海角大神

As speculation heats up about聽who will take home the golden statuette for best film at this year鈥檚 Academy Awards,聽it turns out聽there is bipartisan support for 鈥�The Help鈥� as this year鈥檚 frontrunner.

In 海角大神/TIPP聽poll of聽preferences by party affiliation,聽the film about a group of African-American maids in the Deep South who聽turn the tables on their white employers during the聽civil rights era appeals across party lines.

This is in distinct contrast to last year鈥檚 results, says pollster Raghavan Mayur, president of TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence, who notes that聽鈥渋n 2011, Democrats voted for 鈥楾he King鈥檚 Speech鈥� and Republicans went for 鈥�True Grit.鈥欌赌�

鈥淭he film is a good Rorschach test because it鈥檚聽sufficiently complex to allow almost everyone something to identify with,鈥� says Robert Thompson, an expert on popular聽culture at Syracuse聽University in New York.

The subject matter聽鈥� race relations during a turning point in American history 鈥� is something that touches everyone, he notes. 鈥淏ut聽the things people pull out are going to be very different, so while there may be wide appeal, there will not be agreement necessarily about what that appeal actually is.鈥�

In Alabama, political science professor Natalie Davis,聽who teaches at Birmingham-Southern College,聽went to see 鈥淭he Help鈥� at a suburban movie theater.

鈥淚t was a mixed audience, racially,鈥澛爏he says, which is not typical. More normally, she notes, 鈥渢here are films that appeal to black audiences and there are others that appeal to white audiences, but they don鈥檛 usually cross over.鈥澛� She kept an eye on the audience responses and noted hoots of support from聽black and white moviegoers at very different moments.

After discussing the film with a range of friends as well as students聽鈥� both black and white 鈥� she says, 鈥渋n general for whites, the film was cathartic.鈥�

Many who lived through the era say they never spoke about race relations at the time. 鈥淭his movie gives them a chance to talk about it,鈥� she says, noting that many of these are Republicans.

At the other end of the聽spectrum, she says, many blacks have family members who can identify with characters from the film. 鈥淭hese are not social scientists,鈥� she says, 鈥渢hey are just average聽movie-goers.鈥�

But, she says with a laugh,聽they are almost all Democrats, 鈥渨hich provides聽 broad Democratic support.鈥�

This bipartisanship is no surprise, says聽Christopher Sharrett, film professor at Seton Hall聽University in New Jersey.

鈥淔or all its so-called liberalism, Hollywood is essentially conservative,鈥� he says.聽鈥淭he fundamental goal of a movie is to entertain audiences and keep them coming back,鈥� he says, noting that divisive or difficult movies fly in the face of that industry imperative.

鈥淚f you are depressed, you do not buy candy or popcorn,鈥� he says with a laugh. 鈥淭he Help鈥� is what he calls 鈥渁 feel-good movie,鈥� that delivers the most basic message a Hollywood film demands, 鈥渁nd that is the message that fundamentally, everything is going to work out somehow.鈥�

The聽reality behind the film subject matter is far more difficult, notes Professor Sharrett, 鈥渂ut the cartoonish聽depictions allow聽everyone to feel that progress has been made and the important work has been done.鈥�