Yes, really.
We’ve written about The Help extensively on this site, and now the drama set in the 1960s segregated South will be presented in a special advanced screening at the 102nd NAACP National Convention next week, on July 27, at the Regal Cinemas L.A. LIVE Stadium 14 in Downtown Los Angeles.
The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with stars Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer and Bryce Dallas Howard, screenwriter/director Tate Taylor and author Kathryn Stockett, on whose debut novel the film is based.
The evening will also feature a special guest – pioneering civil rights leader and former NAACP Chairman Myrlie Evers-Williams, who will join in the panel discussion to give her first-hand perspective on the tumultuous times against which the film is set.
NAACP officials have rallied around the film, calling it “captivating, provocative, and emotionally moving.”
“Its message aligns perfectly with the values and mission of the NAACP and we applaud writer Kathryn Stockett and the filmmakers, cast and DreamWorks Studios for bringing this story to the screen,” said Vic Bulluck, who will moderate the discussion.
Given the backlash the yet-to-be-released film has faced from the black community since the initial announcement of its production last year, this move by the distributors of the film certainly seems to be a calculated one. But will it pay off?