However bawdy the character, she plays Helene chiefly with an unapologetic self - involvement — the unblinking, under - educated victim of her own shattered childhood, who now knows no
choices other than poor, self - indulgent or some combination thereof — and in doing so shines a light on the cyclical distress of America's underclass, heartbreakingly chalking an evidentiary mark for the latter
grouping in the
age - old nature - nurture debate.»