Topic > Driving Miss Daisy: Friendship in the Face of Hate

How can two old dogs learn a new trick and overcome the deeply rooted seed of ethnic prejudice? In the film Driving Miss Daisy, Daisy Werthan (played by Jessica Tandy) and Hoke Colburn (played by Morgan Freeman) eradicate their assumptions through a friendship that develops in the latter part of their lives. In the context of the African American civil rights movement and Jim Crow, the film addresses the African American-Jewish relationship from the outside in and vice versa. In this way he paints a picture of Southern Jewishness as distinct from the typical North American Jew. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The film covers a long time span, twenty-five years to be exact (1948-1973). The African American civil rights movement took place during the middle of this period. The Movement saw the height of the African-American-Jewish relationship, a “golden age.” However, this relationship was mainly in favor of the Northern Jews. The indifference of Southern Jews is evident, even when Daisy states that she has no prejudice in eating alone: ​​it is a profound fact. The 1958 Atlanta Temple bombing (which the film imitates) and, to a lesser extent, the lynching of Leo Frank (which occurred much earlier, in 1915) set the precedence for intolerance toward “others.” The film presents Jewishness in contrast to Southerners. Although none of the characters have the typical Ashkenazi Jewish style of New York, from Daisy to Florine there is a noticeable difference. The film presents Jewishness in a tense relationship with assimilation. Daisy regularly attends church services and plays mahjong, while Florine hosts Christmas parties and seems to have abandoned her Jewishness entirely. The contrast between the two highlights the generational shift towards assimilation. Boolie, who acts as an intermediary between the two women, is also concerned about his degree of assimilation. When Daisy invites Boolie to attend Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech, he refuses because it would ostracize him from the white social community, which might lead them to choose another Jew as a business partner. Boolie's concern with assimilation is twofold and addresses the tense African-American-Jewish relationship presented in the film. The driving theme of the film is the exploration of the similarity of ethnic prejudice in both the form of anti-Semitism and racism. Although both African Americans and Jews experience different components of ethnic discrimination, there is one key similarity to note. An outsider's perception of a negative ethnic connotation is expressed by the Alabama police when they say: “An old black man and an old Jewess walking down the road together. This is an unpleasant sight. The statement focuses on the fact that being African American or Jewish is unfavorable, not that perhaps the other is preferable. The common differences between African Americans and Jews are evident in both distinctive components, race and religion, among others. The film shows that, although they may be able to find many differences, discriminators see them together as “others”. The film acknowledges the difficulty of identifying similarities within the dynamics of the African-American-Jewish relationship. Although it was immediately obvious to the policeman, Daisy and Hoke's shared “otherness” only blossoms during the bombing scene. Even though they don't know exactly who committed the deed, Hoke states, “You know as well as I do, Miss Daisy. They will always be the same." Hoke is able to empathize with the shocked Daisy, because she can relate to her ethnicity being targeted by a terrorist. The film demonstrates the weight.