Happy Halloween!
I’m not dressing up this year, but I do have on black and orange. 🙂
I just wanted to share one of all-time favorite Stevie Wonder songs. My dad used to pop this on the record player and sing it with me. I wonder if it was a ploy to make sure I wasn’t a liar, lol. That and getting dropkicked by my mom when I actually did tell a lie or two as a child because I was scared to tell her the truth (and her beatdown speeches consisted of “You wouldn’t have gotten this whipping if you had told me the truth–this one is for lying to me”) prevented me from picking up that nasty habit. Thank goodness for that! Because lying is so unnecessary to me. But that’s a whole other post for a different day.
I actually wanted to talk a little about how supportive my parents are. I’m definitely who I am because of the way they raised me. Much appreciated since I love who I am! 🙂
So anyway, if you haven’t already figured out what the song is, here it goes!!
Unexpected Blessings
Yesterday, I had an appointment for an herbal body wrap at Hadiya Wellness. I’ve never been there, and although I was excited about trying the wrap for the first time, I woke up not feeling my best. I didn’t feel well physically or emotionally. But I’m a fighter, so I pushed on and made my way to East Atlanta with a large sprite in hand to try to settle my stomach.
You know how sometimes all it takes is for a friend to say “Are you ok?” for you to completely lose your cool? Well, I hadn’t talked to a friend that morning, so I felt like I had myself pretty together. I could fake the funk in the few minutes of chatting you do with a service provider before they get to doing whatever it is they’re about to do, right? Wrong. I signed in and stepped into my designated room. A lady, who turned out to be Asha, the director of Hadiya, greeted me then said “Are you ok?” and I said “Oh I’m ok besides that I don’t feel all that well.” So she asked what was going on and I told her, and she said well, we can do the appointment if you want, but you don’t have to–we can reschedule to when you feel better. Then she led me over to the seating area in the room and sat with me and said “what else is going on? you can talk to me. you seem like you’re overwhelmed and just need to let it out. go ahead.” And I immediately started crying. It’s amazing how God will put you exactly where you need to be. I didn’t know this woman from Eve, and she sat with me for however long when she didn’t have to, allowing me to express myself and find some relief. When I couldn’t talk because of my tears, she basically told me how I felt and all I had to do was nod. It was kinda crazy, but it felt good to hear that someone understood how I felt. She gave me some words of affirmation and assured me that I’d be ok. Then she pulled out the lavender oil, brought in a foot massager, dimmed the lights, and let me sit in the room alone and just meditate and think about how good God has been and will continue to be.
That just reinforced for me that God uses whoever allows Him to bless people. Asha could have said either you get this service or you pay me a cancellation fee. Or she could have just done the service not knowing if it’d make me sicker. She could have ignored whatever little voice was telling her that I wasn’t just sick physically and let me walk out the door still feeling like crap. I really appreciate her, and I hope that I don’t ignore the subtle nudges we sometimes get to do more than nod and smile at some stranger as they walk by or to ask deeper questions of people we’re talking to because they need a sounding board. I’m not one that regularly accepts help from others, but I’m glad that there’s a higher power that knows me better than I know myself. And I look forward to patronizing Hadiya in the future, when I’m in better health. 🙂
Be blessed, lovelies!
Lessons Learned by Farmer Jo, Part 2
Back to those doggone squash and cucumbers. Much of what I learned about trying to grow them applies to my life in general. It all started when I went to Chicago in June to celebrate the 30th birthdays of three compadres. I purchased an automatic sprinkler so that my plants wouldn’t be thirsty for a full weekend. Well… I called myself testing it the night before and setting the timer for every 6 hours. Didn’t work out like I thought it would.
My cucumbers were overwatered, while my squash was underwatered. Isn’t that what happens sometimes in our relationships? You put in way more effort than is necessary for some people and neglect others. Yeah… So after that it was making up time. I had to figure out what could be salvaged. Which isn’t always that easy. Last night, I realized that I really need to sit down and do what I do on a somewhat regular basis–a friendship evaluation. But later on that–let me finish talking about my poor plants. 🙂
So my squash was growing, but they were almost orange, instead the great yellow my first crop was. In addition, the actual vines/roots were turning a dark green and looking pretty ashy and almost dead (and some were dead) and starting to look mangled. I probably  should have abandoned ship then, but Determined Dejoi couldn’t just admit defeat. I started back to my original regime after cutting off all the dead parts. It was looking pretty sparse after I cut all the dead weight off. After that only one more squash grew.
Lesson: When there’s more death than life or more negativity than positivity, it’s time to let go. Some things aren’t worth saving.
On the other hand, my cucumbers were growing, but they were discolored in a different way and disfigured. (Have you noticed here that colors tell the story if you only pay attention?) These babies were yellowish (not green) and round, instead of long. So I added soil to the pot to try to soak up some of that excess water, and I moved the pot so that the plants would get more sun. But more than that, when I looked at the vines, there were some serious issues. There were black vines all over the place. So I cut all of those off, but the cucumbers never grew normally, and I was scared to eat the warped cucumbers (although they smelled like cucumbers and Smokie enjoyed the one that fell off the vine, lol).
Lesson: You can flood anything or anyone or any situation, which warps the fruit of whatever seed you planted. If you’re putting more into something or someone than you’re getting back, Â you need to evaluate the situation.Â
My first summer of gardening was great. I had some wins and some losses, but I learned from it all. My carrots and broccoli are still looking great so far. I’m even considering growing onions later in the winter. Here are some questions that I’m asking myself during my friendship evaluation:
- Whose lives are you enhancing and who is enhancing yours?
- In whom are you investing and who is investing in you?
- Who do you prioritize and who prioritizes you?
- Whose opinions do you value? Whose do you dismiss?
- Who actively listens to you? Who do you think you waste your breath on?
- Who keeps indirect tabs on you but doesn’t directly deal with you? Do they use that information to help or hurt you?
- Who do you feel comfortable confiding in?
In all of this, it’s important to honor your instincts. Some friendships are for a season, some for a reason, and some for a lifetime. No, I don’t talk to all my friends every day–I have people I truly consider friends who I have confidence in even though they’re not on my normal rotation. So you have to consider all that. And you need to ask yourself if you spend more time and energy on the people who don’t add to you than who do. If so, you have some adjusting to do. I know I do.
Almost 30! Many lessons down, many more to go!
Black Power Mixtape is a Must See
On Saturday, a group of us went to see Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975, and I’m telling you, if you’re in Atlanta, you need to make your way over to Midtown Art Cinema during its limited run. I may go see it again. This is a film I’d love to have in my DVD collection.
This film is the culmination of footage shot by Swedish journalists who came to the U.S. to get a first hand look at the civil unrest that was going on during that time. It was amazing to see that there was an article in a Swedish newspaper that questions the U.S.’s stances on several issues, particularly racism and war. In response, the editor of TV Guide wrote an article calling Sweden anti-American. This was of the highlights of the film for me (of MANY) because it just shows how the media was then and still is connected in various ways and can sway the reader if the reader doesn’t care to try to get a full perspective. This same guy who wrote this article for TV Guide was President Nixon’s right-hand man. There was another journalist, an American, who was interviewed who said that television is just a way of distracting people and it’s a useful tool. Isn’t it amazing that the some of the same things we say today were being said in the 60s and 70s?
That’s one reason I really enjoyed Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975. Seriously, so many of the same issues that are going on now were issues then too. They were talking about the working class and the need for living wages, about equal opportunities, about the need for health care for all, about the need for quality education, about resources being wasted in war, the conditions of prisons, and the list goes on. The difference is that over that 30 year period since, somehow the powers that be have made some of this stuff seem like an afterthought–or like Erykah Badu said while narrating, that we should just be happy to have what we have and not focused on what injustices exist–or like Malcolm X said in the film, like people who respond to mistreatment are the extremists. The film also reinforced in this brain o’ mine how important community and organizing is. One of the things that has always made me sad about the portrayal of the Black Panthers is that so many people don’t know about the programs they created to help the poor communities they represented. They were the ones that started the free breakfast program for kids. They had community schools for students whose parents were fed up with subpar conditions. They had free clinics for people who couldn’t afford basic medical care. But they rarely ever get credit for that because people focus on the gun toting, on the most wanted lists parts. And most of the time you hear rumors that they were anti-anyone who wasn’t black, yet in almost every interview, they said they were for the disenfranchised, no matter what color they were, and were willing to work with anyone who had similar goals–but it’s so easy to put people in a box in order to downplay who they are and the influence they might have. YOUNG people got this done. And had such an impact that America’s favorite gangster J. Edgar Hoover ruled the free breakfast program a top threat to the country and launched COINTELPRO, which we know derailed the organization. Now, let’s think about this. How can a free breakfast program be a threat, let alone a TOP threat?? Because they were feeding and educating these poor kids. Starve a kid of food and knowledge, and you don’t have to worry about them ever questioning their position in life. During our discussion after the film, someone raised a really good question–what ever happened to those kids?? I’d love to know.
Other parts of the film that really stayed with me were seeing people I’ve heard about in different settings than usual. Stokely Carmichael speaking out of the country. Even more moving, Stokely Carmichael with his mom or just chilling. Eldridge Cleaver in Algiers–I’ve so often heard about Panther leaders being exiled or moving overseas, but I’ve never really known what it was like for them or what they did after they moved, so hearing him interviewed while exiled was like whoa! Also, y’all know I love me some Angela Davis, just because she is so unafraid to say what’s on her mind and because even when she was on the America’s Most Wanted list, she stuck to her guns. She was interviewed in jail, and she connected her childhood in Birmingham, which included knowing the four little girls who were killed in the famous church bombing, and her interviewer asking about violence. If I were to cry during the movie, this would have been one of the moments–she told him how crazy it was to ask her about violence when she grew up in violence that was almost unquestioned.
It made me really sad to see the last couple of chapters focused on the War with Drugs that later turned into the War on Drugs. It’s so crazy how our neighborhoods were flooded with heroine and later crack. And it’s amazing to know that there are people overseas who have seen what this nation has put black people through. It’s amazing to me to see all this footage and know that we’ve come a long way, but there’s no way anyone in this country should ever think that we’ve overcome our past. Black people collectively are where we are–little to no wealth esp when compared to our counterparts, still disenfranchised, still suffering–by design. But we have people like Herman Cain who really believe that if you are not wealthy it’s completely your own fault, and there’s no institutional component on the other side of the personal responsibility coin. And at the same time, we’ve lost some of our gumption to act collectively for a solution to our own issues. It’s sad, but I still wonder what we can do now together that can impact this world the way our predecessors did.
So, GO SEE THE FILM!! It’s playing here in Atlanta, as I mentioned before, and it’s also playing in Boston, Philly, San Fran, Seattle, and DC. And it will be in Detroit, Minneapolis, San Diego, and St. Louis soon. Please go see it and tell me what you think!
Lessons Learned by Farmer Jo
So I was (am) Farmer Jo this summer, and I loved it. Back in May, I was inspired by my green thumb friends and family and planted my own deck garden. Recap: I bought railing planters, soil, seedlings, a few seeds, and went for it despite my failure at keeping a couple of houseplants alive. Here’s how I did.
First of all, the summer made me scared of seeds. I planted seeds in two pots: a lily and a sunflower. The lily never sprouted from the soil at all. Not sure what happened there. The sunflower came up and it was beautiful until I found out that sunflowers like sun but not too much. It was purty while it lasted but I allowed it to bake to death. So if I ever plant more sunflowers, I’ll put it in a place that gets a little shade during the day.
But you know, I don’t back down to any challenge. Seeds can’t punk me! Besides, it is something about checking every day and one day stepping outside to see a new wisp of green peaking out of the dirt. A sense of accomplishment peaks out of the soil with it. For the fall, I’ve planted broccoli and carrots and both have started sprouting. #winning! They look great, and I can’t wait to see how well they do.
All of my veggies this summer started as seedlings. I just didn’t want to take any chances with them. My peppers are banging. Nothing I’ve done have deterred their beautiful growth. Which makes me grin, especially since my fajita bell peppers looked to be on their last leg the day I planted her. They looked awesome the entire season and gave me plenty of peppers to cook. You can taste the heat in the cajun bell peppers. And you can smell the yumminess of the fajita bell peppers. As the cold weather enters, it has made me frown a bit to see them die, but that’s a part of the cycle of life. I’m very proud of my peppers. I’ll definitely make this my staple every year.
My okra was comme ci comme ca. Partially due to space, I only got one okra plant, so there was never any harvest that was big enough for me to fry up more than a couple of slices of okra. It was usually two at a time. It has gotten so tall though. It’s unbelievable. I’m not sure if I’ll plant another of these next year. I just don’t have the space to grow them in bulk that I can see. But my one lil solo plant has hung in there.
The serious lessons were with my squash and cucumbers, my pseudo disappointments. But that’s for my next post. 🙂
Can’t Get Enough of Swapnista
Last Saturday I went to the Fall Swapnista Day Party. I was prepared this time, though. In the spring, I had no idea what to expect, so I lost my mind when I got there. This time I was ready. Decked in holey jeans, a gray light sweater with a sheer stripe across the back, leopard print loafers, and fire red lips (for which I gave tips), I was ready to get my shop on. (Sorry no pics of me, I forgot!!)
I love when events evolve. Just from the first to the second, it grew. More vendors, more people, more fashion. 🙂 This go round, the fashion show featured fashion bloggers (maybe I should start writing about my fashion finds and opinions so I can participate next time), and there were some #wins and a couple of #fails. Of the wins, my fave items (not on one person but throughout the show so don’t be alarmed, lol) were a denim striped blazer with very defined shoulders, a polka dot sheer shirt, a very cute orange printed long sleeveless wrap dress, and some fabulous red platform pumps.
I know you’re waiting on the deets on what I bought, right? 🙂 I didn’t spend as much as I did last time, but I supported an already favorite vendor and found two new vendors.
My first purchase was this great set from Wendy Derilus of Traci Lynn Fashion Jewelry. Metallic combo at its best. I can’t wait to get jiggy in this.
Then I got a lovely little accordion style dress that I plan to layer for the fall and let loose in the summer. Wasn’t very photogenic, but I got this great wooden bracelet with gold accents from the same vendor. I’ll have to log on later tonight to give you the link to this vendor. Sorry!!
Finally, nearing the end of my budget for the day (I did a wee bit of shopping before I got to Swapnista, oops), I had to show some love to Nappy Rutz and picked up these great earrings.
This time I brought a friend with me, and I’m sure she enjoyed it as well. She bought more jewelry than I did!
I totally planned on participating in the swap this time, but I left the house to go to a community service project that morning and never went back to collect my giveaways. Which is kinda sad since I’m doing some fall cleaning as we speak so it would have been nice to share. Next time, I will have to just ride around with my goodies for the week before to make sure I have them to swap out. I love the concept, and I know there have been times my friends have said let me know when you’re cleaning out your closet–just goes to show that we all have a little consignment shop in our closets. 🙂
Kudos to another great event! Can’t wait till the next!
Bucket List
I was looking at the WordPress Daily Post in efforts to be a better bloggers for you all (lol–I have plenty to write about, I just can’t manage to be disciplined to get online, log in, and let my fingers go to work). Anywho, today topic was:
Topic #242:
Write your bucket list – a list of things you want to do before you kick the bucket.
I immediately thought of this website I visited 3 years ago where I created a list of goals and yes, forgot all about. On 43 Things, I listed 43 things I wanted to get done–a bucket list of my own, and although I hadn’t logged on in years, I was encouraged to see that I have accomplished 3 of those things and making progress on seven others. Not surprisingly, most of my “things” are either travel-related or centered around being a more well-rounded, balanced person. So here’s what I’ve completed. Yay for trackable progress!
1. Go on a missions trip: I actually organized my own. Last year, a group of us went to New Orleans and had an interesting time volunteering with ongoing rebuilding efforts. We definitely plan to keep up the momentum. I’m currently working on a trip that will hopefully happen in October so that this can be an annual thing.
2. Keep in touch better with old friends: This one may seem kinda boring, but I really cherish those relationships I’ve had over the years. Especially when I was kid. I was a pretty not-your-run-of-the-mill kid so it wasn’t all that easy for me to let my guards down and really get close to people. I haven’t gotten in a rhythm with all the special people in my past, but I’ve made amends with some pretty important folks and reestablished our friendships, and I’m proud of myself for that. More than that, though, I’m happy to be back in contact with them. Now I just need to extend the effort to a few more VIPs.
3. Join Junior League of Atlanta: I forgot that was even a goal back then. I joined in 2009 and stayed active, working hard on fulfilling my requirements, for two years. I didn’t renew this year because I just wasn’t feeling it. I definitely respect and support all the great things JLA does for the Atlanta community, but I didn’t feel connected to the organization at all. I do plan to redirect that energy to the organizations in which I have leadership roles already. I definitely had enough on my plate as it was so I don’t feel THAT bad (just a little) about abandoning that one. But I got it done, lol.
So what else am I working on?
- Becoming less shy – yes believe it or not, I’m an introvert. I really don’t like public speaking and I don’t like talking to strangers. But I have been putting myself in positions where I have to be a little more upbeat and friendly than is natural for me. 🙂
- Blogging more often – I giggled when I saw this one. Evidently, I’ve been struggling with this one ever since I left my place over on blogger. I used to have fun over there. I guess it was way easier for me to make you guys laugh talking about my dating exploits than it is for me to be a little more grown up. 🙂 Maybe I’ll start back telling funny stories though.
- Finding additional streams of income – Since then, I’ve started tutoring. I didn’t mark this off the list though because the key is that letter s at the end of streams. So I’m still masterminding my way of two other things that are also on my list: getting out of debt and becoming a millionaire.Â
- Learning how to crochet – My grandma started teaching me how to crochet probably not too long after I put that on my list. I have a  couple of stitches on my belt, but I have a loooooooooooooong way to go before I am even close to her level. But this was a two-fer. I got to spend some extra quality time with her and hear stories while she showed me something I really want to learn.
Of course there are 40 more things on the list. I won’t go through all of them, but just for a little fun, I have the following on my places to travel (and I said I wanted to live in Paris :-D): Australia, Egypt, Uganda, Greece, and a cross-country road trip. I actually considered both Egypt (then the riots happened) and the cross-country road trip (along with Amsterdam) for my flirty 30 trip, but I settled on Buenos Aires, Argentina. 🙂
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How about you? What’s on your bucket list? Are you going to 43Things to start your own list?
Aaliyah
From Back and Forth to Rock the Boat, I. loved. me. some. Aaliyah.
From her “swoop” of hair that covered her eye (I wore many of the styles she wore in videos, lol) to her beautiful brown skin to her never overdone and very natural makeup to her “tomboy” yet sexy image to her smooth voice over funky beats with awesome dance moves, Aaliyah really was one in a million. I emulated her style from time to time, inserted “Nada” anytime her lyrics were “Liyah”, and even found a little confidence in the fact that I would never have big boobies because she didn’t need them.
When I heard she passed ten years ago yesterday, I actually acted like my bestie had passed. I cried my eyes out, the first time I had ever even cared about a celebrity that I had never met. I remember thinking while I was crying, what the hell? LOL, but I really was sad she was gone. I loved all 3 albums (can you believe there were only 3??), every video, and I was looking forward to seeing the upcoming movie. I mean, I was a senior in college when she was tragically killed in the airplane crash, and I has been a major fan since I was 8th grade!
So anyway, check out BET’s music special if you missed it last night. There are lots of goodies on the website as well.
And here are a couple of my faves (although I could post pretty much a song a day until I run out because I loved almost everything she put out. 🙂 )
P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DADDY!!!
Today is also my grandma Neva‘s birthday! Rest in peace!
The Help Movie Review
On Tuesday night, a group of 15 of us went to see The Help, a movie I’ve been waiting to see since I read the book over a year ago. I was a bit happy it’s been awhile since I read the book because sometimes I can get so caught up in what details *I* would have made sure was captured on screen that I can’t enjoyed the movie adaptation. However, I’m sure it helped that I was hoping some things got lost in translation.
(As an aside, I did wear a dress my grandma used to wear.)
I’ll try not to spoil anything for those of you planning to see it, but there will be a minor few.Â
The Good
Minny was great. Octavia Spencer did a beautiful job balancing her two-sided role. I think she stole the show for me. Minny had to be my favorite character in the movie, along with Celia Foote. Minny was spunky, really sweet to Aibileen, and did a good job showing when she was trying to be spunky through wanting to be mushy. I was glad that in the movie Celia wasn’t just straight overdone and completely trashy looking. And I’m happy she wasn’t as weird as she was in the book. Celia on screen was actually pretty fabulous in a Marilyn Monroe sorta way–just too much for society ladies in the 60s. That pink dress she has on at the banquet? Yeah, I need that. Jessica Rabbit in the house!
Viola Davis did a good job as well–my favorite scene with her reminded so much of any of the women in my family. She was telling a funny story and she just laughed and laughed, showing off a gold tooth in the back of her mouth. That scene was just so endearing to me, one–because Skeeter didn’t really get the joke but also, two–Aibileen had loosened up a bit and really showed her “at home” self. I also enjoyed Aibileen’s relationship with Mae Mobley, poor little thing. And Mae Mobley sitting on a toilet in Hilly’s yard was just as funny on screen as in the book.
Since the movie really focused on the women in the book, black men weren’t accosted on screen as villains. Of course Minny’s Leroy was a negative character, but it wasn’t reinforced with so many other trifling characters.
Dallas Bryce Howard did a great job of Hilly. She definitely was the rude, conniving, better-than-everyone else (i.e. horty torty) mean girl who bullied and led anyone who’d let her.
I’m sure I glowed when I saw the street sign that said Maple Street. My mom and my mentor grew up near Maple Street. In the movie, though, Maple Street was in the white part of town, so I had to call my mom after the movie to ask her if Maple Street ran through both sides. She said she thinks so. But noone who has any Lanier High Bulldog living in their home will ever be allowed to not know what 833 Maple Street is. *rolling eyes and remembering my mom standing in the center of the vestibule of MY high school (Clinton High) in her maroon Bulldogs t-shirt when she was checking me out to attend the 1997 State Championship basketball game of my school against hers*
I definitely also glowed when Yulemay (played by Aunjanue Ellis, who attended Tougaloo for awhile) said she was sending her twin boys to TOUGALOO. 🙂 I liked that in the movie version Yulemay found the ring–not went actively looking.
Skeeter was a better character on screen than in the book. Instead of seeming so naive and oblivious of what was going on despite the fact that she was a journalism major during this time of turmoil, from the beginning of the movie, she was aware and bothered with the treatment of maids before she realized it was a way to get a NY publisher’s attention.
Skeeter’s mom was played by Allison Janney, and she did a great job of making that character relevant. I really enjoyed her character, even as she reminded me of my family members who ask when I’m getting married, lol. Also, she didn’t make being so old seem SO old. I liked that the movie placed her between a rock (being gracious to her maid) and  a hard place (peer pressure from her social circle) as Constantine was concerned–added a little complexity to that character for me.
Hilly’s mom, played by Sissy Spacek, was hilarious. I loved her. Still don’t understand why she was so old–but if she had to be, Sissy Spacek made it worth the while. My fave scene was as she was leaving the Christmas gala and had a few words with her ugly acting daughter.
I think they did a good job of showing how asinine wanting to make someone who takes care of not only your house but your kids use an outside restroom was. Particularly when Aibileen came out of her “special” restroom without being able to wash her hands to take Mae Mobley out of her mom’s hands. You think it’s nasty to sit on a toilet seat after a black person but not nasty for anyone who hasn’t washed her hands to handle your child? Ohhhh kaaaaay…
Medgar Evers wasn’t bludgeoned in the movie!! He was shot as he was in real life. Thanks, producers, for getting that detail right. Also, the scene where Aibileen had to run and get home–I thought it was pretty ok. But really only because she tripped. That’s the moment that I really felt like there was an urgency to get home to safety. (It also wasn’t really clear to me what she was running from in the movie.)
This isn’t good or bad.. Just an observation. I hope people noticed that the white women who were reading The Help at the end of the movie weren’t reading and getting aha moments about how they treated their maids–they were reading like it was a gossip column. No warm and fuzzy unrealistic kumbaya at the end of this story.
The Not So Good
They didn’t show Skeeter being ostracized the way that would have driven the tension in the time period home. While I don’t think the movie needed to be bogged down with darkness, I don’t think it was clear enough how dangerous Skeeter going to meet Aibileen was.
I would have liked them to spend a little more time on Aibileen’s prayer book. I mean, heck, I started writing in my own prayer book after reading that story. 🙂
Stuart wasn’t impressive. He didn’t have the “swagger” he had in my brain after reading the book. He didn’t have the connections or the social standing. He was just a run of the mill tall guy who thought Skeeter was funny. And I think if he had been a more complex character, their breakup would have been more interesting.
I would have liked more of a back story on why Skeeter and Constantine were so close. When they showed Skeeter’s height marks at Constantine’s house, I just wondered how many people in the theater were wondering why in the world this little girl would have spent so much time at a black woman’s house.
The Worst
From the pictures I’ve seen, the black side of Jackson did not look that bad in the 60s. I was a bit thrown off by how run down all the houses looked in the black neighborhood. They looked like some of those houses look now that they’ve been abandoned and in ill repair for years. I know by the time my mom and dad were between 10-15, they weren’t living in shanty houses. I could be wrong, but I thought that was a bit exaggerated.
Cicely Tyson. Period. She plays the same character in EVERY thing. Ugggggh.
WHY WAS CONSTANTINE SO OLD? She was old even when Skeeter was a child. GEEZ. I thought it was hilarious when Skeeter told her mom in an accusatory tone that Constantine died of heartbreak because I was thinking no she died because she was ANCIENT. (I also thought it was hilarious and typical that someone would think that a maid’s world revolved around them and worth dying over when they lost a job–not complaining though because I’m sure plenty of people had that misconception. It’s like when Skeeter realized she had never seen Aibileen in regular clothes.)
I have plenty more thoughts, but I think that’s enough for now. If you’ve seen the movie, what did you think? What were your fave parts? Was the movie better? Were there parts you wished were included in the movie? Parts you wished were left out?
Real Middle School Mom of Atlanta 