I watched Driving Miss Daisy last night for the first time since it was released in 1989 co-incidentally the same year I switched from the gas company to the oil company.
I saw it with very different eyes 15 years later. Growing older can sure change your perspective on life and the world. I could not get over the humility that Freeman's character Hoke displayed. As one reviewer puts it:
At first, the self-sufficient Miss Daisy is reluctant to accept the services of a chauffeur, but Hoke is quiet, wise, and tolerant, and as the years pass the unlikely friends develop a deep mutual respect and admiration.
Having just completed Freedom of Simplicity in which Foster describes humility as the most coveted of all theological values and goes on further to suggest that it has a gentleness about it that is delightful. (ref p129.) this is what I saw in Hoke as he went about building his relationship with Miss Daisy.
I also saw a lot of myself in Miss Daisy in her stubbornness, fierce need for independence and unwitting bigotry. It is so easy to look past your faults that every so often it does you good to see a part of you displayed on screen. I guess recognising it helps but fixing it needs dedication. I was joking with a friend in church about my 'bad' temper when driving and from time to time I promise myself I will change. It seems to be a habit though that happens before I think of it. I will have to try and be a little bit more like Hoke when behind the wheel- both in the car and in my life.
Nice to enjoy a movie and get a life lesson at the same time for a change...
very interesting how one sees the same "thing" (whether a movie, or book, or event, or Bible text/truth, etc) The dynamic of our personal growth and maturity often deepens the understanding in a mysterious way.
Posted by: Sivin Kit | July 21, 2004 at 04:53 PM