Alicia Keys makes a stunning first appearance in The Secret Life of Bees, and not only because she's uncommonly attractive.

The movie is set in 1964 in the Deep South. Before Keys' appearance, the only substantial black character is an uneducated housekeeper played by Jennifer Hudson. We've just watched her get beaten up by white racists.

Hudson's bruised character and a white runaway played by Dakota Fanning seek help and information at a big, Pepto Bismol-colored house. That's where Keys makes her appearance. She strikes a regal and formidable figure at the door.

It is a side of African-American life -- middle-class and independent -- that is not often shown in movies set during the civil rights era and earlier.

This is one reason Keys says she chose the role.

"I love the depth of it," she says while promoting the movie at the recent Toronto International Film Festival. "It (black life) is not just one way. Yes, it was very violent, but there also were people who started their own businesses and really helped to move forward the nation. I think you're able to feel that (in the movie) as well."