Have you heard the news?  The Help will, indeed, become a movie!  DreamWorks Studios is filming some of it in Greenwood, Mississippi, recreating Jackson as it might have looked in the 60s.  This week, filming is taking place in the actual city of Jackson with scenes taking place at Brent’s Drug Store and at the Mayflower Cafe, a local dining favorite that dates back to the 30s.

My casting picks didn’t fly (well, dang…), but I can see the wisdom in the lead selections.  “Skeeter” will be played by Emma Stone, and “Aibileen” will be played by Viola Davis.  Bryce Dallas Howard of Twilight fame has been cast as “Hilly,” the snooty Junior League President.  Octavia Spencer will play “Minny,” the sassy maid who manages to hang onto employment through her irresistible cooking expertise.  Others cast in The Help include Allison Janney as Charlotte Phelan, Skeeter’s mother; and Chris Lowell as Stuart Whitworth, Skeeter’s love interest.

Will the movie be as good as the book?  Of course, not.  Never happens.  But here’s hoping the movie will do the book justice and will be both entertaining and thought provocative.

This story captured my heart from the very first paragraph. Set in Jackson, Mississippi, 1962, The Help gives insight into the world of black maids and their white employers during the turbulent civil rights era.  The book is told from three different points of view, maids Aibileen and Minnie, and a white journalism graduate from Ole Miss, Skeeter. Delving into the complex relationships between races, Stockett’s fictional account reveals the full range of emotions–pain, affection, fear, ignorance, love, humiliation–that underpinned Southern society in the sixties.

Someone, please make a movie out of this one. My dream team for The Help:  The daring and statuesque Aibeleen would be played by Queen Latifah.  The character of Minnie requires a feisty dynamo with a comic edge–Raven-Symone.   Gwyneth Paltrow would make a great Skeeter (hair would have to be frizzed).  Elizabeth Leefolt?  Reese Witherspoon.  I can see Becki Newton of Ugly Betty fame playing the wicked Junior League president, Hilly, but she would need to eat a few slices of caramel cake every day for several months to fill the role properly.  One of my favorite characters was Celia Foote, the blonde bombshell from Sugar Ditch; Scarlett Johansson could pull her off.

Strong feelings abound for this book. Some folks love it; some folks hate it.  The portrayal of dialect is offensive to some and the portrayal of Southern whites is offensive to others.  Certainly, these few characters do not represent the totality of Mississippi attitudes and personalities in the 60′s, but when I read some of the emotionally-charged negative comments, I’m reminded of Rodney Dangerfield’s famous line:  “I resemble that remark!”

So relax. It’s just a novel.  Curl up with this one and recognize the miles we’ve traveled to become a better state and better people.