriately so as the "Dirtbag" category seemed formed to give attention to antagonistic, unlikable characters and bullies rather than the utterly awful and hated bigot that Hilly is.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: The scene in the book where Minny and Celia are attacked by a naked man at Celia's house doesn't have any real relevance to the rest of the story and is pretty weird to boot. Presumably it was included to show to that Celia is tougher than she looks and can fight for herself, but it's jarring all the same.
• Catharsis Factor: Seeing Hilly get her comeuppance is incredibly satisfying, with the 'Terrible Awful' being the crowner of them all.
• Critical Dissonance: Somewhat. Most reviews of the film were only moderately positive but audiences went nuts for it, hyping it up to be a flawless, must-see movie.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • In the film, Emma Stone plays the main protagonist and Bryce Dallas Howard plays the film's antagonist. So the "Amazing" Gwen Stacy is facing against the former Gwen Stacy.
  • Seeing Jessica Chastain and Bryce Dallas Howard star together since this was the former's breakout role, and launched the infamous confusion over who is who. According to Jessica, at one point during filming they both looked in a mirror to compare their faces.
  • Octavia Spencer as the rough acerbic Minny is positively hilarious to Divergent fans — where Octavia plays the peace-loving pacifist Johanna, whose Catchphrase is "go with happiness."
  • On the flip side, Viola Davis as the nicer one of the pair Aibileen is amusing to Suicide Squad (2016) fans — where she's the Anti-Hero Amanda Waller who crosses the Moral Event Horizon by murdering her own staff.
• Hollywood Homely: Skeeter, apparently by early 1960s standards. In the book, she got her nickname because she resembled a mosquito in her childhood. Emma Stone just wears glasses and has curly hair, which fails to make her look unattractive.
• Just Here for Godzilla: Many hardcore Spider-Man fans watched the movie just to see the two live-action Gwen Stacies on the same screen.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • "I love x like white people love The Help!"
  • Mae Mobley banging the window and crying has unfortunately become one for futile frustration.
• Never Live It Down: Sure, Hilly was a real bitch, but you eat one special pie...
• Nightmare Fuel:
  • The scene where Minnie breaks down the locked bathroom door to find a crying Celia trying desperately to clean up the blood from her miscarriage. A brief glimpse of the dead fetus wrapped up in a bloody towel is shown. Doubles as Tear Jerker.
• One-Scene Wonder: Skeeter's boss and editor-in-chief, who is amusingly cranky and is a Sir Swears-a-Lot.
• Retroactive Recognition: Wes Chatham has a very minor role as the husband of one of Hilly's cronies. He would gain much more fame and critical acclaim portraying Amos Burton in The Expanse.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: A strong criticism of the film was making Skeeter more modern in her views towards racism. In the book, she's still a segregationist who is Squicked out at the thought of interracial mixing — and therefore reflecting the views of the time. This moral ambiguity is gone in the film, which some people (including Viola Davis herself) attacked as evoking White Man's Burden.
• Tough Act to Follow: Some reviews of the film noted that it was good in its own right, but it couldn't match the quality of the book.
• The Woobie: Aibileen and Celia are the biggest candidates.
  • Mae Mobley a cute (in the film) and sweet toddler.
  • ALL of the maids and their families qualify.

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