Just Like Honey

BASED UPON the critically acclaimed novel by Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees, directed by Gina Price-Bythewood, follows a young girl’s search for freedom against a harsh and unforgiving South Carolina. Wracked by guilt for accidentally causing the death of the mother she never knew, Lily Owens, (Dakota Fanning), escapes her abusive father and runs to Tiburon with her black house keeper Rosaleen, seeking shelter with the Boatwright sisters at their honey farm.

The film is told from the perspective of Lily Owens, lending the narration a great immediacy. This is the voice of an abused and lonely adolescent, lacking any sense of love and company in her life. This is a film for and about women, and Lily’s mother’s abandonment and then death at the hands of her child, is heart-rending and appealing to a ‘maternal instinct’.

The main narrative overplays the greater issues of the day; namely, the black Civil Rights movement. The Civil Rights Act has just been signed and black Americans have been granted the freedoms that they had fought for. However, in the Southern and conservative society of South Carolina, the hate and prejudice towards black Americans is palpable. The three Boatwright sisters are held up as a shining example of black prosperity, and yet at the same time the film demonstrates that their isolation from society is what keeps them safe and gives them prosperity. In their contact with Lily and Rosaleen, their isolation ends and calamity follows, allowing the wider world and its cares to destroy their peace. The final victory of August and June Boatwright over T. Ray, Lily’s father and a symbol of white Southern prejudice, can be seen to parallel the final acceptance of Southern society of black rights and freedoms.

The real triumph of this film lies in its casting. Paul Bettany makes a truly horrifying and pitiable T. Ray; far from his usual quaint, English manner, to the point that he was near unrecognisable. Sophie Okonedo was touching and beautifully mournful as the depressed Miss May Boatwright, out-shining the larger and forthright performances of Queen Latifah as Miss August and Alicia Keys as Miss June. It is Dakota Fanning, however, who is the real surprise and glory of this film. Her portrayal is not only sympathetic, but also mature, reflecting the weariness of her character. It seems strange to see Fanning in the role of a young woman, and yet her transformation appears to set her as a member of a new generation of great actors coming into their maturity.

This beautifully directed piece would bring tears to your eyes and make you weep with compassion and sympathy for the wronged Lily and her eventual comfort and safety in the hands of the women she so dearly missed in her childhood. However, this may be a tale that only a female audience could find truly moving, as it is that idea of feminine maternity that is appealed to throughout.