Review: Raising Helen – A Movie that Could Never be Made Today (Spoilers)

As Hollywood continues to hate on its audience, movies from the ’90s and 2000s begin to have greater appeal than they once did. Everything from the plot to the cinematography just feels better than whatever we’re getting today.

One such movie that really shows how far Hollywood has fallen is Raising Helen, a movie from 2004 that follows a modeling agency executive who must leave her career behind to raise her late sister’s three children. The movie had terrible reviews from critics with a 25% Tomatometer score, but audiences enjoyed it, giving it a much higher score of 61%.

The main reason I say this movie couldn’t be made today is because the main character, Helen, is selfless instead of being a selfish girl boss. At the beginning of the movie, she has everything that modern feminists sell to women as being the epitome of having it all. She has a high-paying job, is climbing the corporate ladder, lives in Manhattan, can afford to go clubbing every night, and is loose. However, when her sister and brother-in-law die and leave the kids to her, she jumps into being a mom and trying to raise them, leaving her old life behind. By the end of the movie, while she learns that parenting is hard, she finds herself fulfilled by it.

Compare that to what would happen if this movie was made today. Helen would likely have been bitter about it and hated her newfound job as mother. The movie probably would have ended with her handing the children to her older sister while she went off to continue her job, something Helen tries in this movie before realizing that that’s the wrong way to go.

Additionally, the love interest in this movie is a Lutheran pastor who actually seems like a normal, chill dude. He’s not a psychotic, hyper-religious, weirdo as we’re often used to seeing in the media. He’s a positive influence on the characters and the relationship with Helen – while not the main focus of the movie – is cute.

Once again, this is not something that would have happened in a movie made today. In a movie made today, she probably would have fallen in love with some random dude with lax morals presented as being totally incompetent compared to her.

Overall, it’s a cute movie, that while it is an average rom-com to a degree, is made memorable by how it would never be made today.

Until next time,

M.J.