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Jessica Hite

From Gone with the Wind to The Help: Deconstructing the Mammy Narrative in Film

There are many archetypes of Black women that have been used throughout the history of
film. Whether it be the ever-suffering, but noble church mother, such as Petunia Jackson in
Cabin in the Sky played by Ethel Waters, or the often tragic, and always hyper-sexualized
mulatto, like Carmen Jones played by Dorothy Dandridge; these images and depictions of Black
women in film are flat and harmful. Yet, no image may be as popular or as harmful as that of the
mammy. While the archetype existed long before film, it was immortalized in the classic,
Hollywood epic Gone with the Wind, and remains a steadfast part of southern literary and film
culture. Modern-day takes on the role of mammy have also made lasting impacts, as seen with
the film The Help; which seemingly tries to shed light on the underlying racial tensions that go
along with the archetype. Yet, the film continues the tradition of viewing the mammy in a
nostalgic light while ignoring the attached southern mythologies and the racial hierarchy that is
synonymous with it. It is the ignored factors of the mammy archetype that create a life filled with
trauma, fear, and erasure for four of the women in The Help; Aibileen, Minnie, Yule Mae, and
Constantine. Aibileen and Minny risk their lives to tell their stories to another character, Skeeter,
a white, youngcollege graduate, in hopes that it will give them a voice. However, having Skeeter
be the vehicle for these women's stories is an act of erasure despite good intentions. A deeper
look at the mammy narrative can reveal the trauma that this stereotype has caused and the
harmful effects it has on the image and lives of Black women in The Help.

It is clear from the beginning of this film that the stories of Aibileen, Minnie, and
Constantine that Skeeter records will be used to prop up and aide Skeeter in her journey to