The Help Ending Explained: Is It Really Happy?

What's the Deal With The Help Ending?

The Help ending is a little bit sad, a little bit happy, and kind of makes you feel all sorts of things at once! It shows how tough life was for black maids in Mississippi in the 60s. You might want to cry a little watching the sweet young Mae say goodbye to Aibileen.

What Happens at the End?

The story is based on this book by Kathryn Stockett, about these black maids working for wealthy white families. They work with Skeeter, a white woman, to expose all the awful racism they faced - it all starts a big change in the community!

In the movie, they make a book that is pretty famous called “The Help,” - that is when things get intense! This means all of the characters start making decisions! Some change, some don't, and even though everyone feels things were improving, there are some characters, especially those who haven't changed for the better - they aren’t exactly doing the best at life! This ending kinda shows you that even if times might be changing for the better, it wasn't always going to be easy for people to get what they wanted.

What's With Aibileen?

She’s got her heart broken when she is forced to leave Elizabeth’s family, the little girl, Mae! Her whole life seemed like it was changing, too, so that was kinda shocking, to say the least.
They fired Aibileen, even though she had worked for them for a long time, for stealing - but it really wasn't true! But because Aibileen was a black woman, she couldn’t do anything to protect herself. Even the other maids told Aibileen it would be no good trying to explain herself!

Why Is The Ending a Bit Controversial?

The ending doesn't seem like a "happily ever after," even though they are celebrating success with the book! It’s almost a bit unfair that the main characters - the black women, Aibileen and Minny - they weren't getting ahead in life like they really deserved, so many people saw that as a problem.
There’s a debate about the movie, too! Some people think that the story puts the spotlight on these white characters who are trying to change the situation, like a white savior idea. But maybe the story’s intent was to expose these things, so, they had to tell the story from those white perspectives.
It's almost like, while everyone seems to be doing okay, there's a big question: was it actually a good ending, for the black maids?
A lot of people see this ending as a sign that The Help might not be that great. It's not like, super, mega great - it has some problems.

The Big Thing About This Ending

It shows that racism is deep! Hilly is pretty evil - we can't say she was “happy.” And she is determined to make sure that life for black folks is tough! In fact, this ending, the "sweet" parts with Aibileen and Minny doing better - well, it kinda makes you feel worse, really, because the movie shows how even a good story about the problem of racism doesn't mean it's just going to go away. There’s so much that needs to be done!

“The Help” is still a movie worth seeing for the strong performances - those black actors really deserve a round of applause - Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer - amazing talents, and everyone! There's something there to think about - that's for sure, because, in the end, it really makes you question the state of life in Mississippi and the way it was back then - with all that racism and that whole idea of white supremacy - but I'm not gonna spoil the movie, watch it for yourself!