Blog Post #4

A Movie Adaptation of The Help

               For my book #2, I am reading The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. Adapting the book into a movie would have been difficult because of the time period set in the 60’s. Because everything has modernized so much since then, going back to that time period and choosing the right clothes, hairstyles, and landscapes would have been a hard challenge. Although this would be difficult, the setting set in the past is essential in an adaptation of the novel due to the events that take place. African-American maids and racial discrimination were more prominent occurrences back in the day. This is an appropriate time to set the book in because Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech was in August of 1963, when segregation was extremely common. Another scene that would be essential to include in the adaptation of the book would be when Minny was offered her job cleaning for Miss Celia. This would be important because it gives a new hope for Minny after being turned away so many times due to her bad reputation.  A third element/scene from the novel that should definitely be included in the movie is when Mae Mobley, the child Aibileen takes care of when she house keeps for Miss Leefolt, is potty trained and refuses to use the toilet unless it’s Aibileen’s toilet. This is significant because not only is it Aibileen’s, but it is a special toilet that Miss Leefolt had built that so that she wouldn’t have any black people going to the bathroom in her house. It is an important scene to keep from the book to the adaptation because it shows how much hatred there was towards the African-American race. When Mae Mobley uses the “black” toilet, her mom, Miss Leefolt, begins to scream at her because of how awful and disgusting she thinks it is. This scene stood out to me because it demonstrates the extreme segregation of the past.

                In the book, Minny is always at Miss Celia’s house, describing the work she has to do and what not. I don’t think that it would be necessary to include all of the times that she is at Miss Celia’s, but to only include the important ones like the first time ever and when Miss Celia’s husband comes home during the day unexpectedly. Also, after Miss Skeeter gets a job as a columnist, she goes to Aibileen often to get advice on what to write about. You could probably include some of the times that she goes for help, but times when she doesn’t get much help or when she is told to come back and ask for it at a later time, it wouldn’t be necessary to adapt into a movie. All and all, I think most of the scenes in the story would be beneficial to a movie adaptation, but there are definitely some scenes that could be altered or cut entirely to better play into the movie.