Miss Machia-Hilly Holbrook of the Help
Miss “Machia-HILLY” Holbrook
In The Prince, Machiavelli states that every leader is forced to make a choice between leading with fear or with love. According to Machiavelli, in an ideal situation, one should be both loved and feared, however, this state is difficult (almost impossible) to attain. Therefore, when forced to choose, it is better and much safer to be feared than loved…because men are ungrateful and will betray you. Although easy to comprehend and pretty black and white, this idea is horribly flawed and as portrayed in the film, choosing to lead with fear and neglecting the idea of leading with love creates much opportunity for a particular leader to be tricked and overthrown. In the movie, “The Help,” it seems as though Hilly Holbrook not only read Machiavelli’s book, “The Prince,” but also lives by his ideals and philosophies day-to-day. Miss Hilly, as portrayed in the movie, is a mean, manipulative bigot who rules the upper crust of her 1960 's Southern hometown with a big smile and an iron fist, (gloved in lace of course). Hilly never settles to take ‘no’ for an answer, and insists that Jackson, Mississippi is fine the way it is and surely does not support anyone setting out to change it. Needless to say, Hilly is a villain throughout the movie. However, on the surface, Miss Hilly is definitely not the “mustache-twirling” villain type. As a matter of fact, she appears to be totally respectable and portrays the prim and proper perfection of a “southern belle” of the time. She is the president of the Jackson Junior League and active in all sorts of charities including collecting canned goods for “The Poor Starving Children of Africa” benefit. These ‘honorable’ qualities of Miss Hilly portray Machiavelli’s idea that ‘compassion, like generosity, is admired’ and are necessary for any leader to gain a pack of loyal and dedicated followers. But as with any Machiavellian leader, there’s a feared dark side to Miss Hilly fueled by constant
In The Prince, Machiavelli states that every leader is forced to make a choice between leading with fear or with love. According to Machiavelli, in an ideal situation, one should be both loved and feared, however, this state is difficult (almost impossible) to attain. Therefore, when forced to choose, it is better and much safer to be feared than loved…because men are ungrateful and will betray you. Although easy to comprehend and pretty black and white, this idea is horribly flawed and as portrayed in the film, choosing to lead with fear and neglecting the idea of leading with love creates much opportunity for a particular leader to be tricked and overthrown. In the movie, “The Help,” it seems as though Hilly Holbrook not only read Machiavelli’s book, “The Prince,” but also lives by his ideals and philosophies day-to-day. Miss Hilly, as portrayed in the movie, is a mean, manipulative bigot who rules the upper crust of her 1960 's Southern hometown with a big smile and an iron fist, (gloved in lace of course). Hilly never settles to take ‘no’ for an answer, and insists that Jackson, Mississippi is fine the way it is and surely does not support anyone setting out to change it. Needless to say, Hilly is a villain throughout the movie. However, on the surface, Miss Hilly is definitely not the “mustache-twirling” villain type. As a matter of fact, she appears to be totally respectable and portrays the prim and proper perfection of a “southern belle” of the time. She is the president of the Jackson Junior League and active in all sorts of charities including collecting canned goods for “The Poor Starving Children of Africa” benefit. These ‘honorable’ qualities of Miss Hilly portray Machiavelli’s idea that ‘compassion, like generosity, is admired’ and are necessary for any leader to gain a pack of loyal and dedicated followers. But as with any Machiavellian leader, there’s a feared dark side to Miss Hilly fueled by constant
References: Chambliss, William J. CRIMINOLOGY; Connecting Theory, Research & Practice. McGraw-Hill; New York, NY; 2012. Garner, Roberta. SOCIAL THEORY; Continuity + Confrontation, 2nd Edition. University of Toronto Press Inc.; Toronto, Ontario; 2009.