VOA标准英语2011--Anonymous Book Dishes on Life as a Black

Anonymous Book Dishes on Life as a Black Maid in 'The Help'

A hit novel about black and white women in the American south 50 years ago has been made into a film that is winning widespread critical acclaim¹. Alan Silverman has this look at The Help.
"I was raised by a colored woman. We love them and they love us, but they can't even use the toilets in our houses."
It's 1962, and university graduate Skeeter Phelan has come home to Jackson, Mississippi, a corner of the south that the civil rights movement has yet to reach. African-American women like Aibileen Clark work in the homes of white families as maids, cooks and nannies. Skeeter, played by Emma Stone, asks Aibileen to describe what life is like for these black women.
SKEETER: "I want to interview you about what it's like to work as a maid. I'd like to do a book of interviews about working for white families.
AIBILEEN: "Do you know what Miss Leefolt would do to me if she know that I was telling stories about her?"
SKEETER: "Well, I was thinking that we wouldn't have to tell her."
Emma Stone says Skeeter didn't imagine that the invitation would be problematical.
"Skeeter is very idealistic and is crazy to think that this would be exciting for Aibileen to be a part of," Stone says.
But Skeeter eventually wins the trust of Aibileen and her co-workers. Their book, published anonymously² as The Help, creates a sensation³. Viola Davis co-stars as Aibileen and admits to having thought twice about playing the servant.
"It's very difficult because I thought, do I want to play a character that could be viewed as so subservient⁴? But I see her as much more than that. This is all we were back then," notes Davis. "Every once in a while you had someone who broke the norm⁵, but you were maids. You were in subservient roles. And yet she was able to break out of all of that to pursue a goal and a dream and to speak out."
HILLY: "I have drafted the home health sanitation⁶ initiative⁷."
SKEETER: "The what?"
HILLY: "A bill that requires every white home to have a separate bathroom for the help."
Hilly, a socialite, sees herself not as a racist⁸, but as an upstanding citizen in a place and time when speaking out against discrimination is a crime. She's played by Bryce Dallas Howard.
"I had to believe in the things that I was saying and believe that what I was doing was right, which is what the circumstances were back then with these kinds of women and individuals. They actually thought that they were doing good, which is so scary," she says.
The Help is adapted from the best selling novel by Kathryn Stockett. She based the book on her own experience growing up in Jackson.
"Look, I'm the first one to say I’m a white woman. I know that I'll never truly understand what it must have felt like to be a black woman working in the south," Stockett admits. "But it seems like no one had even tried to show that perspective."
MINNY: "All right, I'm going to do it. But I need to make sure she understands this ain't no game we're playing here. Do I have to come up with the questions too?"
SKEETER: "Uh, let's begin with, uh, where you were born."
MINNY: "Belzoni, Mississippi, on my great-auntie's sofa."
The civil rights movement is the backdrop for the story, but Octavia Spencer, who plays the outspoken⁹ maid Minny, says it is really about relationships and empowerment.
"It's not about race. It's about doing what's right and finding your voice," Spencer says.
The Help was directed by Tate Taylor, author Kathryn Stockett's childhood friend. It was filmed near where they grew up in Mississippi.

1 acclaim   

v.向…欢呼，公认；n.欢呼，喝彩，称赞

参考例句：

• He was welcomed with great acclaim.他受到十分热烈的欢迎。
• His achievements earned him the acclaim of the scientific community.他的成就赢得了科学界的赞誉。

2 anonymously   

ad.用匿名的方式

参考例句：

• The manuscripts were submitted anonymously. 原稿是匿名送交的。
• Methods A self-administered questionnaire was used to survey 536 teachers anonymously. 方法采用自编“中小学教师职业压力问卷”对536名中小学教师进行无记名调查。

3 sensation   

n.感觉，感知力，激动，轰动

参考例句：

• He lost all sensation in his legs through cramp.他的腿部因抽筋而失去知觉。
• Seeing him again after so many years was a strange sensation.那么多年以后又见到他，是一种不可思议的感觉。

4 subservient   

adj.卑屈的，阿谀的

参考例句：

• He was subservient and servile.他低声下气、卑躬屈膝。
• It was horrible to have to be affable and subservient.不得不强作欢颜卖弄风骚，真是太可怕了。

5 norm   

n.标准，规范，平均数

参考例句：

• Of his age,the child is above the norm in arithmetic.在他那个年龄，这个孩子的算术能力是超过标准的。
• These events were aberrations from the norm.这些事件不合常规。

6 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

7 initiative   

n.主动性，首创精神，主动权（的行动），倡议

参考例句：

• He went to see the headmaster on his own initiative.他主动去看望校长。
• His employer had described him as lacking in initiative and drive.雇主说他缺乏进取心和干劲。

8 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

9 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。