MovieChat Forums > A Little Princess (1995) Discussion > No Redemption for Ms.Minchin?

No Redemption for Ms.Minchin?

posted 9 years ago by blakkdog
17 replies | jump to latest

Maybe Im the only one but I wasnt a huge fan with how they handled Ms. Minchin at the end. Yes she was a bitch but she never seemed to me to be evil (or a Cruella de Vil like character where there is no hope of redemption, just defeat or escape). To me there was clearly a child deep in there that had been hurt very badly when she was young apparently by her father or both parents and hadnt been treated the way Sara is treated by her father. And because of that shes grown cold and angry and especially has an issue with Sara because of that. But Sara is all about finding the "princess" in every girl. She befriends the fat dumb one nobody likes and tells her shes special. She soothes the crier that annoys everyone else. She seeks out the black servant and calls her "sister" in an age when that would be unthinkable. She gives her rare bakery treat to another little girl she can see is even harder up then her. Yet she cant see that Ms. Minchin, despite being an antagonist to her, actually needs love and praise as well? I kind of felt that it should have ended with her taking the reigns and reducing Ms. Minchin to tears like she started to but then being tender and telling her she was special too and having a big break through scene where everyone is crying and Ms. Minchin has an Amazing Grace moment. That would have been better then her teetering on a slippery board 3 stories above the ground and going into hysterics trying to get her dad to recognize her. Didnt like that side of her. And I especially didnt like seeing Ms. Minchin as a chimney sweep acting like a piece of trash. That was terrible. I would have much rather seen her have a Ebeneezer Scrooge moment and turn the school into a kids perfect dream come true. But maybe thats just me...

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Using words to describe art is like using a screw driver to cut roast beef.

[–] perezosamariposa 9 years ago

Minchin's fate at the end is definitely her just desserts. Yes, that tear she wipes away in the attic scene after taking Sara's locket is telling of her own painful childhood and how jaded she has become as an adult. It humanizes her but it doesn't excuse her behavior or treatment of the girls or the chimney sweep boy(her future boss, rightfully so).

She's a terrible teacher and head mistress(humilating Ermengarde
for not knowing 7x8), bossy and demeaning older sister, a generally miserable malcontent who projects her misery onto others. She did nothing redemptive in the whole film, other than NOT throwing Sara out on the street after her dad went missing. IMHO, she got exactly what she deserved in the end given

[–] ricky_says_hi 9 years ago

Well that's the thing: having a sympathetic backstory is sad and all. But it doesn't justify anything. Someone should only be redeemed if they choose to be and do good. Miss Minchin chose to bully her students and abuse two orphan girls as servants at the school.

Her backstory isn't stated in the book but it's implied that she despises Sara so much because Sara saw through her right from the beginning. Sara accidentally embarrassed her in front of the French teacher and exposed her as a lower class woman trying to make herself seem all grand and impressive. So Minchin's vendetta against the little girl is pretty much just born out of spite

She doesn't get much of a comeuppance in the book. She keeps the school but Sara lives next door, so it's implied that she'll be forever living in fear that Sara could ruin her with one word to her father's solicitor. That wouldn't be a very satisfying ending for a modern audience - so that's why she ends up losing the school and being reduced to a chimney sweep

I'm gonna die of long hair!

[–] jw1044 9 years ago

You are too much of a soft heart.. the cold-hearted woman got what she deserved. TAKING THE LOCKET WAS Evil.

[–] ShiningSeal 8 years ago

I agree.
Yes it would have been great if Miss Minchin would have been redeemed, but as the villain, she got her comeuppance.

And I don't think Sarah's hysterics with regards to her father and his memory was bad at all - if anything, it's understandable, given that she thought he was, you know...DEAD...

[–] Pmdmnym 9 years ago

WOW. Blakkdog, you are a very sweet, nice person. Much better than I!
Normally I would agree with you where everyone should be cut a break. But Ms. Minchin was SUCH a HUGE evil b----, that she doesn't deserve anything!!! She was pure evil, straight from the devil. And at the end where she is her chimney sweep's HELPER (gotta love it) it almost funny. she complains and says, "when's my break?" So don't feel too sorry for her. She is getting her Karma!

F--- him....... He's trash (Robert Loggia-"Jagged Edge")

[–] blakkdog 9 years ago

Gotta disagree with the notion that she is a two dimensional "evil" character. If she was simply evil, we wouldnt be given the image of her crying which implies she has a heart thats been broken and that something cruel had happened to HER in the past. Otherwise why do that? Why show her as conflicted in any way? Why show her displaying weakness or emotion if shes simply an evil monster? It makes no sense. This isnt about what she "deserves" as some people have mentioned. This is about who she is AND its about the fact that Sarah was always all about helping others who no one else was bothering to help. In my opinion Ms. Minchin would have been the ultimate person for her to help. But instead we get all that build up and it goes no where.

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Using words to describe art is like using a screw driver to cut roast beef.

[–] rc1990 9 years ago

Why would Sara show sympathy towards her ? Minchin had no sympathy when she told her about her father's death and her financial condition.

[–] blakkdog 9 years ago

Because shes better than her? And thats what she does. She sees the need in people and goes out of her way to help them. Even unpleasant people. Lets not forget she went out of her way for Lavinia when she didnt have to, giving her the biggest piece of cake and giving her a hug at the end and (we assume) redeeming here. Why not Ms. Minchin? Its the only part of the movie thats not consistent.

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Using words to describe art is like using a screw driver to cut roast beef.

[–] abz_msn 9 years ago

I agree with you blakkdog, I think this is what makes us human (the good side of it) and as you called it "better than " others , maybe stronger is more apt
I just watched this movie again and said to myself Poor Minchin at the end; there was the crying scene and thanks to Eleanor Bron's phenomenal acting the way she said "I suppose that's rather easy for a child who has Everything" , the way she stared at the locket after slamming down the phone , which showed Sara's loving parents in it, before hurling it onto the floor in anger , those scenes the slip ups between her horrible nasty attacks really told me how she was feeling.

I just got from them a grown jaded woman who was never shown any love or kindness by her parents as a girl and Is now having to watch a young girl be completely doted on, if makes me sad and it's gotta hurt :(.
It wasn't right to take it out on Sara but people lash out when they hurt as a way to protect themselves and overtime build a very tough wall which is what happened with Minchen.
Yes she was a horrible headmistress but it's not like she physically hurt anyone , just needed a little kindness (therapy) and discipline on how not to treat kids lol.
You're right it's a shame Sara didn't see that and choose to help her in the end too, she obviously needed it. Poor Minchen, im sure she had remorse too the way she sadly watched the cart drive away, she was probably kicking herself.

Foolish but everyone deserves a second chance

[–] blakkdog 9 years ago

I just watched this movie again and said to myself Poor Minchin at the end; there was the crying scene and thanks to Eleanor Bron's phenomenal acting the way she said "I suppose that's rather easy for a child who has Everything" , the way she stared at the locket after slamming down the phone , which showed Sara's loving parents in it, before hurling it onto the floor in anger , those scenes the slip ups between her horrible nasty attacks really told me how she was feeling.

Exactly! I mean they give us ALL this stuff that clearly shows something horribly sad and perhaps broken inside her. Its made clear its not that she is simply a bad person. Shes mean because something happened to her or else she wouldnt be crying and reacting the way she reacts in a number of scenes. So WHY would you just leave that there and do nothing about it? Why give it to us at all if you are going to just defeat her in the end and give her no room to do the right thing? And why make Sara this wonderful strong (good word) character who ALWAYS does the hard thing to help people but yet completely ignore the most obvious most significant character to help? It seems like a huge error to me. Its almost inexplicable. Like it was written that way and then they backed off at the end.

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Using words to describe art is like using a screw driver to cut roast beef.

[–] SenoritaTorres 9 years ago

I actually felt really moved by that scene where Sara strikes a nerve with Miss Minchin and she locks the door and wipes away a tear. It didn't make me like the woman in any way, but I still felt for her in that moment, which is why it's my favourite part of the film. It's actually quite intense.

[–] MarblesLove 9 years ago

Same here! It's one of my favorite parts of the movie. I feel like it humanized Miss Minchen a bit and it gave her some characterization and I really liked that.

Once upon a time there was a magical place where it never rained. The end.

[–] codyhoskins 8 years ago

I think redemption was long past for a grown woman who had gotten used to being the bossy cold authoritarian and didn't have patience for fun and games. I think making her a chimney sweep gave her a taste of her own medicine of what it was like to be a servant and a good place for her to reflect on how cruelty doesn't always pay off. You either learn to be kind and courteous to people in need or you keep building this hard wall around you to throw bricks at those beneath you. Minchin was set on the latter because it made her feel unbreakable and powerful than a wild child with too much imagination until she realized what it was like to be alone and unloved in the world.

[–] parknourie 8 years ago

I too thought there'd be more to her.
I like characters who has soft-spots and that scene definitely foreshadowed possible redemption.
But no, nothing for her.

Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down and a Wagging Finger of Shame

[–] Popcorngal (4875) 2 years ago

The woman was cold and greedy, case closed!

[–] Otter (24464) 2 years ago

I just want to point out that by the standards of the time, her actions were kindly rather than evil. It was not only the era of legal child labor, it was an era when big cities were bursting with homeless children! Yes, that's what a "street urchin" or "Baker Street Irregular" was - a homeless child. One who was orphaned, abandoned, or who had run away from an abusive family, employer, orphanage, or school.

So giving an orphaned and penniless little girl a steady job, regular meals, and a room of her own was actually a pretty good deal for an orphan of that era. Mrs. M. may have ben a bitch, but she treated the kid better than a lot of people would have.

[–] HelpMeRhonda (1158) 10 months ago

Minchin is a complicated villain that I couldn’t figure out. For instance, when Sara escapes across that board, Minchin looks scared that Sara might fall to her death, but then 15 minutes later she denies that Sara’s father is standing right in front of her. Therefore, I concluded that Minchin was a sick woman who couldn’t make up her mind about what kind of woman she wanted to be. More times than not she was completely ugly as a person, even though she knew she had a choice to be good.