Viola Davis Regrets Certain Things About "The Help"

Viola Davis in The Help

This Oscar season already has a packed schedule of potential nominees. Among them is Viola Davis, who recently won an Oscar for her role in Fences.This year she returns with a major role in the Steve McQueen-directed heist film Widows, what has already received a lot of acclaim at various film festivals. However, there's already some concern over Davis' recent past, as she has given an interview where she claims that she regretted her work in The Help. Does this mean she hates the role? Well, not exactly. What she meant it something a bit more nuanced and maybe more understandable in 2018 than it was in 2011 when the film became a late-summer sensation.

There's a lot of good reason to enjoy The Help, which managed to be enough of a crowd pleaser that it lead to a Best Picture nomination. It also served as a breakout role actress Jessica Chastain, as well as earning both Davis and her co-star Octavia Spencer their first Oscar nominations (in the latter's case, her first win). Still, those who have seen the film may notice something odd about the period piece about the characters in the film. It was a story about the maids who worked in a southern home and was meant to reflect their struggles clearly. However, it was very much buried underneath a story of Emma Stone's character writing the titular novel. This isn't to say that the film wasn't without emotion or charm (who can forget that pie scene?), but Davis believes that the film could've done more to actually be about, you know, The Help.

In an interview with the New York Times, Davis was quoted as saying:

"Almost a better question is, have I ever done roles that I’ve regretted? I have, and The Help is on that list. But not in terms of the experience and the people involved because they were all great. The friendships that I formed are ones that I’m going to have for the rest of my life. I had a great experience with these other actresses, who are extraordinary human beings. And I could not ask for a better collaborator than Tate Taylor."

This was a question that was asked of her in regards to any roles that she regretted taking. As can be seen, there's nothing controversial about the making of The Help, though Davis would go on to elaborate that:

"I just felt that at the end of the day that it wasn’t the voices of the maids that were heard. I know Aibileen. I know Minny. They’re my grandma. They’re my mom. And I know that if you do a movie where the whole premise is, I want to know what it feels like to work for white people and to bring up children in 1963, I want to hear how you really feel about it. I never heard that in the course of the movie."

This isn't to say that the film doesn't have that element, though Davis is right that it feels secondary within her own story. It's a lot about how they're seen through the perspective of a white protagonist. As emotional and powerful as the performances were, it's easy to think that they could've done more to reflect a deeper understanding of character. Still, it was evident of its time, as the conversation around race relations on film has continually grown in the years since, hitting such milestones as 12 Years a Slave, Selma, Hidden Figures, and Get Out, and more. The conversation has evolved beyond a simple understanding of race relations in America's past. This isn't totally the fault of The Help then that it isn't fully representative of the situation. It could've been better, but at least it held some reverence for its characters.

Of course, I personally believe that Davis was robbed of an Oscar win that year. She lost the category to Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady, which felt more like a legacy win than anything richer. All things considered, Davis has gone on to do some great work, especially in her eventual Oscar win for Fences. However, it does seem like the legacy around The Help is one that already has a few odd dents in it from the stars. This isn't to say that it's bad, but one could think that in today's modern age that it would've been done a bit differently. Still, it was a spring board for Davis' career, which is enough to prove that it was worthwhile in some manner. The Help has a lot to say about where the conversation was in 2011. It's important to see how things have evolved since then.