Driving Miss Daisy
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Daisy Werthan: "Hoke?" |
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The 1987 Pulitzer-Prize winner for Drama, Driving Miss Daisy was later adapted for the screen, by its playwright Alfred Uhry and director Bruce Beresford, into 1989's Best Picture Academy Award winner. The film also made Jessica Tandy, age 80, the oldest winner of the Best Actress Oscar.
This play chronicles 25 years in the life of an elderly Jewish widow named Daisy Werthan, and her Black chauffeur, Hoke Colburn. He's hired by her son, Boolie, when she can no longer drive herself. At first, Ms. Daisy objects to the changes in her life. But eventually, the two transcend their differences to become lifelong friends. The play was based on real people: Uhry's grandmother and her retainer.
This movie is not exceptionally well remembered today. Indeed, lots of people only know about it due to being one of the earlier lead roles of Morgan Freeman and for the controversy of it winning when Do the Right Thing wasn't even nominated. And sometimes for being called "bullshit" in Public Enemy's "Burn Hollywood Burn".
- Call Back: In the beginning of the film Hoke describes how there's a nice patch of dirt in the backyard that he could turn into a vegetable garden, Daisy refuses and demands that he stop messing with her things. Near the end of the film (15-20 years later) they're seen working on a beautiful vegetable garden in her backyard.
- Civil Rights Movement: Discussed between Daisy and her son; later Daisy goes to watch Martin Luther King give a speech.
- Deadpan Snarker: Miss Daisy.
- Deep South: Atlanta Georgia to be specific.
- Drop What You Are Doing: Idella drops a bowl of peas when she dies..
- Ethnic Menial Labor: Idella and Hoke.
- Flanderization: Not the movie itself, but you can bet that when someone parodies this movie, it will be a Shallow Parody with Hoke done in such over-the-top minstrel style that it goes from just bad parody to Unfortunate Implications.
- Grande Dame: Daisy appears to begin the movie as a cynical version of this trope and move over towards the idealistic by the end.
- Greedy Jew: Lampshaded by Daisy as she hates being reminded how wealthy she is by anyone.
- Her real issue is that her son is wealthy, and by extension, so is she.
- Magical Negro: Though he has no magical powers, Hoke does change Ms. Daisy's life for the better.
- Morgan Freeman: Opened with the original Off-Broadway cast, and brought his performance to the film version.
- Old Retainer: Hoke.
- Oscar Bait: Obvious attempt, and succeeded (won Best Picture). Trying to get anyone to remember the movie in a serious context is surprisingly difficult, however.
- Racist Grandma: Subverted. See Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior! below.
- Rule of Three: Boolie.
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Boolie: "Goodbyeeee...!" |
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- Sanity Slippage: Poor Daisy.
- Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior! Miss Daisy, and to some extent also Hoke. Surprisingly enough, Miss Daisy is not racist, neither is her son, and in fact she is Jewish herself (other than you expect an old rich woman from the southern states to be in other movies). She does still despise Hoke at the beginning, for patronizing her. To her son too.
- She doesn't like Hoke because Boolie hired him. She's fiercely independent.
- Secretly Wealthy: Miss Daisy wishes and tries to act like this, she does not succeed.
- Verbing Miss Nouny
- With Due Respect: Much of Hoke's discussion with Daisy is based on this.
