Exactly. Spoke to the author this weekend and this is exactly what she said inspired it. You nailed it. Now she is on to a new story.
It's really annoying to see so many people on both sides getting so hot and bothered about it. It's simply a story, for goodness sake!
I wish she would write more about the Help, I read the book and really liked it but I was left wanting to know what happened to all of the characters.