The Help Ending Explained

Summary

• Minny’s retaliation protects the book’s anonymity from Hilly but shows white power dynamics in Jackson.
• Skeeter’s reluctance to leave exposes her privilege and fears for Aibileen and Minny’s safety.
• The ambiguous movie ending highlights the white savior complex and lack of agency for Black characters.

When it comes to bittersweet movie endings, The Help ending stands out – especially after seeing a young Mae (Emma and Eleanor Henry) bang against the window crying as Aibileen (Viola Davis) leaves. Released in 2011 (and based on the novel of the same name by Kathryn Stockett), The Help sees aspiring writer Skeeter (Emma Stone), a white woman living in Jackson, Mississippi, conspire with two Black domestic workers, Aibileen and Minny (Octavia Spencer), to expose the racism Black housekeepers experience from white families. Some of the families Skeeter, Minny, and Aibileen work together to write about are Skeeter’s own friends.

Skeeter anonymously publishes a book called The Help, and the release causes a shake-up in Jackson. The ending of The Help takes place following the book’s immediate success which leads Skeeter, Minny, and Aibileen in different directions. While the movie and Kathryn Stockett’s novel have similar endings and show that some characters changed for the better, there are also a few differences, particularly with Aibileen’s arc, that makes the movie more ambiguous.

Minny Gets Revenge, But Hilly Still Has The Power

To write about the white families they work for without people figuring out The Help takes place in Jackson, Minny provides an important chapter of the book. In The Help’s famous and gross pie scene, Minny reveals that after being fired by Hilly (Bryce Dallas Howard), she defecated into a pie and fed it to Hilly as revenge. They decide to put this in the book, as the women know Hilly will go to great lengths to make sure no one suspects the characters are inspired by people in Jackson.

The risk pays off, and Hilly insists that her social circles stop speculating that the book could be about people they know. This move protects the anonymity of the book, but Hilly knows who the book is about and who wrote it. Hilly convinces her friend Elizabeth (Ahna O’Reilly) to fire Aibileen, and together they accuse her of stealing silverware from Elizabeth.

Aibileen is forced to say goodbye to Elizabeth’s young daughter Mae.

Because of racial tensions in Jackson, Aibileen is forced to say goodbye to Elizabeth’s young daughter Mae. Police would undoubtedly believe two white women over her, and her only choice is to leave without protest even though she did not steal the silverware. Being dismissed in this way also means that Hilly has the ability to prevent Aibileen getting hired by anyone else in town. This ending shows that despite the success of the book, as a white woman, Hilly still has power in Jackson.

However, both Aibileen and Minny do get a happy ending, of sorts. Minny’s relationship with Celia Foote gives her a job for life – and a guaranteed income and the care that Celia shows to her give her the strength (and practical means) to leave her abusive husband. While she is still working in domestic service, she is paid well, has some financial security thanks to the book, and is no longer in fear of losing her job. Aibileen, meanwhile, leaves domestic service entirely – Hilly will make it impossible for her to get a job, but Aibileen tells her that she will work as a writer, instead.

Why Skeeter Is Nervous To Leave Jackson For New York City

Skeeter Gets Her Dream Job But Has Doubts

At the start of the movie, Skeeter is disappointed to be back in Jackson after graduating from college. She dreams of being a professional writer at a big publication and does not want to follow the typical path of marrying and having kids. After the success of The Help, Skeeter receives a job offer in New York, meeting her original goal. Even though this job offer means Skeeter achieved her dream, she is hesitant to accept it. Skeeter explains to Aibileen and Minny that she does not want to leave them to face any fallout from the book alone.

Skeeter’s reluctance to leave Jackson shows that she understands her privilege as a white woman.

Aibileen and Minny insist that Skeeter takes the job and moves because she no longer has any friends left in her social circle because of how she distanced herself when writing The Help. Skeeter’s reluctance to leave Jackson shows that she understands her privilege as a white woman and knows that if Hilly ever does reveal who worked on the book, the consequences will be worse for Aibileen and Minny.

The ending of The Help proves that Skeeter’s fears were not unfounded, as Hilly finds a way to ensure that Aibileen loses her job, showing that things in Jackson might get worse instead of better.

How The Help’s Ending Is Different From The Book

The Movie Is More Ambiguous Than The Book

Overall, the book ending of The Help is similar to the movie’s ending. Skeeter gets a job offer in New York and moves alone. Minny is given job security by working for Celia (played by Jessica Chastain in The Help). In the book, Aibileen is also fired by Elizabeth and chooses to retire from being a maid. The book also contains the message that even though the main characters are still surrounded by prejudices, their work on the book gave them the means and the confidence to try and improve their lives and the lives of those around them.

However, the movie’s ending differs because it is more ambiguous. Minny leaves her abusive husband in the movie because she knows she will always have a job with Celia. In the book, she knows she can take care of herself with the payments she receives from working on The Help. Aibileen’s ending in the book is also different. Even though she is still fired by Elizabeth, at the end of the book, she already has a new job writing for the Jackson Journal, answering Miss Myrna letters. In the job, she is paid the same amount of money that Skeeter made.

The Ending Of The Help Highlights What Is Wrong With The Movie

The Movie Has A White Savior Trope

Since it was released, The Help has been criticized for its role as a white savior film, and Davis admitted that she regrets filming The Help. The movie claims to highlight the injustices that Black Americans, particularly Black women, faced because of segregation and racism. Instead, Skeeter, a white woman, is the primary voice of the story. Skeeter and Celia are also credited with improving Aibileen and Minny’s lives instead of the women having their own agency.

The suffering the Black characters go through is only expanded on if it pushes the white characters’ stories forward, and the realities of the Civil Rights Movement are glossed over. While the book’s ending gave Minny and Aibileen some agency, the movie’s choice to remain ambiguous highlights the disparity between Skeeter and them.

Aibileen is later punished for her work on the book and loses her livelihood.

The success of The Help gives Skeeter a new job opportunity away from the troubles of Jackson. Aibileen and Minny might receive money from working on The Help, but they are not able to leverage their work on the book to find new jobs because they are not professionally credited. Aibileen is later punished for her work on the book and loses her livelihood. This ending is presented as hopeful, but without the inclusion of the Miss Myrna letters, Aibileen’s entire future is uprooted.

The Real Meaning Of The Help’s Ending

Morally Good Characters Succeed In The End

By the end of The Help, characters that are deemed morally good are presented as better off than at the movie’s start. Skeeter achieves her dream, Aibileen retires and hopes to become a writer, Minny leaves her abusive husband, and Celia’s relationship with her husband improves. Meanwhile, the racist and problematic characters are worse off. Hilly appears more and more disheveled as she doubles down on her racism while Elizabeth is trapped being a mother and subservient to Hilly’s demands.

This ending is meant to demonstrate that characters who worked to improve themselves were able to, while characters who could not overcome their prejudices are stuck in their ways. Even with its hopeful finality, the ending of The Help is still bittersweet as realism looms over the characters. Without Aibileen’s steadfast guidance, the odds of Mae being emotionally neglected by Elizabeth throughout her formative years are high.

Hilly’s threat to Aibileen reminds viewers that racism is still perverse throughout Jackson and the rest of the U.S. (even if The Help shed light on it). As the movie shies away from realism in favor of letting audiences feel good about the subject matter, the film’s ending takes the same route. The movie tells viewers that the recently empowered characters will be OK, but it does little to prove why.

How The Help Ending Was Received

Audiences Loved The Movie More Than Critics

The Help, despite its problems, was beloved by critics and audiences alike. Critics certified it fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, although its score fell to around 76%. The audience loved it even more, with an 89% positive ranking. While the “white savior’ problem bothered some people, others saw the ending as more hopeful. One audience reviewer wrote, “The part which Minny interacts with Celia really warms our heart, and how Aibileen walks on the street in the last scene really shows her determination to change her faith.”

For critics, there were plenty of positive reviews, but just as many pointed out the deficiencies. However, the sharpest criticism of the movie comes from Viola Davis, who said she regrets starring in the movie in the first place (via Entertainment Weekly):

“There’s no one who’s not entertained by
The Help.
But there’s a part of me that feels like I betrayed myself, and my people, because I was in a movie that wasn’t ready to [tell the whole truth].
… They’re invested in the idea of what it means to be Black, but… it’s catering to the white audience.
The white audience at the most can sit and get an academic lesson into how we are. Then they leave the movie theater and they talk about what it meant. They’re not moved by who we were.”

In his review of The Help, Rober Ebert said the movie was very entertaining, but there was something missing as well. He said the movie delivers a message that white viewers want to hear: “We don’t always go to the movies for searing truth, but more often for reassurance: Yes, racism is vile and cruel, but hey, not all white people are bad.” However, this also means that it is a “feel-good fable, a story that deals with pain but doesn’t care to be that painful.”