MovieChat Forums > The Color Purple (1986) Discussion > Anyone else despise Miss Millie?

Anyone else despise Miss Millie?


I cant stand Miss Millie who Sofia ends up working as a maid for. She's a total nightmare. Whenever I see her appear in the film I get so mad at her spoilt bitch of a face.

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How can you not hate her? And her totally spoiled bitch fit: "I've always gone out of my way for coloreds!"

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Sophia was imprisioned for 8 years, the reason her eye got messed up was when the Sherriff ran up to her, (gun already raised)as she beggs him to help her.. he hit her right over her eye with the butt of his gun. Now, to the subject matter; No, I did NOT dispise Miss Millie,( I totally fealt sorry for Sophia... however it was her temper (and pride) that got her in trouble. Even Laurence Fishbourne's character knew she was going to get in trouble because of her temper. Now, i am NOT saying it is right of them to lock her up (especially for so long just to knock a man down)...NEVER would i say that... but she was EXTREAMLY lucky they didn't just kill her. ) Miss Millie was as a poster said earlier very child like... and ignorant. She was easily flustered, and when she was out of her element she lost it... Sophia was her "security blanket" and she couldnt cope when she was out of that zone."I dont know her" Its sad really. But please people dont blame the actress... it was the writer/screenwriter/director that got her to act so convincingly.

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Good point about Sophia...when we first meet her, we admire her defiance, but it turns out that she got in trouble through too much defiance and too little prudence. The spirit we admire slams up against the realities of her world. Now, I'm in no way suggesting she deserved what she got, but as you said, even her paramour realized she was going too far. Maybe she'd have managed better if, when Millie asked her to be her maid, she'd said something like "Thank you kindly, ma'am, but I got enough to do to keep my own brood in line," and left it at that. (With just enough false sincerity that we'd KNOW it was false.)

It's funny, but just this evening I was watching an old "Jeffersons" re-run featuring Louise's ex-butler uncle. He's a very savvy, shrewd man, but George and Lionel look down their noses at him for being an "Uncle Tom." Eventually, the uncle points out that in the thirties and forties, he'd had no choice--it was how he survived. It's all very well for George and Lionel, with their opportunities, to scoff at him, but they've never been in a situation where NOT being an "Uncle Tom" could get you lynched. (I also loved when the uncle tells Lionel off: "If it hadn't been for 'old Toms' like us, you young bloods wouldn't be where you are!") So maybe the same thing might have applied to Sophia.

It's not in the movie, but in the book, later in her life Sophia shows how she has tempered her spirit with prudence. Eleanor Jane, Millie's daughter, who always showed Sophia kindness, has a young son, and she tries to get Sophia to say how much she just LOVES the baby. Quietly but firmly, Sophia says, "No ma'am...I do not love this child. I feel something for you because you were always kind to me, but I've got nothing to offer your kin but what they offered me." No cussing her out, yelling, or hitting.

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Sounds like you need to get over yourself, because it also sounds like you know everyone else is over you.

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The arguments concerning race you made show a stunning lack of the ability to accept that viewpoints different from your own are just as valid considering the circumstances. Perhaps you personally would not react in the same way (although I doubt you really have the ability to wear the shoes correctly in your mind) the fact is that a lot of people WOULD, regardless of their skin color. Such a logically flawed argument coming from someone who, judging by their other comments on this site, believes themselves to be an intelligent person are curious to say the least.

You should take your own advice on life and try to expand your horizons a bit. And only a fool fears nothing.

But really, why such vitriol Violet? Is the heat down there getting to you?

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Ummm...not to dispute you too forcefully, but often various ethnic groups refer to themselves by their ancestry: there are Irish-Americans, Italian-Americans, etc.

Since I am white but of mixed heritage, I sometimes refer to myself as a Northern-European-American (Irish, Scottish, Welsh, British, German).

My sister is partially African-American, and what annoys and amuses her (depending on mood) is that in society this is the one element of her racial background that she is labelled with; likewise her daughters who are also Italian-American.

We really have to get over this labeling thing to progress as a society.

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[deleted]

I despised Miss Millie, too. At first, you think she is just ignorant. But then you see the true evil side when she demands that Sofia drive her home. She had a totally evil look in her eye.

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I am a southern white woman, and I always cringe when I see the scenes involving Miss Millie. It is quite clear she believes herself to be progressive--she would be shocked if you suggested that she was a racist. When she kisses Sophia's children and comments on how "clean" they are, I just want to smack her.

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She doesn't have enough air time for me to despise her. But she is certainly annoying and freaking stupid.

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At first, you think she is just ignorant. But then you see the true evil side when she demands that Sofia drive her home. She had a totally evil look in her eye.

Agreed. You think she's just an ignorant bitch at first, but then when Sophia all but begs to be allowed to see her family Miss Millie clearly enjoyed telling her she couldn't.

But what I always wondered: What should have Sophia have said to Miss Millie that would shut that lady up? I could understand being so angry at being asked to be someone's maid, but given the racial situation then...what should Sophia have said to refuse and not angered that twat Miss Millie? No thank you? Or I'm already someone's maid thank you ma'am?


"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush."

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Are you serious? Why would she allow Sophia to go all the way to that house, then get herself scared and stuck in that car just so she could deliberately yank her away from all her kids again??

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wow being that i am a mix of some many thing should i call myself african-french-iranian-native-american? even with all that growing up in texas i was still called the N-word. its funny to me i don't care who says it just doesn't matter anymore. Obama is just another man in office trying to change things the way he thinks they should be run not anyones leader. If you really looked at some of his policies you would be surprised. hopefully it all works out and he leads us back to where we was as a nation.

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Wow...

Is your post serious? Your post makes you seem incredibly racist and bitter. Maybe you should think about what you wrote before trying to tell someone the USA isn't still racist.

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