( Voice Over): I was born 1911, Chickasaw County, Piedmont Plantation.
[Woman 1] And did you know, as a girl growing up, that one day you'd be a maid?
Yes, ma'am, I did.
[Woman 1] And you knew that because...
My mama was a maid. My grandmama was a house slave.
[Woman 1] House... slave.
Do you ever dream of being something else?
The Help
Synopsis:The Help is a 2011 American period drama film written and directed by Tate Taylor and adapted from Kathryn Stockett's 2009 novel of the same name. The film features an ensemble cast, including Jessica Chastain, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Allison Janney, Octavia Spencer and Emma Stone.
Genre: Drama
Year: 2011
WILLIAM FAULKNER wrote of Mammy Callie after her death:
"...she gave to my family a fidelity without stint or calculation or recompense and gave to my childhood an immeasurable devotion and love".
JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI 1963
INT. AIBILEEN'S HOUSE - KITCHEN - NIGHT
AIBILEEN, black, 53, sits at a table in a small, green kitchen. She wears a yellow dress with black piping and grips a tattered spiral notebook.
Although cracked, the window behind her is crystal clear.
Three framed portraits hang on the wall above her: John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and an UNKNOWN YOUNG BLACK MALE wearing thick glasses.
Aibileen swallows hard.
AIBILEEN: I was...born in 1911...on Piedmont Plantation in Cherokee County.
An UNSEEN WOMAN interviews Aibileen.
WOMAN (O.C.): Did you know as a girl, growing up, that one day you'd be a maid?
AIBILEEN: Yes, ma'am. I did.
WOMAN (O.C.): And you knew that because?
AIBILEEN: Momma was a maid. My grandmother was a house slave.
WOMAN (0.C.): Oh.
The woman repeats Aibileen's answer slowly as she writes.
WOMAN (O.C.) : A...House...Slave. Uh-huh. Okay.
Aibileen squeezes the notebook in her lap.
WOMAN (O.C.): Now, did you ever dream of being something else?
Aibileen gulps. She doesn't answer. The room is quiet.
WOMAN (O.C.): Well then, what's it feel like, to raise a white child when your own child's at home...being looked after by somebody else?
2. Aibileen's hand trembles as she sips from a glass of water.
She glances sadly up to the picture of the young black male.
AIBILEEN (Voice Over.): I done raised seventeen kids in my life. Lookin' after white babies, that's what I do.
INT. LEEFOLT HOME - MAE MOBLEY'S ROOM - MORNING
MAE MOBLEY LEEFOLT, 2 1/2 years old, lies in a crib, crying.
AIBILEEN enters. Her dark black skin contrasts angelically with a brilliant white work dress, white panty hose and shoes
AIBILEEN (Voice Over): I know how to get them babies asleep, stop cryin' and go in the toilet bowl before they mommas even get outta bed in the mornin.'
Aibileen lifts Mae Mobley out of her crib and pulls her into her expansive bosom.
AIBILEEN (Voice Over):Babies like fat. They like big fat legs too. That I know.
Aibileen sits with Mae Mobley in a rocking chair.
AIBILEEN (Voice Over): I work from eight to four, six days a week. Ninety-five cents an hour comes to a hundred seventy-two dollars every month. I do all the cooking, cleaning, washing, ironing and grocery shopping, but mostly, I take care a baby girl...And law, I worry she gone be fat. Ain't gonna be no beauty queen either.
Mae Mobley reaches up and touches Aibileen's face. Aibileen kisses her and whispers in her ear.
AIBILEEN: You is kind. You is smart. You is important.
Mae Mobley's mother, ELIZABETH LEEFOLT, 21 and lanky, enters wearing a green dress very much under construction. Pins and double-stick tape hold it all together.
Elizabeth has pointed features and a nest of teased, brittle hair.
ELIZABETH: Aibileen, bridge club's in an hour!
Did you finish the chicken salad?
3. ELIZABETH:Oh, and Hilly's deviled eggs. No paprika!
Elizabeth rotates around like the Tin Man.
ELIZABETH: Does this dress look homemade?
AIBILEEN: I reckon when you finish, it won't.
Elizabeth exits with her pinned hemline sloping at a good twenty degree angle. Aibileen shakes her head.
AIBILEEN (VoiceOver): Miss Leefolt still don't pick Baby Girl up but once a day. The birthin' blues had got holt a Miss Leefolt pretty hard. I done seen it happen plenty a times...once babies start havin' they own babies. And the young white ladies of Jackson...Oh, law, they was havin' some babies.
INT. JACKSON JOURNAL NEWSPAPAER - OFFICE - SAME DAY
A smoking RECEPTIONIST, 50, leads EUGENIA "SKEETER" PHELAN, 23, across a smoke-filled news office. Even the light bulbs have yellowed.
AIBILEEN (Voice.Over.): But, not Miss Skeeter...
Skeeter has very frizzy blond hair cut short above her shoulders. She carries a red satchel.
AIBILEEN (V.O.):No babies...No man...And not lookin'.
She wears flats, careful not to add more than a centimeter to her towering height. Dressed well, Skeeter tugs on her unfamiliar attire.
INT. MR. BLACKLY'S OFFICE - CONTINUOUS
The receptionist and Skeeter enter the office of MR. HAROLD BLACKLY, 68. He has greased, grey hair and the face of a mean man. Smoke pours into the room.
MR. BLACKLY: Shut the Goddamn door!
He snaps his fingers over a chair. Skeeter sits down.
MR. BLACKLY: They announced last week cigarettes'll kill you.
4. Mr. Blackly pours a pack of nuts into his mouth.
MR. BLACKLY: (CHEWING) Okay, let's see what you got.
Skeeter quickly hands Mr. Blackly a resumé. He skims it over, marking it violently with a red pen.
MR. BLACKLY : "Murrah High Editor, Ole Miss Rebel Rouser Editor, double major, Junior League editor...Damn girl, didn't you have any fun?
SKEETER: Is that...important?
Mr. Blackly sighs, hands the resumé back to Skeeter.
MR. BLACKLY:You got any references?
Skeeter nods slowly. She takes a deep breath and pulls a letter out of her satchel. She hands it to Mr. Blackly.
Mr. Blackly snatches the letter and reads it quickly, mouthing the words as he does. He drops the letter on his desk, and looks to Skeeter, flabbergasted.
MR. BLACKLY : That...is a rejection letter.
Skeeter's face flushes hot and quick.
SKEETER: Not exactly. Missus Stein-
MR. BLACKLY: STEIN?! Missus who?
Skeeter points toward the letterhead.
SKEETER: Elaine Stein, Senior Editor at
Harper and Row Publishing. In New York. I'm going to be a serious writer, Mr. Blackly. So, when I applied to Harper and Row, Missus STEIN WROTE-
MR. BLACKLY : She told you "no."
SKEETER: Until I gain some experience, Mr. Blackly! See, it says it right there at the end. "Great potential...Gain some experience and please apply again."
Mr. Blackly pours the rest of the peanuts in his mouth.
5.
MR. BLACKLY : Oh, Christ...I guess you'll do. Can you clean?
SKEETER: Clean?
Mr. Blackly sees cigarette smoke bleeding under his door.
MR. BLACKLY : Clean!
Mr. Blackly pulls up a box filled with letters and newspapers. He slams it down in front of Skeeter.
MR. BLACKLY: Miss Myrna's gone sh*t-house crazy on us, drunk hair spray or something. Read her past columns and all these letters. Answer them just like she did, nobody'll know the damn difference.
Skeeter forces a smile.
MR. BLACKLY : You know who Miss Myrna is?
SKEETER (COVERING): I read her articles all the time.
MR. BLACKLY: Articles? Ha! It's a cleaning advice column, Miss Phelan. Eight bucks a week. Copy due Thursday.
Mr. Blackly picks up the phone and starts yelling at someone.
Skeeter excitedly grabs the box of letters and leaves.
INT. HOLBROOK HOUSE - BATHROOM - SAME DAY
HILLY HOLBROOK, 22, white and hefty, sits on a closed toilet seat in a well-appointed bathroom. She's covered in red plaid and bows and has a round face topped by a perfect beehive.
HILLY: (SCREAMING UPWARD) Momma! We're late for bridge!
Hilly carefully rolls toilet paper out from its holder. She raises a pencil and places the tiniest dot imaginable on the first and second sheets of paper.
AIBILEEN (Voice Over): Miss Hilly was the first of the babies to have a baby. And it must a come out of her like the eleventh commandment. `Cause once Miss Hilly had a baby, every girl at the bridge table wanted one too.
6. She carefully rolls the paper back up in the roll.
HILLY: Minny! Go get Momma!
INT. HOLBROOK HOUSE - ENTRY FOYER STAIRWELL - SAME TIME
MINNY JACKSON, 33, black, plump and in uniform, rolls her eyes beneath a crystal chandelier. She shouts up the mahogany stairwell.
MINNY: Missus Walters?! You need help coming down?
MISSUS WALTERS, 60, passes quietly behind Minny.
MISSUS WALTERS: I'm down!
Minny jumps with a yelp, spins around.
MISSUS WALTERS : Been down.
MINNY: Gone give me a heart attack!
Missus Walters ambles toward the closet door. Minny quickly tries to turn her toward the front door. Missus Walters resists.
MISSUS WALTERS: Minny, I'm getting my coat.
Missus Walters opens the closet.
MINNY: It's ninety degrees out there, Missus Walters.
Missus Walters pulls out a red, wool coat with cheetah print collar.
The early stages of Alzheimer's have appeared, but Missus Walters is still quite proud at eighty percent capacity.
AIBILEEN ( voice over , V.O.): Once Missus Walters' arteries went hard, Miss Hilly moved her and Minny in with her. Fired the maid she had just to make room. See, Minny about the best cook in Mississippi, and Miss Hilly wanted her.
Hilly's approach is marked by the whishing sound of her plaid, fat thighs.
7. She nonchalantly grabs the coat from her mother and carrie it out the door.
Minny and Missus Walters follow. Minny carries a chocolate pie. Hilly barks over her shoulder.
HILLY: Minny, William took Billy out for ice cream. So, hurry back and get Billy down for his nap. No dilly dallying.
MINNY: Yes, ma'am.
Minny raises the pie behind Hilly's beehive, dreaming of smashing it into her head.
AIBILEEN (Voice Over): Minny my best friend. A old lady like me lucky to have her.
INT. LEEFOLT HOME - BATHROOM- SAME DAY
Aibileen kneels next to Mae Mobley who sits on a small children's training toilet.
MAE MOBLEY: No!
AIBILEEN (Voice Over): It's a tricky thing...you try to make a baby go in the toilet bowl before it's time. If they can't get the hang of it, they get to thinking low a theyselves.
Mae Mobley sticks her lip out.
AIBILEEN: You drunk up two glasses a grape juice, I know you got to tee-tee.
MAE MOBLEY: Nooo.
Mae Mobley shakes her head.
AIBILEEN: I give you a cookie if you go.
Tee-tee immediately sprinkles into the bowl.
AIBILEEN: Mae Mobley! You going!
Aibileen and Mae Mobley laugh excitedly as Elizabeth storms into the bathroom in her finished dress. The hemline now slants in the other direction.
8.
ELIZABETH: Aibileen, the girls are pulling up, and the table isn't set!
MAE MOBLEY: Mae Mobley go, Momma!
ELIZABETH: Get in your room! Right now!
Mae Mobley rises behind Aibileen's leg.
MAE MOBLEY: I sorry.
Elizabeth reaches down and scoops up Mae Mobley like a sack of potatoes.
Mae Mobley looks to Aibileen over her mother's shoulder, her eyes have welled up.
Aibileen mouths "I love you" and blows her a kiss.
INT. LEEFOLT HOME - DINING ROOM - MOMENTS LATER
The Leefolt's small, wood paneled, two bedroom "ranch" is destined to become income property one day.
FIVE YOUNG WOMEN, early 20s, and Elizabeth hover around two collapsible card tables arranged in the living room.
Aibileen methodically arranges grapes on a platter of chicken salad resting on Elizabeth's dining table. The table has a small L-SHAPED CRACK in the middle.
AIBILEEN (Voice Over): I lost my own boy, Treelore, right before I started waitin' on the Leefolts...
Elizabeth glances anxiously to the dining table then catches eyes with Aibileen, nodding ever so slightly.
CLOSE ON:
Aibileen carefully slides the platter over the L-SHAPED CRACK making sure it's hidden.
AIBILEEN (Voice Over): After Treelore died, a bitter seed was planted inside a me. And I just didn't feel so accepting anymore.
Hilly enters the front door holding Missus Walters coat.
HILLY: Hey, girls!
9.
YOUNG WOMEN:(IN UNISON) Hey, Hilly!
Minny follows behind holding the pie and Missus Walters' arm.
HILLY: (over her shoulder) Put Momma in a chair before she breaks a hip.
MISSUS WALTERS: I'm not deaf yet, Hilly.
Minny spies Aibileen in the corner and gives her a "here we go" look as she lowers Missus Walters into a chair.
Hilly approaches Aibileen with the coat.
HILLY: Aibileen, I want you to have this coat. It's too big for Momma now and it's way too expensive to put in the coat drive.
Hilly extends the coat with a smile.
HILLY : All yours.
Aibileen takes the coat.
AIBILEEN: Thank you, Miss Hilly.
HILLY: Go on. Try it on.
INT. LEEFOLT HOME - KITCHEN - MOMENTS LATER
Minny plows through the swing door and reaches for Hilly's deviled eggs.
Aibileen rushes in behind her wearing the cheetah collared coat. The sleeves are about a foot too short.
AIBILEEN: Hold on! Those are Miss Hilly's.
Aibileen pulls another plate of eggs out of the fridge.
AIBILEEN : Gots to have paprika on `em.
Minny takes an egg. It disappears in a single bite.
MINNY: Forgive me, Lord, but I'm gonna have to kill that woman.
10.
Aibileen removes the coat and lays it over a chair.
AIBILEEN: Watch yo mouth, Minny.
MINNY: Looks like a walking Christmas present with all them bows.
Aibileen shakes with silent laughter.
MINNY: And, now she gone to puttin' pencil marks on the toilet paper.
AIBILEEN: Oh, law! Did she?
MINNY: Uh-hum. But, I carry paper in from my own damn house. That fool don't know.
INT. LEEFOLT HOME - LIVING ROOM - SAME TIME
Elizabeth and Hilly cackle with a group of girls as Missus Walters sits on the couch watching "Guiding Light."
Skeeter suddenly rushes through the front door.
SKEETER: Hey, girls.
GIRLS: (IN UNISON) Hey, Skeeter.
JOLENE FRENCH, 24, approaches and hugs Skeeter.
JOLENE: Well, if it isn't Long-Haul-Skeeter. We didn't think you'd ever leave Ole Miss.
SKEETER: Well, it's supposed to take four
years, Jolene.
Skeeter spins around to Hilly and Elizabeth with a sigh.
SKEETER : Sorry I'm late. I had to stop by the cleaners and pick up my black dress.
Hilly and Elizabeth look at Skeeter with concern.
SKEETER : What?
11.
HILLY: About supper club tonight...Honey,
Stuart had to cancel.
SKEETER: Again?
Hilly places her hand on Skeeter's shoulder.
HILLY: He can't get off the rig, Skeeter.
It's offshore! Stuart is a very successful oil man.
SKEETER: I'm starting to think this Stuart is a figment of your imagination.
ELIZABETH: Raleigh called his cousin down in Hattiesburg. He'll drive up.
SKEETER: The cousin with one eye?!
Elizabeth nods.
SKEETER : I guess his black patch will match my dress. Just forget it.
Skeeter storms off. Hilly glares at Elizabeth.
HILLY: One eye?!
INT. LEEFOLT HOME - LIVING ROOM - LATER THE SAME DAY
Aibileen clears the dining table as bridge begins.
Hilly, Elizabeth and Skeeter sit with Jolene. Skeeter takes a deep breath and belts out her news.
SKEETER: I got a job today... at The Jackson Journal!
Everyone looks at Skeeter as if she just threw up on herself.
Finally, Hilly pats Skeeter on the leg.
HILLY: They'd be a fool not to hire you.
Jolene raises her glass.
JOLENE: To Skeeter...and her job. Last stop `til marriage.
Hilly kicks Jolene under the table.
12.
SKEETER: The Miss Myrna column. Have y'all read it?
HILLY: Well, no! But, I bet the poor girls without any help, in South Jackson, read it like the King James.
Everyone laughs. Skeeter's forehead crinkles.
SKEETER: Elizabeth, would you mind if I talk to Aibileen? To help me answer some of the letters? Just until I get a knack for it.
Aibileen clears dishes as if she hasn't heard a thing.
Elizabeth gets very still.
ELIZABETH: Aibileen? My Aibileen? What can't you just get Constantine to help you?
Skeeter looks to her lap and shakes her head.
SKEETER: Constantine...quit us.
ELIZABETH HILLY: What?! Oh, my gosh!
Skeeter nods her head sadly.
HILLY: I'm so sorry, Skeeter.
SKEETER: I really don't want to talk about it. Okay?
The girls nod.
SKEETER : Anyway...I don't know how to answer these letters.
Elizabeth looks to Aibileen.
ELIZABETH: Well...I mean as long as it doesn't interfere with her work.
A phone rings. Elizabeth nods to Aibileen.
INT. LEEFOLT HOME - KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS
Aibileen rushes in the kitchen and answers the phone.
13.
AIBILEEN: Leefolt residence.
INT. FOOTE ESTATE (INTERCUT) - KITCHEN - SAME TIME
CLOSE ON:
Pink, fuzzy slippers anchoring bare, sexy legs stand on a black and white check floor.
CELIA FOOTE (O.C.):
Ah-hem. Hello, is Elizabeth in?
Rising up a slim torso, sizeable cleavage bursts out of a pink robe's collar.
AIBILEEN: She having bridge club right now. May I take a message?
CELIA FOOTE, 28, peroxide blonde, stands in all her counts, girl glory.
She speaks with a thick, unrefined, Southern accent, mired in insecurity.
CELIA: Please tell her Celia Foote called again. I'll call back tomorrow.
AIBILEEN: Yes, ma'am.
Celia nervously twists herself around in the phone cord.
CELIA: Ah-hem. Miss?
"Miss" strikes Aibileen as very odd.
CELIA : I'm looking for some help at my house. You know any maids looking?
AIBILEEN: No, ma'am.
CELIA FOOTE: Okay. Celia Foote. Emerson 6-8-4. Bye, now.
Celia hands up the phone with a frown and sips from a coca-cola bottle.
INT. LEEFOLT HOME - LIVING ROOM - MOMENTS LATER
Aibileen enters the living room with a coffee pot.
14.
ELIZABETH: Who was that on the phone?
AIBILEEN: Miss Celia Foote called again.
Elizabeth leans over and touches Hilly's arm.
ELIZABETH: I've never called her back, Hilly.
HILLY: She can't take a hint, can she?
JOLENE: Who's Celia Foote?
HILLY: That tacky girl Johnny married.
ELIZABETH: Girl? I heard she's twenty-eight.
JOLENE: Oh my God!
HILLY: Uh-hmm, worked concessions at a LSU game and sold him a hotdog. And, boy, he got a whole lot more.
All the girls laugh.
SKEETER: Could have been you, Hilly.
HILLY: And live thirty minutes outside of
town? Anyway, I ran into her at the beauty parlor, and she had the nerve to ask if she could help with the children's benefit.
SKEETER: Aren't we taking non-members? The benefit's gotten so big.
HILLY: Yes, but we're not telling her.
Everyone laughs but Skeeter. Aibileen pours Skeeter a cup of coffee. Skeeter looks up decidedly and smiles.
SKEETER: Thank you, Aibileen.
Hilly begins squirming in her seat, obviously making a point.
Elizabeth leans over.
ELIZABETH: Oh, Hilly, I wish you'd just go use the bathroom.
15.
HILLY: Ah-hem. I'm fine.
Missus Walters shouts out from the sofa.
MISSUS WALTERS: She's upset cause the nigra uses the guest bath, and so do we.
Elizabeth turns to Aibileen.
ELIZABETH: Aibileen, go check on Mae Mobley.
Aibileen disappears. Elizabeth leans into Hilly.
ELIZABETH : Just go use mine and Raleigh's.
Hilly hiss-whispers.
HILLY: If Aibileen uses the guest bathroom, I'm sure she uses yours too.
ELIZABETH: SHE DOES NOT!
Aibileen turns the corner in the hall and stops.
HILLY: Wouldn't you rather them take their business outside?
Skeeter sees a reflection of Aibileen listening off of a picture in the hall. Skeeter tries to change the subject.
SKEETER: Did y'all see the cover of "Life" this week? Jackie's never looked MORE REGAL-
HILLY: Tell Raleigh every penny he spends on a colored's bathroom, he'll get back in spades when y'all sell. It's just plain dangerous.
Everybody knows they carry different diseases than we do. I double.
Elizabeth takes a puff of her cigarette and fidgets with her cards.
ELIZABETH: I can't ask Raleigh until tax season. But, it would be nice.
HILLY: That's why I've drafted The Home Help Sanitation Initiative.
16.
SKEETER: "The Home"...the what?!
HILLY: As a disease preventative bill that requires every white home to have a separate bathroom for the colored help. I've even notified the Surgeon General of Mississippi. I'll pass.
Skeeter again glances at Aibileen. Their eyes meet.
SKEETER: Maybe we ought to just build you a bathroom outside, Hilly.
The room grows eerily quiet.
HILLY: You ought not to joke about the colored situation.
Hilly leans in toward Skeeter.
HILLY : I'll do whatever it takes to protect our town. Your lead, Jolene.
Jolene suddenly looks to a wall clock. She jumps up and throws her cards to the table.
JOLENE: I have to skedaddle! Gotta get over to the station!
(EXCITEDLY): Daddy's letting me do the weather tonight!
EXT. FOOTE ESTATE - BACKYARD - SAME DAY
Celia delicately prunes two rosebushes. Her long pink fingernails wrap easily around a pair of sheers.
As Celia stands back to admire her work, We widen to see the Foote estate. Ancient oaks dripping in Spanish moss surround a perfectly manicured lawn. "Tara" pales in comparison.
Oddly, the two rosebushes have been planted in the center of the lawn, jeopardizing the Antebellum Feng Shui.
AIBILEEN (Voice.Over.) Now, Miss Celia had her a man.
`Bout the best lookin' man in all of Mississippi. But, no baby and no friends.
JOHNNY FOOTE, 23, Celia's ridiculously handsome husband, sneaks up behind her as he removes his jacket and tie.
17.
JOHNNY: Roses look like weeds next to you.
Celia turns with a yelp. She slaps him playfully.
CELIA: Johnny, you scared the daylights out of me!
Johnny begins kissing her neck.
CELIA : You're home early.
Celia pushes him back.
CELIA : Johnny, I can't get any of your old friends from school to call me back.
JOHNNY: Oh, who cares, honey. We got all we need right here.
Johnny kisses her again and lowers her to the grass.
CELIA:Johnny, honestly!
JOHNNY: Doctor's orders.
Johnny starts kissing Celia's breasts. She becomes uneasy and rolls out from under him.
CELIA: I don't know what's taking us so long. I'm sorry.
Johnny brushes hair from Celia's face.
JOHNNY: Hey, we've never done it in the yard. Maybe that's the trick.
Celia seductively bites her lower lip.
CELIA: Watch my hair.
Johnny's hand slides up her thigh.
INT. LEEFOLT HOME - KITCHEN - LATER THAT DAY
Bridge over, Skeeter smokes while watching through a window as Minny arrives in Hilly's car. Skeeter blows smoke toward Hilly and Elizabeth saying good-bye.
18.
A sermon plays over an old AM radio nestled between canisters of sugar and flour.
Aibileen enters with a stack of dirty coffee cups.
SKEETER: Aibileen?
Aibileen becomes nervous at the sight of Skeeter alone.
AIBILEEN: Yes, ma'am.
SKEETER: I had hoped to ask you myself if you could help me with the "Miss Myrna" letters...
AIBILEEN: Yes, ma'am.
SKEETER: So...Would you help me?
Aibileen nods and looks out to Elizabeth on the street.
AIBILEEN: Miss Myrna gets it wrong lotta times. Be good to get it right.
SKEETER: Thank you, Aibileen. I plan on splitting the pay with you, too.
Aibileen doesn't respond. She grabs a basket of rolls.
SKEETER : Listen...all that talk in there today. Hilly's talk I mean...I'm sorry you had to hear that.
Aibileen quickly turns her back to Skeeter. A gospel choir begins singing on the radio.
SKEETER : Is that Preacher Green's sermon on the radio?
AIBILEEN: Yes, ma'am, it is.
SKEETER: That reminds me so much of my maid growing up.
Aibileen starts wiping down a serving tray.
AIBILEEN: Constantine and me...were in church circle together.
19.
Skeeter turns to Aibileen as she puts out her cigarette.
SKEETER: She loved me like you love Mae Mobley.
AIBILEEN: Yes, ma'am.
Skeeter moves closer to Aibileen.
SKEETER: Aibileen? How could she just quit like that?
Aibileen stops wiping and looks up to Skeeter...
AIBILEEN: Quit?
SKEETER: Yes. When I got home from school last week, Momma said she had quit.
Back in March to go live with her people up in Chicago. She didn't leave me a note or anything.
Aibileen turns and resumes wiping the tray.
SKEETER : Could you do that to Mae Mobley?
Aibileen slowly turns back to Skeeter.
AIBILEEN: No, ma'am. I couldn't...
SKEETER: Do you have an address for her or anything?
Aibileen shrugs her shoulders, reeling it all back in.
Just then, Elizabeth walks into the kitchen holding papers stapled together. She looks between Aibileen and Skeeter.
ELIZABETH: I'm sorry. Did I interrupt something?
Skeeter and Aibileen shake their heads.
Elizabeth hands Skeeter the papers. Home Help Sanitation Initiative is written on the cover.
ELIZABETH : Hilly wants this put in the League newsletter.
Skeeter nods.
20.
SKEETER: Aibileen, I'll drop by at ten tomorrow to get started on Miss Myrna.
Elizabeth looks at Aibileen.
ELIZABETH: Tomorrow is silver polishing day, so y'all make it quick, okay?
EXT. COUNTRY ROAD - LATER THAT DAY
Skeeter speeds down a country road lined with ancient oak trees in a white Cadillac.
AIBILEEN (Voice Over): I knew I had said too much to Miss Skeeter, but Constantine's story weren't mine to tell. Some things a girl shouldn't have to know about her own mother.
Her frizzy hair swirls about as she passes a truck full of cotton.
INT. CADILLAC (FANTASY SEQUENCE) - SAME TIME
Skeeter looks ahead and sees an OLDER BLACK WOMAN walking with a LITTLE BLONDE GIRL, 6. They hold hands.
The black woman smiles and waves as Skeeter passes. When Skeeter looks in her rear view mirror, they're gone.
Skeeter suddenly stops the car just short of an intersecting gravel road.
Skeeter slowly turns down the old road.
EXT. CONSTANTINE'S HOUSE - DAY
Skeeter's car pulls into the overgrown yard of an old shack with a rusted-out tin roof.
Two clapboard rooms are separated by an open breezeway. The front door is cracked opened.
Skeeter gets out and walks toward Constantine's home.
INT. CONSTANTINE'S HOUSE - MOMENTS LATER
Skeeter enters to find only a small bed, dresser, table, rocking chair and a wood burning stove.
Past intruders have long since taken anything of value.
21.
As Skeeter approaches Constantine's bed, an OPOSSUM scurries out from underneath.
Skeeter screams as the opossum runs out the door. Her eyes suddenly catch something.
Lying on the bed is an OLD CORN PIPE.
Skeeter picks it up and brings it to her face. Her eyes begin to well up.
EXT. PHELAN PLANTATION - MOMENTS LATER
Skeeter pulls in front of a grand antebellum home and parks to the side of her family's graveyard.
Skeeter carries her black dress up the stairs of a covered porch.
An old black man with white hair, JAMESO, 70, tightens a porch swing.
SKEETER: Hey, Jameso.
JAMESO: Hello, Miss Eugenia.
INT. PHELAN PLANTATION - ENTRY FOYER - MOMENTS LATER
Skeeter walks through the front door.
SKEETER: Momma!
If the Smithsonian had wished to assemble the perfect antebellum home, Skeeter would be standing in it.
INT. PHELAN HOME - PARENTS' BEDROOM - MOMENTS LATER
Skeeter enters and looks around curiously at an ARRAY OF WIGS resting atop a dresser.
SKEETER: Momma?
Skeeter's mother, CHARLOTTE BOUDREAU CANTELLE PHELAN, 50, glides into the room wearing a wig. Her floral print dress has a gazillion perfectly pressed pleats.
Charlotte turns to a mirror and adjusts an auburn-colored, `pixie' cut.
CHARLOTTE: Is this a little too young?
SKEETER: It's a little too everything.
22.
Charlotte removes the wig with a sigh. Only now do we realize her decision to wear wigs isn't elective. Thinning hair detracts from her perfectly made up face.
Charlotte puts on a classic bouffant/flip in dark brown.
SKEETER : Much better.
CHARLOTTE: Your daddy bought me this dress in`58.
SKEETER: Mom, I want to ask you about CONSTANTINE.
CHARLOTTE: Right after Ole Miss won the Sugar Bowl.
Charlotte unzips the dress and takes it off.
CHARLOTTE : Come on, you try it on.
SKEETER: What really happened?
Charlotte winces with pain and grasps her stomach.
CHARLOTTE: I told you...she went to live with her people in Chicago...Now, Skeeter, your mother is dying, and she wants to see you in this dress.
Charlotte stands in her slip and bra holding the dress.
Skeeter begins taking off her clothes.
SKEETER: How could she just take off without telling me?
CHARLOTTE: I told her not to write you. I didn't want you upset in the middle of final exams. Honey, we were just a job to her. With them it's all about money...Did I tell you Fanny Peatrow got engaged? After she got that teller job, her mother said she was just swimming in proposals.
SKEETER: Good for "Fat Fanny Peatrow."
She lowers the dress over Skeeter's head and zips it.
23.
CHARLOTTE: This looks precious on you! Four years ago my daughter went off to college, and what did she come home with?
SKEETER : A diploma. A pretty piece of paper.
CHARLOTTE : Hilly and Elizabeth have such lovely children.
SKEETER: They dropped out of college to become housewives, Mother.
CHARLOTTE: If only you'd show a little gumption, Eugenia...
SKEETER: Well, I did get a job today.
CHARLOTTE: You did?
SKEETER: Writing...for The Jackson Journal.
Charlotte plumps up the dress around Skeeter's behind.
CHARLOTTE: Great. You can write my obituary. "Charlotte Phelan dead. Her daughter still single."
SKEETER: Momma, would it really be so terrible if I never met a husband?
With that, Charlotte grabs Skeeter's hand and takes her to a love seat. They sit. This is serious.
CHARLOTTE: I need to...ask you something, Skeeter. I read the other day about how some girls...get unbalanced, start thinking these...well, unnatural thoughts.
Charlotte begins to twist the handkerchief she holds.
CHARLOTTE : Are you...do you...find men attractive? Are you having unnatural thoughts about...
Charlotte shuts her eyes tight.
CHARLOTTE : Girls or...or women?
24.
SKEETER: Oh my God!
CHARLOTTE: Because, this article says there's a cure, a special root tea.
Skeeter jumps up.
SKEETER: Mother, I want to be with girls as much as you wanna be with Jameso.
CHARLOTTE: Eugenia!
Skeeter storms out of the room.
CHARLOTTE : (SHOUTING):Carlton's bringing Rebecca to dinner. Try to look presentable!
INT. PHELAN PLANTATION - DINING ROOM - LATER THAT NIGHT
The Phelan dining room is lit solely by candles.
The Phelan's new maid, PASCAGOLUA, 40, rolls a cart of casseroles around the table.
Charlotte sits at the head of the table. She's having a bowl of broth.
Skeeter sits next to her Father, ROBERT PHELAN, 60.
Skeeter's brother, CARLTON, 25, sits next to his fiancé, REBECCA, 21. They're perfectly groomed with Hollywood good looks.
CARLTON: What the hell do you know about cleaning a house, Skeeter?
SKEETER: It's a start, Carlton.
CARLTON: (MOCKINGLY) I thought you wanted to write books.
ROBERT: Leave your sister alone, Son. I'm proud of you, Sweetheart.
Charlotte scoops up some broth with a spoon.
25.
CHARLOTTE: Oh, the irony of it all. Givin' advice on how to keep up a home when she...
Charlotte's spoon goes in her mouth.
Pascagolua tries to scoop some sort of casserole covered in almonds onto Skeeter's plate. Skeeter stops her.
SKEETER: Oh! No, Pascagolua! You couldn't have known this...But, see, I'm allergic to almonds.
PASCAGOLUA: Sorry, Miss Eugenia.
SKEETER: Last time I had an almond, I stopped liking men.
Charlotte glares at Skeeter. Carlton lets out a chuckle.
Rebecca is mortified.
REBECCA: Oh my Lord.
SKEETER: It's okay, Rebecca. They have a special root tea now.
CHARLOTTE: You have pushed it, Young Lady!
Pascagolua scurries off. Skeeter turns to her father...
SKEETER: Daddy, what happened to Constantine?
The room grows silent. Carlton looks down to his plate.
ROBERT: Ah...well, Constantine went to live with her family. People move on, Skeeter. But I do wish she'd stayed down here with us.
SKEETER: I don't believe you.
Skeeter looks to her mother who immediately busies herself with scooping up more broth.
SKEETER : Mother, did you...fire her?
CHARLOTTE: You wouldn't understand. Not until you've hired help of your own.
26.
SKEETER: She raised me!
Charlotte slaps the table and stands.
CHARLOTTE: SHE DID NOT!
Skeeter's eyes fill with tears...
SKEETER: She worked here for twenty-nine years.
Charlotte presses both hands to her stomach.
CHARLOTTE: It was a colored thing, and I've put it behind me.
Charlotte passes behind Rebecca and kisses her head.
CHARLOTTE : Excuse me, Rebecca. My daughter has upset my cancerous ulcers.
As Charlotte leaves the room, Rebecca looks at Skeeter like she's the worst person on earth.
Skeeter gets up and storms off into the entry foyer.
INT. PHELAN PLANTATION (FLASHBACK) - ENTRY FOYER - NIGHT
Skeeter, 13 and lanky, wears a party dress. Despite a tight bun, her strong-willed hair has started to frizz.
Skeeter's father and brother race down the stairs with suitcases. Carlton wears a varsity sweater.
SKEETER: Good luck down there, Carlton.
CARLTON: Have fun at the dance, Skeeter Legs.
Robert and Carlton race outside as Charlotte enters, healthy and glowing.
CHARLOTTE: Eugenia! You've grown another inch since breakfast. Go put on a dress that fits before that boy and his daddy come pick you up.
A horn blows. Charlotte kisses Skeeter on the cheek and then looks over to CONSTANTINE, 50.
27.
Constantine stands tall. Her skin is black as night. Her eyes have a striking honey colored hue to them. She wears a white sleeping gown.
CHARLOTTE : Pray Carlton doesn't like LSU, Constantine. It's so far. It might be the last we see of him.
The horn blows again. Charlotte is out the door.
Skeeter turns to Constantine who is all smiles.
CONSTANTINE: Gone be just you and me all weekend.
EXT. PHELAN PLANTATION (FLASHBACK) - PATIO - MOMENTS LATER
Skeeter sits at a picnic table smoking a cigarette.
Constantine smokes tobacco out of a corn pipe.
SKEETER: I just couldn't tell her I didn't get asked to the dance.
CONSTANTINE: Some things we should just keep to ourselves.
Skeeter looks down to her long, bony legs.
SKEETER: I'm already taller than the boys' basketball coach. How tall are you, Constantine?
CONSTANTINE: I'm five-thirteen, so quit feeling sorry for yourself.
SKEETER: Momma was third runner up in the Miss South Carolina pageant.
CONSTANTINE: "Miss" what? Shoot, Child! You gone be "Miss Something Better."
Constantine grabs Skeeter's hand and presses her thumb firm to her palm.
CONSTANTINE : Now you listen. Your momma didn't pick her life. It pick her, and she done even know it. You gone do something big with yours. Bigger than your momma or your brother.
Constantine lets go of Skeeter's palm and wipes a tear from her face.
28.
SKEETER: What about you? What did you want to be, Constantine?
Constantine laughs.
CONSTANTINE: Oh, Child! We don't get to pick. This pick us, and that just how it is.
Tight on Skeeter's face as Constantine gives her a big hug.
INT. PHELEN PLANTATION - SKEETER'S BEDROOM - NEXT MORNING
Skeeter lies in bed staring holes into the ceiling as a rooster announces the morning.
A sudden revelation washes over her. In a flash, Skeeter is out of bed and running down the stairs.
INT. PHELAN PLANTATION - KITCHEN - MOMENTS LATER
Pascagoula tends to a skillet full of eggs next to a black and white TV resting on the counter.
CLOSE ON TELEVISION: Jolene French attempts to deliver the weather on WLBT.
JOLENE: Sunny skies and a high of ninety-eight today with ninety-nine percent humidity. There's a slight chance of afternoon showers so y'all carry an umbrella.
Jolene pivots to camera, lowers her chin and smiles.
Skeeter runs past Pascagoula with a phone and disappears inside the pantry.
INT. HARPER AND ROW PUBLISHING - OFFICE - NEW YORK - LATER
ELAINE STEIN, 45, hard but stylish, talks on the phone in a large corner office. She lights a cigarette and swivels her chair toward the Manhattan skyline.
MISS STEIN: What gave you this idea, Miss Phelan? I'm...curious.
INT. PHELAN PLANTATION (INTERCUT) - PANTRY - SAME TIME
Skeeter sits on a huge sack of flour. A millennium's supply of can goods fills the shelves.
29.
SKEETER: I was...well, I was raised by a colored woman. I've seen how simple it can be and...well, how complex it can be, too...between the families and the help.
MISS STEIN: Continue.
SKEETER: I'd like to write something from the point of view of the help. These colored women raise white children, and then twenty years later those children become the employer. It's that irony, Miss Stein, that we love them and they love us yet...we don't even let them use the toilet in the house.
Miss Stein's swivels her chair back around and sits up.
MISS STEIN: I'm listening.
SKEETER: Margaret Mitchell glorified the mammy figure who dedicates her whole life to a white family but no one...ever asked Mammy how she felt about it. There is both undisguised hate for white women and an inexplicable love, but nobody ever talks about it down here.
MISS STEIN: So, a side to this never before heard.
SKEETER: Yes!
Charlotte knocks on the pantry door.
CHARLOTTE (O.C.): Skeeter, who are you talking to in there?
Skeeter covers the mouth piece and opens the door.
SKEETER: Go! Away!
Skeeter slams the door.
SKEETER : So, yes, their side of the story.
Skeeter leans back against the shelves.
30.
MISS STEIN: Who was that?
SKEETER: My mother. She just dropped by to-
MISS STEIN: Look, no maid in her right mind would ever tell you the truth. That's a hell of a risk in a place like Jackson, Mississippi. I watched them try to integrate your bus station on the news. Oy! They jammed fifty-five Negroes in a jail built for four.
Skeeter panics.
SKEETER: I already have a maid.
Skeeter can't believe what just came out of her mouth. Miss Stein rises and sits on the edge of her desk.
MISS STEIN: Really? A negro maid has already agreed to talk to you?
Skeeter blinks hard. No turning back now.
SKEETER: Yes, ma'am...
MISS STEIN: Well...I suppose I could read what you come up with. The book biz could use a little rattling.
SKEETER: You'd do that?
MISS STEIN: I'm saying I'll let you know if it's even worth pursuing.
SKEETER: Oh, thank you, Miss Stein!
MISS STEIN: And for God's sake, you're a twenty-four-year-old educated woman. Go get an apartment.
She hangs up.
INT. LEEFOLT HOME - KITCHEN - LATER THAT DAY
Skeeter sits across the table from Aibileen, reading the `Miss Myrna' letters.
31.
Outside, winds howl, and the sky grows dark. Jolene's forecast appears to be a bit off.
SKEETER: "Dear Miss Myrna, How do I remove the rings from my fat, slovenly husband's shirt collar when he is such a pig and sweats like one too..."
AIBILEEN: Which one she want a get rid of? Them rings or the husband?
Skeeter chuckles and shrugs her shoulders.
AIBILEEN : Tell her a vinegar and Pine-Sol soak. Then let it set in the sun a bit.
Skeeter writes this down.
AIBILEEN : Bout an hour. Let it dry.
Skeeter keeps writing. Aibileen notices something outside.
Hilly walks into the Leefolt backyard with her son, BILLY, 3, perched on her hip.
A CONTRACTOR, 30s, follows holding a set of plans.
Skeeter turns to the open window. It's already started to sprinkle outside.
HILLY: Build it just like the one at my house, right against the garage.
The contractor nods. Lightning strikes, thunder cracks.
HILLY : Oh, mercy!
Hilly is off and running with Billy. Skeeter seizes the moment.
SKEETER: Aibileen, do you ever wish you could... change things?
Aibileen turns slowly from the window.
SKEETER : I mean, all that talk yesterday and now with what Hilly's up to.
Aibileen's eyes fall to the floor.
32.
AIBILEEN: Everthing's fine.
SKEETER: My momma fired Constantine. Thank you for telling me that.
AIBILEEN: I never tolt you that!
Aibileen jumps up as another crack of thunder sounds out.
SKEETER: Aibileen, I have an idea...Something I want to write about...But I need your help.
Skeeter rises.
SKEETER: I want to interview you...about what it is like to work as a maid.
Aibileen stops at the refrigerator, gripping the life out of its handle.
SKEETER : I'd like to do a book of interviews about working for white families.
Show what it's like to work for, say...Elizabeth.
Aibileen begins to perspire. She grabs the counter to steady herself, then moves toward her chair.
AIBILEEN: You know what'd happen to me if Miss Leefolt knew I was tellin' stories on her?
SKEETER: I was thinking we wouldn't tell her. The other maids will have to keep it secret, too.
AIBILEEN: Other maids?
SKEETER: I was hoping to get four or five. To really show what it's like in Jackson. To see what y'all get paid, the babies, the bathrooms, the good and the bad.
Aibileen shakes her head.
AIBILEEN: They set my cousin Shinelle's car on fire just cause she went down to the voting station.
33.
SKEETER: A book has never been written like this, Aibileen.
AIBILEEN: `Cause they's a reason. I do this with you, I might as well burn my own house down.
Bam! The front door slams shut.
INT. LEEFOLT HOME (INTERCUT) - LIVING ROOM - SAME TIME
Soaking wet, Elizabeth and her husband, RALEIGH, 25, stand toe to toe.
RALEIGH: I put up with the new clothes and all the damn trips to New Orleans, but this takes the goddamn cake!
ELIZABETH: It'll confuse Mae Mobley if she sees Aibileen going inside. And we can't risk her health.
KITCHEN:
Aibileen hears Mae Mobley crying, but she is frozen.
LIVING ROOM:
ELIZABETH : Hilly spoke to the Surgeon General!
She also said it'll add value to our home!
RALEIGH: Great! Mae Mobley can just go to college in that bathroom, too.
ELIZABETH: Honey, Hilly's covering the cost...and said you can just do William's taxes to pay her back.
RALEIGH: We don't take orders from the Holbrooks!
INT. LEEFOLT HOME - KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS
Raleigh storms in and is surprised to see Skeeter.
RALEIGH: Skeeter? How you doing?
SKEETER: Fine.
34.
RALEIGH: Fix me a sandwich, Aibileen.
Raleigh storms out as Elizabeth charges into the kitchen.
ELIZABETH: Aibileen, Mae Mobley's crying her eyes out!
Aibileen runs off. Elizabeth sees Skeeter and tries to compose herself.
ELIZABETH: Skeeter...Hello. I'm sorry but I think it's best if you leave now.
Skeeter gathers her things.
ELIZABETH : And...I don't think this Miss Myrna thing is gonna work out with Aibileen.
INT. HOLBROOK HOUSE - DEN - LATER THAT DAY
The storm has escalated. The Holbrook house is without power. Hilly runs around lighting candles.
Missus Walters lies on the couch while Minny fans her with a newspaper.
MISSUS WALTERS: You're making it a lot hotter flapping your arm like that.
Minny stops and begins squirming with discomfort. Missus Walters notices her looking out to the garage bathroom.
Lightning strikes. Leaves blow across the yard. Hilly plops down in a chair with a candle.
HILLY: That should do it. Minny, go get me and Momma some iced tea.
Minny hesitates. She gulps.
MINNY: Uh...Miss Hilly?
HILLY: Yes.
MINNY: Never mind.
As Minny turns, Missus Walters calls out to her.
35.
MISSUS WALTERS: You go on ahead and use the guest bath, Minny. It's okay.
HILLY: Oh, for crying out loud. It's just a little rain. She can go get an umbrella up in William's Study!
MISSUS WALTERS: I believe she was working for me before you dragged us both here.
Minny looks outside just as wind slams an aluminum lawn chair against the garage bathroom.
Boom! Another crash of thunder. Large hail stones begin falling in the yard.
MINNY: I'm gone get your tea.
INT. HOLBROOK HOUSE - BATHROOM - SECONDS LATER
Minny sneaks into the guest bath with a candle and shuts the door. She carefully lowers the seat and sits. Relief spreads across her face.
There's a knock on the door. She freezes.
HILLY : Minny?
Minny panics, staying completely quiet.
INT. HOLBROOK HOUSE (INTERCUT) - HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS
Hilly leans into the bathroom door.
HILLY: MINNYYYY, are you in there?
MINNY: Yes, ma'am...
HILLY: Are you sitting down?
Minny gets up quickly and flushes the toilet. Hilly beats on the door.
HILLY: GET OFF OF MY TOILET!!!
Outside the house, an eerie, groaning sound, much like a freight train, intensifies.
The top of a huge tree snaps off and falls against the house, shattering a window.
36.
Minny crouches down and covers her head. A draft sucks the candle's flame toward the bottom of the door.
INT. LEEFOLT HOME - MAE MOBLEY'S ROOM - MOMENTS LATER
Aibileen sits with Mae Mobley against an interior wall, holding a mattress on top of them and humming in her ear.
AIBILEEN (VoiceOver): On top a Minny losin' her tenth job, eighteen people died in Jackson that day. Ten white. Eight black.
EXT. PHELAN PLANTATION - SAME TIME
Skeeter stands in her backyard facing Jackson. Cool winds head toward the dark, swirling horizon.
In the distance, lightning strikes.
EXT. FOOTE ESTATE - FRONT PORCH - SAME TIME
Celia leans on the porch railing, gazing helplessly as the relentless hail storm pummels her two rosebushes.
AIBILEEN (VoiceOver): God don't pay no mind to color or class once he sets a tornado loose.
Within seconds, the rose blossoms are gone.
INT/EXT. BATHROOM/BACKYARD (INTERCUT) - THREE MONTHS LATER
Aibileen uses the newly completed bathroom Hilly has built in the garage. The walls consist of unpainted plywood with a small window hugging the ceiling.
Beads of sweat glisten on Aibileen's forehead under a single bulb hanging above.
AIBILEEN (Voice Over):
Soon after, that bitter seed inside of me had sprout and was growing fast...
Well into her second pregnancy, Elizabeth exits the house with Mae Mobley at her side. She wears an awful, homemade maternity dress.
ELIZABETH: Hurry, Aibileen. Mae Mobley's up, and I'm off to the doctor.
Aibileen reaches behind and flushes the toilet. Mae Mobley gets excited and points to the garage bathroom.
37.
MAE MOBLEY: Aibee bafroom, Momma!
Mae Mobley walks toward the bathroom and calls out.
MAE MOBLEY : Aibee?
Elizabeth grabs her and forces her down on the back step.
ELIZABETH: No!
AIBILEEN: Be right there, Baby Girl.
Aibileen pulls up her panty-hose.
EXT. BUS STOP - LATER THAT AFTERNOON
Aibileen waits with YULE MAY, 45, as well as other maids and black males at a bus stop. Yule May is tall, pretty and graceful. Her hair is pulled tightly into a bun.
Skeeter walks down the sidewalk toward them. She and Aibileen catch eyes. Skeeter waves.
Yule May inches away from Aibileen. One BLACK MAN in particular looks with concern as Skeeter walks up.
SKEETER: Afternoon, Aibileen.
Aibileen nods nervously, looking at the other domestics.
SKEETER : Can I talk to you?
A bus pulls up.
AIBILEEN: You got some "Miss Myrna" questions for me?
SKEETER: No.
Yule May and others board. Skeeter grabs Aibileen's arm.
SKEETER : Please.
Aibileen signals to Yule May to go on ahead without her.
AIBILEEN: Yes, ma'am.
The bus pulls away.
38.
SKEETER: Please let me interview you. I know it's scary, but I really believe this has to be done. We'll be careful.
AIBILEEN: This already ain't careful, Miss Skeeter. You not knowing that is what scares me most. I'm sorry.
Skeeter hands Aibileen a piece of paper with her phone number written on it. Aibileen turns and walks off down the sidewalk.
EXT. BUS STOP - LATER THAT NIGHT
Dark outside, Aibileen approaches another, more integrated bus stop.
AIBILEEN (Voice Over) : I know pretty well what happens if the white ladies found out we was writing about them. Womens, they ain't like men. Women don`t beat you with a stick. Naw, they like to keep they hands clean. Got a shiny set a tools they use, sharp as witches' fingernails.
As Aibileen ambles toward a bench, TWO WHITE WOMEN in nurse uniforms push in front of her and sit.
INT. MISSISSIPPI LAW LIBRARY - NEXT MORNING
Skeeter sits at a long table surrounded by books piled high as if to provide a shield of sorts.
Lying before her, is an old, thin, onionskin booklet curling at the edges. It's titled : "Compilation of Jim Crow Laws of the South"
Skeeter opens the booklet and begins reading.
AIBILEEN (Voice Over): Any person printing, publishing or circulating written matter urging for public acceptance of social equality between whites and negroes is subject to imprisonment.
INT. AIBILEEN'S HOME - KITCHEN - NIGHT
Aibileen sits at a table wearing a nightgown. She carefully combs and styles her wig for work in the morning.
Her real hair is bound tightly in dozens of tightly bound nubs.
39.
The rotary wall phone rings. Aibileen hangs the wig on her chair and answers.
INT. MINNY'S HOUSE (INTERCUT) - HALLWAY - SAME TIME
Minny is hysterical.
MINNY: Oh, Aibileen! I went and did it now!
Minny wraps a hand up in the phone cord.
MINNY : Miss Hilly been tellin' everbody in town I stole a candelabra! That's why I can't get no job.
AIBILEEN: Everbody know you honest, Minny.
MINNY: Oh, but I got her back...I did something awful, Aibileen.
AIBILEEN: What you did?!
EXT. HOLBROOK HOUSE (FLASHBACK) - DAY
Minny stands on Hilly's porch holding a chocolate pie.
MINNY : I cain't tell! I ain't tellin' nobody! I done a terrible awful thing to that woman. And now she knows what I did!
Hilly answers the door and snarls at Minny. Minny presents the pie and says "I am sorry."
Hilly waves Minny inside.
INT. MINNY'S HOUSE - HALLWAY - MOMENTS LATER
MINNY: She got what she deserve, Aibileen. But, now I ain't gone never get no work again...Leroy gone kill me.
Minny's husband, LEROY, 40, approaches behind Minny. Minny slowly turns...
INT. AIBILEEN'S HOUSE - KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS
Aibileen hears a loud slap and Minny's phone dropping to the floor. Yelling and screaming follows.
40.
AIBILEEN: Minny!
She can't bear to listen and hangs up the phone. She sees Skeeter's phone number taped to the wall.
Aibileen's breath becomes heavy. Anger wells inside her.
She picks up the phone again and begins to dial.
EXT. AIBILEEN'S HOUSE - NEXT NIGHT - DUSK
Wearing a black scarf over her hair and clutching her red satchel, Skeeter approaches a small, one-story wood structure. White paint peels, hydrangeas fill the yard.
Skeeter spies an old pickup truck parked on the side of Aibileen's house, completely covered in years of dust.
Skeeter checks over her shoulder several times. The porch steps creak under her big feet.
Aibileen quickly opens the door and waves her inside.
INT. AIBILEEN'S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM -
Aibileen wears the same yellow dress she wore in the first scene.
SKEETER: I parked way up on State Street and caught a cab here like you asked.
AIBILEEN: Got dropped two streets over?
Skeeter nods.
SKEETER: Aibileen, I now know it's against the law for us to meet like this.
Skeeter stares Aibileen up and down. Aibileen self-consciously flattens our her dress.
SKEETER : I've never seen you out of uniform before. You look nice, Aibileen.
AIBILEEN: Thank you.
Aibileen motions for Skeeter to sit on a narrow sofa behind a coffee table covered in hand-tatted lace.
A tray holds a teapot, two cups that don't match and cookies resting on folded napkins.
As Aibileen pours the tea, her hand shakes.
41.
AIBILEEN : I'm sorry. I've never had a white person in my house before.
Skeeter sips her tea.
SKEETER: I've never been in a colored person's home before. I think we're both doing great. This tea is really nice.
Aibileen watches as Skeeter takes a bite of the cookie.
AIBILEEN: Miss Skeeter, What if...What if you don't like what I got to say? About white peoples?
SKEETER: I...this isn't about my opinion. It doesn't matter how I feel.
AIBILEEN: You gone have to change my name.
Mine, Miss Leefolt's, everbody's.
SKEETER: Everybody? So, you know other maids who might be interested?
Aibileen is quiet for a moment. She shakes her head.
AIBILEEN: It gone be hard.
SKEETER: What about Minny?
AIBILEEN: Minny got her some stories, shonuff. But, she ain't real keen on talking to white peoples right now.
INT. AIBILEEN'S HOUSE - KITCHEN - MOMENTS LATER
We continue with the interview seen on page one.
SKEETER: What does it feel like, to raise a white child when your own child's at home, being...looked after by somebody else?
AIBILEEN: It feel...Uh.
Aibileen glances up to the framed picture of Treelore.
SKEETER: Is that your son?
42.
AIBILEEN: Yes, ma'am. He dead two years now. Got run over at the lumber yard. Lungs were crushed.
SKEETER: I'm so sorry. That's horrible.
And, Aibileen, you don't have to call me "ma'am." Not here anyway.
Aibileen nods. Skeeter stares at her list of questions.
SKEETER : Do you want to talk about the bathroom? Or, about Elizab--Miss Leefolt? Anything about the way she pays you? Has she ever yelled at you in front of Mae Mobley?
Aibileen shakes her head.
AIBILEEN: I'm sorry, I-
Aibileen covers her mouth with her hand. Skeeter becomes disgusted with herself.
SKEETER: No, I am.
She pulls out a stack of Miss Myrna letters.
SKEETER : Let's just do a couple of Miss Myrna letters, and I'll run on...
AIBILEEN: I thought I might write my stories down and read them to you.
SKEETER: Well, sure I guess.
AIBILEEN: It no different than writing down my prayers.
SKEETER: You don't say your prayers aloud?
AIBILEEN: Prayer like electricity. It keep life going. Writing it down make it more powerful. Lot a ailing, sick peoples in this town.
SKEETER: I'm sure.
AIBILEEN: I didn't get a chance to pray for Treelore.
43.
AIBILEEN: God took him fast `cause he didn't want to argue with me. He was just twenty-four years old. The best part of a person's life.
SKEETER: Oh, Aibileen.
AIBILEEN: But he'd like we's doing this. He always said we gone have a writer in the family one day...After my prayers last night, I got some stories down too.
Skeeter nods. Aibileen opens her notebook and reads.
AIBILEEN : My first white baby to ever look after was named Alton Carrington Speers. It was 1938, and I'd just turned fourteen years old. Daddy had left us, so I dropped out a school to help momma with the bills.
INT. MOUNT ZION BABTIST CHURCH - MORNING
A congregation of three hundred stand singing lively with the large choir.
Aibileen stands next to Yule May and is whispering in her ear. Yule suddenly leans back, shocked, shaking her head "no."
Minny watches from two pews back. Her curiosity is peaked.
AIBILEEN (Voice Over): Alton's momma died a lung disease. I loved that baby, and he loved me. That's when I learned I could make children feel proud of themselves.
INT. HARPER AND ROW PUBLISHING - OFFICE - NEW YORK
Miss Stein sits at her desk reading Aibileen's stories.
AIBILEEN (Voice Over): Alton used to always be asking me how come I's black...
INT. AIBILEEN'S HOUSE - KITCHEN - MOMENTS LATER
AIBILEEN: It just ate him up, so one time I told him it cause I drank too much coffee. Oh, law, you should a seen his face.
44.
Skeeter laughs as she writes down Aibileen's story.
SKEETER: This is great. You have no idea how much I appreciate this...But I just have to ask. What changed your mind?
AIBILEEN: (WITHOUT PAUSE) Miss Hilly Holbrook.
INT. JUNIOR LEAGUE HEADQUARTERS - MORNING
Hilly stands at a podium banging a gavel. The pleats of her navy blue sailor's number fan out like an accordion.
A room full of JUNIOR LEAGUE MEMBERS sits up and quiets down.
Half the girls are pregnant and most all drink TAB and are smoking. Skeeter sits in the back next to Elizabeth.
HILLY: We're running behind on our "coat drive," girls. So hurry up and clean out those closets...But our Christmas Benefit, however, is right on schedule as y'all have already filled all our baked goods raffle slots.
The girls applaud, turning to each other with praise.
HILLY : Y'all think we can put a dent in the African Children's hunger this year?
More applause. Those who aren't pregnant, stand. Hilly beams. Elizabeth nudges Skeeter out of her chair.
HILLY : Now for some exciting news... I wanted y'all to be the first to know...My William is seeking election to the State Senate this November!
Now, even the pregnant women stand. Elizabeth grabs Skeeter's arm and pulls herself up.
HILLY : He's runnin' on a platform of health. Protecting our children. Protecting our way of life. So, I, with William, have drafted The Home Health Sanitation Initiative.
This sets off a room of whispers.
45.
HILLY : Skeeter, when can we expect to see the initiative in the newsletter? I gave it to you a month ago.
Everyone turns to Skeeter. Elizabeth panics.
ELIZABETH: I gave that to you myself!
SKEETER: I, ah...Well, I-
HILLY: Would you please stand, Skeeter?
As Skeeter rises, several women shake their heads.
SKEETER: I'll have it in there soon.
Skeeter glances at the initiative tucked in her satchel.
EXT. LEAGUE HEADQUARTERS - PARKING LOT - LATER THAT DAY
Skeeter turns a corner and sees Hilly leaning on her car.
SKEETER: Hilly? Do you need a ride?
Hilly shakes her head with little emotion.
SKEETER : I'm sorry about the newsletter.
Hilly nods. A soft smile begins to form.
SKEETER : With Momma being sick and-
Hilly erupts with excitement.
HILLY: He's coming! Oh, Skeeter, he's definitely coming this time. This Saturday night.
SKEETER: Oh, Hilly, he's cancelled twice before. Maybe it's a sign.
HILLY: Don't you dare say that!
SKEETER: You know I won't be his type.
Hilly grabs Skeeter by the shoulders.
46.
HILLY: It's your time, Skeeter. And damnit, I'm not going to let you miss this just because your mother convinced you you're not good enough for somebody like him.
INT. MINNY'S HOUSE - KITCHEN - MORNING
Minny is again wearing her maid's uniform. She puts two plates of food down on the kitchen table.
She sits next to her daughter, SUGAR, 15. Sugar wears a brand-spanking-new maids's uniform.
MINNY: Eat up, Girl. Miss Woodra's like to not feed ya on try-out day.
Sugar takes a bite of toast.
MINNY : I still say you're too young to be waitin' on white peoples...Now, Sugar, I want you to listen to me, and you listen to me good.
Minny grabs Sugar's face and looks her right in the eyes.
MINNY : These are the rules for working in a white lady's house.
Sugar jerks her face away and sticks her lip out.
MINNY : Rule Number One: Don't you ever let White Lady find you sittin' on her toilet.
Sugar nods.
MINNY : Number Two: You keep your nose out of White Lady's problems, and don't cry to her with yours. White people ain't your friends.
EXT. RURAL BUS STOP - LATER THAT MORNING
Minny steps off a bus and walks down an old country road.
MINNY (Voice Over): Number Three: When you're cooking white food, taste it with a different spoon. They see you put the tasting spoon back in the pot, might as well throw it all out. Spoon, too.
47.
EXT. FOOTE ESTATE - LATER
Minny approaches the Foote estate. She stops just short of stairs leading up to the front porch.
MINNY (Voice Over): Four: You use the same cup, same fork, same plate every day.
Minny takes her first step on the stairs.
MINNY (Voice Over) : Five: Don't hit her kids. White people do they own spanking.
Minny slowly raises her hand to knock on the front door.
MINNY (Voice Over): Six: No sass-mouthing!
Minny knocks.
MINNY : (TO HERSELF) Number six, Minny. Number six.
The door flies open. Celia Foote answers. She's covered in tight pink clothes. Flour covers her face and hair.
CELIA: Hey there! I'm Celia Rae Foote. Aibileen said you'd be on time.
Minny looks down disapprovingly to Celia's bare feet.
CELIA : Can I get you a cold Coca-Cola?
MINNY: No, thank you. I'm Minny Jackson... You...cooking something?
CELIA: One of those upsidedown cakes from the magazine. It ain't workin' out too good. Come on in.
INT. FOOTE ESTATE - KITCHEN - MOMENTS LATER
Minny enters behind Celia gawking at the flour massacre.
MINNY: What in the hell-
Minny catches herself.
MINNY: (TO HERSELF) Tuck it in, Minny. Tuck it in.
48.
CELIA: I guess I have some learnin' to do.
MINNY: (STUPID SMILE) You sure do.
INT. FOOTE ESTATE - DINING ROOM - CONTINUOUS
Minny and Celia enter a huge dining room. Minny gawks at a dusty mahogany table surrounded by twelve chairs.
CELIA: Johnny's momma wouldn't let me decorate a thing. If I had my way, this house would have wall to wall white carpet with gold trim and none of this old stuff.
Minny spies a framed battle-worn Confederate flag complete with bullet holes.
MINNY: Where you from?
Celia lowers her head in shame...
CELIA: Sugar Ditch. It's near Memphis.
MINNY: I know Sugar Ditch. My cousin live there.
Celia changes the subject.
CELIA: Let's go meet Oscar!
Celia grabs Minny's hand. Annoyed, Minny pulls it away.
INT. FOOTE ESTATE - LIVING ROOM - MOMENTS LATER
Minny stands at the base of a massive, stuffed Grizzly bear.
It clears the twelve-foot ceiling by an inch.
CELIA: Johnny's granddaddy shot him up in Montana back in 1910 with Teddy Roosevelt.
Celia points to fifteen guns mounted behind Oscar.
CELIA : We got five bedrooms and bathrooms here in the main house. The pool house has two more beds and baths.
49.
MINNY: When you gone have some chillins, start fillin' up all these beds?
Celia swallows hard. She places her hand on her stomach.
CELIA: I'm pregnant now.
Minny steps back and surveys Celia.
MINNY: Gone be eatin' for two. Double the cookin'.
Celia slumps her shoulders as she looks around the house.
CELIA: I know it's an awful lot to do. Five other maids have already turned me down...Can I at least give you some bus money?
MINNY: When you hear me say I don't wanna clean this house?
CELIA: What? So...You'll do it?!
Before Minny can nod. Celia throws her arms around her.
Minny backs away.
MINNY: No huggin', now. No huggin'.
CELIA: I'm sorry. This is my first time hiring a maid.
MINNY: We got to talk about some things first. I work Sunday through Friday.
Celia bites her pinky nail.
CELIA:You can't come at all on weekends.
MINNY: Okay. What time you want me here?
CELIA: After eight, and you have to leave at four.
MINNY: Okay. Now what your husband say you can pay?
Celia looks away.
50.
CELIA: Johnny doesn't know I'm bringing in help.
MINNY: And what's Mr. Johnny gone do if he comes home and finds a colored woman up in his kitchen?
CELIA: ǰIt's not that I'd be fibbing. I just want him to think I can do this on my own...I need some help with `til I get the hang of it. I need a maid.
MINNY: A course you do. Last one done got shot in the head.
Minny sniffs the air.
MINNY (CONT'D)
Miss Celia, I think you done burned up yo cake.
INT. FOOTE ESTATE - KITCHEN - SECONDS LATER
Celia grabs a rag off the sink and jerks the cake out of the oven.
CELIA: Oww! Dawgonit!
She drops the burnt cake on the floor.
MINNY: You can't use no wet towel on a hot pan.
Minny grabs a dry towel and picks up the cake.
MINNY : I'll take this burnt up cake with me so Mister Johnny don't see it.
INT. LEEFOLT HOME - MAE MOBLEY'S ROOM - MORNING
Aibileen removes Mae Mobley's wet cloth diaper on a changing table. Mae Mobley's behind is covered with inflamed diaper rash.
Aibileen shakes her head. Elizabeth enters the room.
ELIZABETH: I'm off, Aibileen. Don't forget Raleigh wants pot roast tonight.
51.
AIBILEEN: Yes, ma'am.
Aibileen's eyes narrow.
INT. AIBILEEN'S HOME - KITCHEN - LATER THAT NIGHT
Skeeter works with a typewriter now. Aibileen, more casually dressed than before, waits for Skeeter to finish typing.
AIBILEEN: I reckon I'm ready...to talk about Miss Leefolt now.
Skeeter stops typing and looks up. She nods.
AIBILEEN : Baby girl don't get her diaper changed `til I get there in the morning. That's `bout ten hours she gots to sit in her mess. I be so worried about her on my day off.
I always come in an hour early on Mondays.
INT. PHELAN PLANTATION - KITCHEN - NIGHT
Charlotte sits at a table sorting through mail as Skeeter enters and grabs an apple
AIBILEEN (Voice Over): Miss Leefolt pregnant again, too. And, law, I pray this child turn out good. It a lonely road if a momma don't think their child is pretty.
Charlotte glances down disapprovingly at the dingy, huarache shoes on Skeeter's feet. Skeeter heads for the door.
CHARLOTTE: Where are you going, Skeeter?
Skeeter turns.
SKEETER: Bible study.
CHARLOTTE: On a Saturday night?
SKEETER: Momma, God doesn't care what day of the week it is.
Skeeter walks out the back door as Charlotte shakes her head.
52.
EXT. JOLENE FRENCH'S HOUSE - GARAGE - DAY
Hilly, Elizabeth and Jolene French stand with Hilly's contractor. He unrolls a set of bathroom plans.
Hilly and Elizabeth look to Jolene and nod approvingly.
INT. AIBILEEN'S KITCHEN - NIGHT
Skeeter's typing slows.
AIBILEEN: Miss Leefolt be spending so much time keeping up with the society ladies, she done forgot the child she got now.
Just then Minny barges through the kitchen back door.
MINNY: Aibileen!
Minny stops cold in her tracks at the sight of Skeeter.
MINNY : Yule May told me what y'all up to.
Aibileen nods. Minny's face hardens.
MINNY: Medgar Evers live five minutes away. They blew up his carport last night. For talking.
Minny scowls at Skeeter.
MINNY : What makes you think colored people need your help? You white. Why you care?
AIBILEEN: We all working for the same thing.
MINNY: (TO SKEETER) Maybe you just want to get her in trouble.
Skeeter is petrified. Her face reddens.
SKEETER: I want to show her perspective...so people might understand what it's like from your side.
MINNY: Well it's a real Fourth of July picnic.
53.
MINNY (CONT'D)
It's what we dream a doing all
weekend long, get back in they
house to polish the silver. And we
just love not getting minimum wage
or Social Security.
SKEETER:
I know, Minny. Maybe things might
CHANGE IF-
MINNY:
What law's gonna say you gotta be
nice to your maid? And another
thing, I don't want my children
going to school with white kids.
And I don't care a thing about votin.' Only thing black mens get elected to is Deacon of the church.
AIBILEEN: You don't have to do this, Minny.
MINNY: You damn right I don't! You two givin' me the heart palpitations.
Minny storms out the back door. Skeeter looks like she might get sick.
AIBILEEN: And that was a good mood.
Minny immediately storms back in the kitchen.
MINNY: All right...I'm gone do it. I just want to make sure you know this ain't no game we're playing here.
Skeeter nods, trembling as Minny slides a chair in the middle of the kitchen and sits.
MINNY (TO SKEETER): Slide your chair out from under that table and face me. I want to see you square on at all times.
Still trembling, Skeeter slides her chair from the table and just sits there staring at Minny.
MINNY : I's got to come up with your questions, too?!
SKEETER: Let's begin...begin with... with where you were born.
Aibileen grabs her notebook and begins writing.
54.
MINNY: Belzoni, Mississippi on my great-auntie's sofa. Next!
INT. AIBILEEN'S HOUSE - KITCHEN - HOURS LATER
Minny talks a mile a minute. Aibileen continues writing.
AIBILEEN (Voice Over):Once Minny got to talking `bout food, she liked to never stop...
MINNY: I put the green beans in first, then I go on and get the pork chops going cause, mmm-mmm, I like my chops hot out the pan.
Just as Aibileen fills the first notebook, Skeeter hands her another from her satchel.
AIBILEEN (VoiceOver):But when she got to talking about the white ladies, it took all night...
INT. AIBILEEN'S HOUSE - KITCHEN - SUNRISE
The first signs of morning sun filter into the kitchen.
MINNY: "Oh, Minny, I'm gone give you a week paid vacation." Now, I ain't had no paid vacation in my life. A week later, I come back and they'd moved to Mobile. "Miss Lazy Fingers" scared I'd find a new job before she moved...
Minny spins around to Aibileen with sudden realization.
MINNY : We gots to get more maids!
Minny stands. Skeeter's eyes widen with hope.
AIBILEEN: I know, but it hard, Minny.
Mind racing, Minny flies out the door without a word.
Aibileen turns to Skeeter.
AIBILEEN : You gone and done it now.
55.
INT. HARPER AND ROW PUBLISHING - OFFICE - NEW YORK - DAY
Miss Stein discusses Aibileen and Minny's stories with Skeeter on the phone.
MISS STEIN: I like this "Sarah Ross." She can kvetch but not complain too much.
INT- PHELAN PLANTATION (INTERCUT) - PANTRY
Skeeter nods rapidly as if she knows what "kvetch" means.
MISS STEIN: And this "Bertha"...she's got chutzpah. I'll give her that.
SKEETER: So...you liked it?
MISS STEIN: Eugenia, Martin Luther King just invited the country to march with him in D.C. this August. This many negroes and whites haven't worked together since "Gone with the Wind."
SKEETER: Does this mean you'll publish it?
MISS STEIN: I never said that. My advice is to write it fast before this civil rights thing blows over. I need it by New Year's, and don't send me anything more until you have twelve maids.
SKEETER: Twelve?
MISS STEIN: At least.
INT. AIBILEEN'S KITCHEN - THAT NIGHT
Minny, Aibileen and Skeeter sit at the kitchen table.
MINNY: Aibileen and I done asked everbody we know. Thirty-one maids. Everbody too scared, think we crazy...
SKEETER: Then we might as well stop!
56.
MINNY: I got plenty a stories, Miss Skeeter. Just write`em down and invent a maid that said it. We already making up everbody's name. Make up the maids, too.
Skeeter jumps up from her chair.
SKEETER: We can't do that!
Aibileen and Minny lean back.
SKEETER : I mean...I would never do that. It wouldn't be real. It's wrong.
AIBILEEN: Don't give up on us, Miss Skeeter.
Skeeter softens and sits back down.
SKEETER: I'm sorry. Thank you both for trying.
INT. JACKSON JOURNAL NEWSPAPER - OFFICE - DAY
Skeeter delivers the "Miss Myrna" columns to the receptionist, who hands her back a paycheck.
INT. FOOTE ESTATE - KITCHEN
Celia and Minny stand at a fried chicken assembly line.
MINNY: What can you cook?
Minny dips pieces chicken in an egg wash, then drops them in a paper bag. A puff of flour rises out of the bag.
CELIA: I can cook corn pone, boil potatoes, and do grits.
Minny bursts out laughing.
CELIA : We didn't have electric current where I was raised.
MINNY: Well, I reckon if there's anything you ought to know `bout cooking...
Minny holds up a can of Crisco.
57.
MINNY : It's this. The most important invention since they put mayonnaise in a jar. You don't even know the things you can do with this here can.
Celia peers into the skillet as Minny spoons out a mound of Crisco.
CELIA: How pretty. Looks like frosting.
Minny rolls her eyes and hands Celia the bag of Chicken.
MINNY: Shake that.
Celia starts shaking the bag.
CELIA: This is fun!
INT. FOOTE ESTATE - KITCHEN - LATER
Minny sits down at the table with a plate of chicken. Celia sits down next to her.
CELIA: Looks so good! I'm starved.
Aggravated, Minny stands.
MINNY: You supposed to eat in the dining room, Miss Celia. That how it works.
Minny grabs Celia's plate.
MINNY : Here, I'll take your plate in the dinin' room for ya. Want tea?
CELIA: I'm fine right here, Minny.
Minny sits back down with a sigh. Celia touches her arm.
CELIA : I'm real grateful you're here.
MINNY: Miss Celia, you got a lot more to
be grateful for than me.
A car is heard pulling up in the driveway. Minny panics.
MINNY : Mister Johnny?!
58.
CELIA: Oh, no! Hide!
Minny slides down underneath the kitchen table.
CELIA : Oh...It's just the florist. Johnny must have sent me flowers.
Minny pulls herself up off the floor. She's mad.
MINNY: Miss Celia, I ain't playin' around no more! He gone catch me here and shoot me dead right here on this no- wax floor! You gots to tell him. Ain't he wondering how the cooking so good?
CELIA FOOTE: You're right. Maybe we ought to burn the chicken a little.
The doorbell rings. Celia runs off to answer.
MINNY: Minny don't burn chicken.
INT. PHELAN PLANTATION - KITCHEN - DAY
Skeeter sits with a towel draped across her shoulders.
Charlotte, now in an auburn wig, squirts mounds of goo from a pink tube onto Skeeter's hair.
CHARLOTTE: This is bound to work, Sweetie. It even smells expensive.
She begins twisting Skeeter's hair into gooey spikes.
SKEETER: I feel the hope in your fingers.
Skeeter resembles a papier maché starfish.
CHARLOTTE: How can you not know his last name?
SKEETER: He's William's cousin. That's all I know.
CHARLOTTE:That's just so sweet of Hilly.
Charlotte takes a drag from her cigarette, then lifts up a silver machine complete with power cord and rubber hose.
SKEETER: What is that?!
59.
CHARLOTTE: The Shinolator! It cost eleven dollars. I'm a good mother.
Charlotte puts a shower cap device on Skeeter's head and reads from the Shinolator manual.
CHARLOTTE : "The Miracle Straitening Cap" must remain on the head for two hours."
SKEETER: Two hours?!
Charlotte flips a switch and takes another drag. The machine groans to life. Skeeter's cap inflates.
CHARLOTTE: I'll have Pascagoula bring you a magazine.
Skeeter snatches her mother's cigarette and takes a drag.
INT. PHELAN PLANTATION - KITCHEN - MOMENTS LATER
Skeeter sits under the Shinolator buried in a magazine.
Pascagoula enters and sets down a glass of tea.
SKEETER: Thanks, Constantine. Do you think this dress is cute?
Skeeter holds the magazine up to Pascagoula. Only now does she realize what she's said and done.
SKEETER: I'm sorry. Thanks, Pascagoula.
Pascagoula nods and starts to walk away then turns.
PASCAGOLUA: I knew Constantine. She was a mighty fine woman.
INT. PHELEN PLANTATION - SKEETER'S BEDROOM - LATER THAT DAY
The Shinolator was a success. Skeeter's hair is straight, silky and beautiful.
SKEETER: Holy sh*t.
CHARLOTTE: You've shrunk five inches. You'll be able to wear heels tonight.
Charlotte looks down to the huarache shoes on Skeeter's feet and rushes to the closet.
60.
CHARLOTTE : You're not leaving this house in those awful, Mexican, man shoes.
Charlotte pulls out a dress and pair of heels.
CHARLOTTE : What time is he picking you up?
SKEETER: He's meeting me at Hilly's. Can I take the Cadillac?
CHARLOTTE: We promised Carlton the Cadillac tonight. So, William's cousin will just have to come get you himself.
SKEETER: I'll take the truck.
CHARLOTTE: It's hooked to the motor grader.
SKEETER: I'll drive slow.
EXT. PHELAN PLANTATION - FIELD - LATER THAT AFTERNOON
Skeeter pulls away in a rusted 1941 Chevy farm truck with a huge motor grader attached. Charlotte runs next to the truck. Her wig is askew.
CHARLOTTE: Don't mope. Remember to smile!
Skeeter floors it. Charlotte runs faster.
CHARLOTTE : And, don't sit like some squaw Indian. Cross! Your! Ankles!
Skeeter leaves her mother in a cloud of dust.
CHARLOTTE : (SHOUTING) I love you!
INT. FARM TRUCK - COUNTRY ROAD - MOMENTS LATER
Chunks of mud fly off the tires. The June sun has set the truck's interior at a stubborn 115 degrees.
Skeeter has no choice but to lower her window. The Shinolator meets its match.
A mangy, STRAY CAT suddenly jumps out in the road. When towing 10,000 pounds of farm equipment, slowing down quickly isn't an option.
61.
A loud thud sounds out from the truck's grill.
INT. HOLBROOK HOUSE - PARLOR - LATER THAT NIGHT
Hilly, her husband, WILLIAM, and Skeeter's date, STUART WHITWORTH, drink high balls and eat cheese in the Holbrook parlor. Gold swag curtains hang on the windows.
Balding and pudgy, only William's family money once made him a desirable bachelor. Stuart, on the other hand, is very handsome, the "Marlboro Man" in a well-tailored suit.
Yule May (who we met earlier at church with Aibileen) now works for Hilly. She clears empty glasses.
WILLIAM: With your daddy's endorsement, I can win that Senate seat.
Stuart feigns interest.
STUART: I'll talk to him.
Ice slams against Stuart's teeth as he downs his drink.
Hilly pats William's leg then turns with concern to a grandfather clock announcing half past the hour.
The front door flies open. Skeeter enters completely out of breath and sweaty. Her HAIR HAS TRIPLED IN SIZE. She waves.
SKEETER: Hey.
As Hilly races toward Skeeter, William and Stuart stand.
Stuart is as tall as he is handsome.
HILLY: Boys, we'll be right back. Y'all talk about quarterbacks or something. Yule May, get Miss Skeeter a Coca Cola.
Yule May runs off. Hilly pulls Skeeter down the hall.
INT. HOLBROOK HOUSE - BATHROOM - MOMENTS LATER
Skeeter sits on the toilet downing a Coca-Cola. Hilly twists the last of Skeeter's hair into giant rollers.
HILLY: Skeeter, you don't even have on lipstick!
Skeeter dabs her armpits.
62.
SKEETER: It was so goddamn awful. I hit a cat.
Hilly sprays Final Net.
HILLY: Well...What do you think of him?
Skeeter applies lipstick. Hilly removes the rollers.
SKEETER: He looks handsome.
Skeeter stands up and does a twirl for Hilly.
SKEETER : All right, give it to me. One to ten?
Hilly sprays Skeeter with perfume and stands back.
HILLY: Seven.
SKEETER: Really?! Seven?
Hilly nods, lets out a little squeal.
HILLY: Honey, you're beautiful. Just go on out there...you're gonna do great. It's your time, Skeeter. I just know it.
Hilly hugs Skeeter.
INT. ROBERT E. LEE HOTEL - DINING ROOM - NIGHT
Hilly, William, Stuart and Skeeter sit at a round table adorned with white linens, silver and fine china.
The room buzzes with Jackson's elite all trying to be noticed as a JAZZ QUARTET plays softly in a corner.
A WAITER approaches. Stuart leans into Skeeter without making eye contact.
STUART: You want a drink?
SKEETER: Just water, please.
STUART: (TO WAITER) Double Old Kentucky straight...with a water back...Make that two backs.
63.
SKEETER: THANKS?! So...you went to Alabama?
Stuart nods. Hilly rolls her eyes.
HILLY: "Roll Tide." We still love him.
Hilly pinches Stuart on the cheek.
SKEETER: Now you're in the oil business.
Hilly says you're a rigsite leader.
STUART: The money's good. If that's what you really want to know.
SKEETER: That's not what I-
Skeeter and Hilly watch as Stuart's and William's eyes fix on the front of the restaurant.
Celia and Johnny have entered. Celia wears a tight green dress and the reddest lipstick ever put in a tube.
STUART: Isn't that your old boyfriend, Hilly? Johnny Foote?
Hilly scowls.
STUART : Who's his girl? Lord, she's hotter than Delta asphalt.
Celia spots Hilly and gives a self-conscious wave.
HILLY: William! The Lieutenant Governor just walked in.
Hilly jumps up and pulls William away. The waiter returns with Stuart's drink and the water backs.
STUART: So, what do you do with your time?
SKEETER: I write a...a domestic maintenance column for the Jackson Journal.
Stuart smirks, taking a huge sip of his drink.
STUART: You mean housekeeping?
Skeeter nods and grabs her water.
64.
STUART : Jesus, I can't think of anything worse than reading a cleaning column. Except maybe writing one.
INT. ROBERT E. LEE HOTEL - LOBBY - SAME TIME
Hilly and William finish shaking hands with the Lieutenant Governor. As he walks away, Hilly shouts out.
HILLY: We'd love your support on election day!
Celia and Johnny walk up. Hilly stiffens.
JOHNNY: Hilly, you look lovely tonight.
HILLY: Thank you, Johnny.
JOHNNY: William, have you ever met Celia?
William steps forward and shakes Celia's hand.
WILLIAM: Nice to meet you.
Hilly grabs the crook of William's arm.
HILLY: Sweetie, we need to go order our dinners.
Celia musters up all the courage inside her.
CELIA FOOTE: Hilly, did you ever get the messages that I've been calling you?
HILLY: I did not.
CELIA FOOTE: Well, I would love to help with the benefit. I have a lovely hand if you need invitations addressed.
HILLY: "Save the dates" were mailed weeks ago ...You didn't get one?
Celia shakes her head.
HILLY : Mail's a lot slower way out there in the country, huh?
65.
HILLY (CONT'D)(TO WILLIAM): Now, come on, before they run out of Trout Almondine.
Hilly pulls William away. Johnny grabs Celia's hand.
INT. ROBERT E. LEE HOTEL - DINING ROOM - CONTINUOUS
STUART: Sounds like a ploy to find a husband... becoming an expert on keeping house.
SKEETER: Well, you must be a genius. You figured out my whole scheme.
Skeeter fumes as Hilly and William return and sit.
HILLY: What'd we miss?
STUART: Isn't that what you women from Ole Miss major in? Professional husband hunting?
SKEETER: I'm sorry, but were you dropped on your head as an infant?
Stuart blinks and then smiles, somewhat impressed. Desperate to change the subject, Hilly claps her hands.
HILLY: Who? Is? Hungry?
Skeeter stands.
SKEETER: Not me! A kiss from God couldn't turn this `frog' into a `prince.'
Tables begin to stare.
STUART: Or you a `princess,' Sweetheart!
As Skeeter walks away, she purposefully slides her purse into a glass of water, knocking it over into Stuart's lap.
INT. HOLBROOK HOUSE - DINING ROOM - MORNING
Hilly and William each have a section of newspaper in their face as Yule May clears breakfast dishes. Yule May lingers nervously.
66.
HILLY: Run on, now, Yule May. Got a big crowd coming for Miss Leefolt's baby shower.
YULE MAY: Miss Hilly, I would like to ask you and Mister William something.
Hilly lowers her paper and nods. Yule May begins wrenching her hands.
YULE MAY : My twin boys finished high school, both on the honor roll...My husband and I have been saving for years to send them to college.
HILLY: Okay...
Only now does William lower his paper.
YULE MAY: We are short seventy-five dollars on one of the tuitions.
William stands up, kisses Hilly on the cheek.
WILLIAM: Well, I'm late. Gotta go.
William leaves.
HILLY: Go on...
YULE MAY: Now...We're faced with having to choose. Which son gets to go...if we don't find all the money.
Hilly draws in a deep breath as does Yule May.
YULE MAY : Would you consider givin' us a loan? I'll...I'll work for free until it's paid off.
HILLY: That's not working for free, Yule May. That's paying off a debt.
YULE MAY:
Yes, ma'am.
HILLY: As a Christian, I'm going to do you a favor.
Yule May's eyes widen as a hopeful smile forms.
67.
HILLY : God doesn't give charity to those who are well and able. You need to come up with this money on your own. You'll thank me one day.
Hilly raises the paper up to her face as Yule May exits.
INT. WHITE GROCERY STORE - LATER THAT MORNING
Minny and Aibileen, in uniform, push carts side by side in the grocery store. The white shoppers are dressed casually.
Other maids in the store (all required to be in uniform while shopping) keep quietly to themselves.
White women smile and chat with one another as they meander down the aisles as if the black maids aren't even there.
Minny suddenly spots Celia in the produce section. She pulls Aibileen close as they peer around the corner.
MINNY: That's her.
Aibileen's mouth drops open at the sight of Celia's shorts and tight sweater. Celia is having trouble selecting produce.
MINNY : Lord, she's trying to shop.
Celia walks up to a maid, grabs her, and pulls her to the tomatoes. The maid, clearly uncomfortable, selects a tomato, hands it to Celia, and scurries away.
CELIA:(SHOUTS OUT) Thanks, Doll!
MINNY: Miss Celia just don't see `em. The lines. Not between us, Miss Hilly, nobody.
Aibileen just nods.
MINNY : What you so quiet for? I know you got a opinion `bout all this.
AIBILEEN: You gone accuse me a philosophizing.
MINNY: I ain't afraid a no philosophy.
68.
AIBILEEN: I don't believe in lines anymore.
Lines is in our heads `cause people like Miss Hilly try to make us believe they there.
Celia squeezes a canteloupe with another scared maid.
MINNY: Oh, they there. I know. I get punished for crossing them.
EXT. BUS STOP - MOMENTS LATER
Aibileen and Minny continue their conversation while waiting with several other maids at a bus stop in front of the store.
AIBILEEN: Lotta of folk think if you talk back to your husband, you crossed a line...need to be punished.
MINNY: You know I ain't studying no line like that.
AIBILEEN: Cause it ain't there. `Cept in Leroy's head. Lines between black and white ain't there either.
Minny and Aibileen watch as Celia exits the store with her groceries and prances toward her car.
MINNY: So, I ain't crossing no line if I tell Miss Celia she ain't good enough for Miss Hilly? Tell her she ain't in Miss Hilly's league?
AIBILEEN: All I'm saying is kindness don't have no boundaries.
Just then, MYRLIE EVERS, 30, (Medgar Evers wife) approaches the bus stop with her three Children. SONS, 10 and 3, and a DAUGHTER, 8.
Aibileen and Minny nod as the Evers walk past and sit on a bench.
AIBILEEN : Law, the Evers children have gotten so big!
MINNY:(QUIETLY) Cause they happy. Myrlie got her a good man...And you better not try to say they ain't no line between her Medgar and my Leroy.
69.
AIBILEEN: No. You got me.
A bus pulls up and the doors open. Minny, Aibileen and the other maids step aside to let the Evers family board first.
EXT. HOLBROOK HOUSE - BACK YARD - LATER THAT DAY
Aibileen has come along to aid Yule May with Elizabeth's baby shower.
A table is set in the middle of the yard covered in white linens and Hilly's best sliver.
Hilly's son sits on her lap. The other girls' children wear bathing suits jumping noisily in and out of two plastic kiddy pools.
Yule May clears cake plates while Aibileen removes crumbs with a sterling crumb scraper.
Mae Mobley wanders up to the table. Her belly almost looks distended crammed inside last year's one piece.
MAE MOBLEY: Mae Mo hungry, Momma.
Elizabeth turns to Mae Mobley but never gets up.
ELIZABETH: She's always hungry.
All the women laugh except for Skeeter.
SKEETER: You know she can hear you, Elizabeth?
Elizabeth looks down to her plate. Aibileen sets down the scraper and kneels down to Mae Mobley.
AIBILEEN: I'm on cut you some cake, Baby.
ELIZABETH: Aibileen, we gave that scraper to Hilly and William for their wedding present. Chantilly!
AIBILEEN: It so pretty.
Hilly begins bouncing William Jr. on her knee.
HILLY: Aibileen, are you enjoying your new bathroom over at Elizabeth's?
Hilly nods with a tight smile and glances to the ground at
Skeeter's red satchel.
70.
HILLY: Nice to have your own, isn't it?
AIBILEEN: Yes, ma'am.
HILLY: Separate but equal. That's what Ross Barnett says, and you can't argue with the Governor.
SKEETER: Not in Mississippi. Birthplace of modern day government.
Hilly narrows her eyes at Skeeter and turns to Aibileen.
HILLY: Aibileen, did you know that me and Mister Holbrook arranged for that bathroom? Sent the boys over and the equipment, too.
Hilly stays on Aibileen, waiting for her to say something.
Skeeter fumes, hoping Aibileen doesn't say it.
AIBILEEN: Yes, ma'am...And I thank you.
Hilly smiles and nods.
HILLY: Well...You. Are. Welcome.
Hilly shoots Skeeter a last look. William Jr. leans into Hilly and hugs her.
AIBILEEN (VoiceOver): One thing I got to say about Miss Hilly, she love her children. Always tellin' them they smart and beautiful. Can't go more than ten minutes without givin' one a kiss.
Hilly kisses her son gently.
AIBILEEN (VoiceOver) : And, law, do they love her back. When she starts up on me, I just try and think a my sweet Treelore and how much he loved me. That kind a love makes me cry. Even when it going to Miss Hilly.
Hilly again glances to the red satchel, staring quizzically at the worn booklet of The Jim Crow laws sticking out.
INT. HOLBROOK HOUSE - KITCHEN - LATER THAT DAY
Yule May washes dishes as the women are heard saying their "good-byes" on the street. Skeeter slips into the kitchen.
71.
YULE MAY: May I get you something?
SKEETER: No, thanks...(HUSHED): Yule May, I wanted to talk to you.
Yule May turns off the sink faucet making sure Hilly is still cackling out on the street.
YULE MAY: I know what you want to ask, Miss
Skeeter. Aibileen and Minny already did.
Yule May closes the kitchen door.
YULE MAY : I'm trying to get my boys off to college. It's worthwhile what y'all doing, but my boys are worth more.
SKEETER: I understand.
HILLY: What do you "understand," Skeeter?
Skeeter and Yule May turn to find Hilly standing in the swinging door leading into the dining room.
SKEETER: Ah...Yule May was just telling me how excited she was that her boys were going to go to college.
( NEXT HERE )
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