An Oscar for Viola Davis?

The strange paradox of black maids raising the children of wealthy white Southerners in the Jim Crow era is at the heart of The Help, out Dec. 6 on Blu-ray and other formats. Novelist Kathryn Stockett\'s story of African American women in Mississippi in the early 1960s was trimmed to fit the expectations of Hollywood inspirational movies, but doesn\'t exclude the harsh reality of its setting. The movie\'s star is supposed to be Emma Stone as free-spirited Skeeter, the Harper Lee of her small town, but the center of gravity is Viola Davis\' performance as the maid Abilene. A loving surrogate mother for white children and put upon servant to their parents, Davis brings inherent dignity to a character enduring many indignities. There is joy in her eyes as well as wariness and fear. Davis deserves an Oscar nomination.