Confessing I had not read the book,I took my popcorn and Diet Coke in the theater hoping to enjoy the movie. Groups of "book club ladies" came in and sat all around the darkened room. I could feel their energy and excitement...I felt slightly like a redheaded stepchild. "The Help" has certainly generated the most interest of any summer movie.
Enough has been written about the movie and book that you can read elsewhere. I left the theater flooded with memories from my experiences as an Army child and Southern daughter. The days that followed gave me a chance to talk with my husband and mother about their memories of "the help" they had in their homes growing up in Georgia and Alabama.
My mother said that all military officers were not only encouraged but expected to have a maid. It helped the local economy in one sense and conveyed a "proper officer's home" in another. The only maid I remember growing up was an young woman who charmed us all when we lived on Okinawa. We all wanted her to return to the United States when my father's tour of duty was over. Our home was happier the days she came to work with my mother. She had a wonderful laugh and sense of humor.
Great conversation with adults is a jewel to me. Nothing has sparked more deep, rich sharing this summer than "The Help". The book and movie are rather simple but the thought it provokes on race, education, poverty and our American history will have you talking for a long time.
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