Hilly Holbrook

Hilly Holbrook is the main antagonist in The Help. She is portrayed by Bryce Dallas Howard.

Her poise, beauty and outward cheeriness makes her vindictive and greedy personality. She was once a close friend of protagonist Skeeter Phelan, but they begin to grow apart when Skeeter starts to realize how twisted Hilly truly is.

Though Hilly gives a show of friendliness, she is deeply racist, and leads her friends in support of segregation. Hilly is the beautiful, wealthy and pink lip-glossed Queen of Mean of Jackson, Mississippi, who rules the town with an iron fist. Hilly is a world-class bully, an all-around horrible, selfish person, a vicious racist, and a fantastic representation of the South's views during the Civil Rights Movement. Hilly's racist behaviors do not just extend to the help; once she figures out the Skeeter is looking for a change in the racial atmosphere in Mississippi, she immediately decides that if Skeeter is not with the rest of the "ladies," then she must be against them.

Hilly clearly sees herself as a morally upstanding righteous member of Jackson, Mississippi; an area widely regarded for its civil rights issues in the 1960’s. While the Skeeter is out there trying to change the world for the better, Hilly is keeping Jackson in the dark ages by introducing her “Home Health Sanitation Initiative”, a program that would forbid the ‘coloured help’ from using the pristine toilets of their white employers.

As the queen bee of Jackson and the town's biggest socialite, Hilly has it all: a wealthy husband, a beautiful son and an incredible two-story house, but that's just not enough. Hilly will not sit still until she has persuaded all of Jackson to submit to the idea of separate but equal living with the black and white people. Hilly does a good job in making sure people don't like Celia Foote and making sure Celia is shunned by the people of the town. Hilly could care less about how lonely Celia is and is in desperate need of a friend. All Hilly cares about is how people see her and how she can be in control of every situation.

In Jackson, Mississippi, Hilly is the law and everything, and everyone must fit into her precise mold of quality living. Those that don't, pay a terrible price. Hilly, otherwise known as Jackson's notorious “Mean Queen” is considered; the cruelest resident Jackson, Mississippi has ever seen. Hilly, who is only in her early twenties, will be Jackson's meanest and most racist resident, bullying the lives of African Americans for decades to come.

Personality and Traits
If you look at other characters in the story, racism is clearly becoming a taboo -- maybe not a thing of the past but it’s not as widely accepted. Skeeter is outright fighting against it by trying to publish her novel; New Yorker Elaine Stein seems genuinely interested in the perspective of the help (whether due to sales or care is unquestioned); even Elizabeth Leeloft seems subtly ashamed of Hilly’s treatment of Aibileen towards the end of the film, it’s just a shame she’s too scared to say something.

Hilly is told, “Daddy ruined you” by her mother, who would happily let Minnie use the inside guest toilet while a dangerous storm barrages the county; Hilly tells her to just get an umbrella as it’s only “a bit of rain”. Risking someone’s life rather than share a toilet with them all due to the color of their skin, yet later telling Skeeter, “There are some real racists in this town” explains Hilly’s idea of herself; that she is a paragon of righteousness and morality, as the racists are separate from her and her ideals. Hilly can’t see that she is on the wrong side of history, and this is more than likely a generational issue.

As well as this irrational hatred passed down from her father, it could also be the modern-societal issues that lead Hilly down this path of heartlessness; however this leads to be her downfall at the hands of the stories protagonists. While Hilly is obsessed with how her social circle would see her, she becomes the insurance to keep the maids safe due to her encounter with Minny and her pie.

In a way, you could feel sorry for Hilly; while she is clearly a morally unjust woman, she isn’t quite sure how to make it in a world that won’t abide by her rules. Sure her bridge club will bend the knee to her every whim and her husband is under the thumb; but when Skeeter challenges her and real changes are made in the world of abolishing racism, there is nothing Hilly can do to keep things the way she wants them. At the end of the story, while she does get Aibileen fired in a vengeful act, she gets nothing from it; Aibileen has the higher ground and the threat of derailing Hilly’s reputation if she is ever challenged. It all seems like the actions of a girl who was not paid the proper attention by her parents and grew up to be spiteful of those around her -- a story you hope will not be paralleled in young Mae Mobley.

Physical Appearance
Hilly has a round face and dark red hair in the bouffant. Her skin be olive color, with freckles. She wear a lot of red plaid and got a heavy bottom. She's one of those grown ladies that still dress like a little girl with big bows and matching hats and such.

Role in Film
When her mother begins showing signs of senility, Hilly invites her and her black maid, Minny Jackson to stay in her house, firing her own maid. Her real motive, it turns out, was to have Minny and her superior cooking for herself. One of Hilly's initiatives is to have every house build a separate bathroom for black maids, believing that African Americans carry different diseases and that every person who shares a bathroom with a colored person is doomed to become infected with the disease. Until she has one built, she orders Minny to relieve herself outside. When she orders Minny to do this during a violent thunderstorm, Minny sneaks upstairs to use the indoor bathroom. When she discovers this, Hilly fires her, and spreads rumors that she caught Minny stealing, making it almost impossible for her to find a new job.

Minny has her revenge on Hilly when she shows up offering her own waste baked into a chocolate pie. Hilly eats two slices of the pie before Minny reveals the truth to her. Her mother, hearing this, bursts out laughing. Unable to take the humiliation, Hilly commits her aging mother to a nursing home for laughing at her. Minny, meanwhile, ends up working for Celia Foote, a girl from a poor family who has married Johnny Foote, an old flame of Hilly's. Hilly and her friends refuse to allow Celia to join their circle, partly out of prejudice against her poor background, partly in anger over Celia's marrying Johnny.

Hilly's new maid, Yule Mae Davis asks her for a loan so she can send her sons to college, offering to work for nothing until it is paid off. Hilly refuses, and stalks Yule Mae, attempting to catch her. Yule Mae finds a lost ring behind Hilly's sofa, and pawns it to raise more money. Discovering this, Hilly orders Yule Mae arrested.

Meanwhile, Skeeter, with the help of Minny and Aibileen Clark, has been writing a book about black maid's experiences. When they worry Hilly will discover that the book is partly about her, Minny tells Skeeter to include the story of the chocolate pie. As Minny planned, Hilly insistently denies that the book is about her or anyone else in Jackson, for fear of being exposed as the victim of Minny's prank.

She shows her true colors when she confronts Skeeter about the book being called 'The Help.' She arrives on Skeeter's porch drunk and threatening to sue. She rats on Skeeter's mother about the book, but Charlotte Phelan has already guessed, and throws her off the property.

Hilly decides to take her revenge on Minny and Aibleen. She instructs her husband to get Minny's abusive husband fired. When the husband tries to beat Minny up for this, Minny takes her children and leaves him to work full time for Celia.

Hilly tries to take revenge on Abileen by telling her employer, Elizabeth, that Aibileen stole some of her silverware. When she threatens to have her arrested, Aibleen stands up to her and warns her that she has enough information to write a new book about her evil ways, calling her a godless woman. Hilly backed down, humiliated and defeated for good. Aibleen leaves feeling good about herself, for finally being free from people like Hilly.

Villainous Deeds

 * Created the “Home Health Sanitation Initiative” to force African Americans from using white people bathrooms.
 * Spread rumors about Minny telling everyone that she stole a Candelabra, so she couldn't get a job.
 * Got Yule Mae arrested.
 * Falsely accused Aibileen for stealing "silver" after discovering that she helped write The Help.
 * Forced Elizabeth to fire Aibileen.