Palmabella's Passions

Everyone in my book club enjoyed reading the book, so we were anxious to see the movie, and we were NOT disappointed. I loved it so much, I saw the movie again a couple days later with Brad. I thought the casting was brilliant!

The movie is set in the early 1960s in Mississippi, and begins with the story of a young woman, Skeeter, who wants to be a writer. She and all her Junior League friends were raised by black maids, and now her married friends have husbands and their own children are being raised by "the help", but not allowed to use the bathrooms in their homes. Skeeter decides to interview and write the stories of some of the women who are being treated poorly by their employers, her "friends". She begins by secretly meeting with Aibileen, and then Minny to hear what it is like for them to spend more time with their sometimes cruel employers than with their own children. She hears shocking tales of the prejudice and disrespect these women have endured, and hopes to expose the ugly truths in her book of stories.

In my opinion, though Viola Davis does an amazing job as Abileen, Octavia Spencer steals the show as Minny. Also brilliant is Jessica Chastain who plays the character of Celia, an exuberant blond bombshell who is ostracized by her peers. Hilly (Bryce Dallas Howard) is the character we love to hate. My FAVORITE in the cast are the beautiful blond twins, Eleanor and Emma Henry, who played toddler, Mae Mobley. Their performances brought me to tears more than once!

The Help is about hate, love, civil rights, abuse, friendships, women, and how far we've come, and not come, on treating others with respect. GO SEE IT!

Today we're going to see the movie of another book we read: Sarah's Key.