Build a movie plot around this: who does everything in her power to protect her reputation? Aibileen
In civil-rights era Jackson, Mississippi, 23-year-old Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan (Emma Stone), a recent graduate of the University of Mississippi and an aspiring writer, attends a bridge game at the home of her friend Elizabeth Leefolt (Ahna O'Reilly). Skeeter's girlhood friends have all gotten married and started families, but Skeeter is disturbed to see how they treat their African American maids.Elizabeth's maid, Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis), fields a call from "white trash" Celia Foote (Jessica Chastain), who wants to help with a benefit being organized by the Junior League. Elizabeth and fellow socialite Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard), head of the local Junior League chapter, laugh at Celia's efforts to be accepted, as they don't think she's up to their social standards. (We learn later that Celia's married to Hilly's former boyfriend, which might have something to do with Hilly's attitude.) Celia mentions to Aibileen that she's looking for a maid. After refusing to use Elizabeth's toilet because Aibileen uses it ("they carry different diseases than we do!"), Hilly describes the Home Health Sanitation Initiative she hopes to get passed in the state legislature. The bill would require white-owned homes to have a separate toilet for the Negro "help." This conversation is conducted within earshot of Aibileen.Skeeter has been assigned to write the Miss Myrna housekeeping column for the local newspaper. Because she has never had to do much housework herself, she asks Aibileen for assistance. In addition to doing all the cooking and cleaning for Elizabeth's family, Aibileen is the de facto mother of Elizabeth's toddler daughter, Mae Mobley (Eleanor Henry and Emma Henry), for whom Elizabeth shows heart-rendingly little concern. Every day Aibileen tells Mae Mobley, "You is kind. You is smart. You is important."When Skeeter gets home, her mother, Charlotte (Allison Janney), is trying on a dress. Charlotte gets Skeeter to try it on and bugs her about still being single. Skeeter mentions the job she landed, and...