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.»