The Help

Having already had some insight into both sides of this coin - my grandmother worked for families as a babysitter and housekeeper, and I've had to hire both myself - I thought The Help did an excellent job of capturing the fraught and complicated dynamics of the help and the "lady of the house."

The author's sympathies are, rightly so, focused on the African-American housekeepers and the powerless positions they find themselves in, but she also captured the (admittedly, rare) examples of generosity on the part of some employers. A quibble though: the book is set in the 1960s, and most of the housekeepers are supposedly uneducated. How is it that so many of them seem immersed in the self-esteem movement of the 1990s?

There are several scenes where the African-American housekeeper repeats Mister Rogers-like mantras to her white charge, about how she's smart and beautiful and good, just for being who she is.

It seems contrived, and a bit clueless, especially now that psychologists are beginning to suggest that the idea "boosting self-esteem," especially with empty praise, is useless if not detrimental to kids. Here's the full review