Watching “Driving Miss Daisy” was an eye-opening experience for me. Since I am Jewish I understand the son’s frustration with his mother. My grandma is just as stubborn as Miss Daisy was.
The movie begins when Miss Daisy gets into a car accident. Her son arranges for her to have a chauffeur, Hoke an African American man, to take her where she needs to go. It takes a lot of time for Miss Daisy to get used to having Hoke around.
For the first couple of days, Hoke would do household chores to pass the time, but as soon as she saw him she would scold him. When she finally left the house, she refused to get in the car with him. It’s not until he is driving right next to her, and is seen by her neighbors that she decides to get in the car.
Even though the relationship between Miss Daisy and Hoke got off to a rocky start, in the end, you can see the trust, loyalty, and love between them.
Throughout the film, there were many racial issues. The first time is when Miss Daisy woke up and went downstairs to her pantry. She notices canned salmon missing from the stack and finds the can hidden in the garbage. She calls her son and forces him to get to her house right away. He gets there and tries to reason with her. She is not listening and wants Hoke fired.
As Hoke walks in, he is immediately confronted with an urgent conversation. He goes to put his coat away, but as he is leaving the room, he says that he ate a can of salmon. He then proceeds to tell her that he picked up a can to replace it. This stuns Miss Daisy. She then dismisses the issue and goes to get ready for the day.
Another instance is when they are on a road trip to Alabama to go to Miss Daisy's brother's 90th birthday party. They were on the side of the road having a picnic lunch when two officers approached them. They are skeptical of Miss Daisy and Hoke. They eventually let them leave since the registration and I.D. check out.
Along with the racist moments, there are moments of bonding and full friendship. When Miss Daisy and Hoke are visiting a cemetery to clean the graves and leave flowers for her loved ones, Hoke offers to go put the flowers on the next grave.
She tells him the name and the approximate location of the gravestone. As he is looking over in the approximate direction, he turns back to her and tells her he can’t find it.
She says then go walk over and look. It comes out that he can’t read. Miss Daisy is taken aback by this and helps him sound out the beginning and end of the name so that way he can find it.
Later on in the movie, you see her handing him a gift. It’s a book that will help him learn to read. The final moment that stood out to me was one of the final scenes. Hoke walks into the door and can’t find Miss Daisy.
As he is going upstairs he finds her all upset and anxious that she is going to be late for work. He brings her upstairs to look for the papers. She sits in the chair in the corner and tells Hoke that he is her best friend.
That moment really touched my heart, because I saw the evolution come full circle from the beginning of the film.
I really enjoyed the film and would definitely recommend it to anyone.
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