MovieChat Forums > A Little Princess (1995) Discussion > Miss Minchin's reaction to Sara when....

Miss Minchin's reaction to Sara when....

posted 17 years ago by sun78
21 replies | jump to latest

In that one scene where Miss Minchin was yelling at Sara because she still thought that she was a princess, even in her current situation. She told Miss Minchin that all girls are princesses, even if they are in rags, live in little attics, etc. She asked Miss Minchin if her father ever told her she was a princess and Miss Minchin froze and then got really mad at Sara and then left the room and stopped, as if she was having some bad memeories of her past with her own father. That right there tells me that Miss Minchin's dad may have been abusive and maybe that's why she was so mean and cold and didn't allow any laughter, talking or anything else fun at her school.

What does everyone else think??

[–] fosthoff 17 years ago

Sara's close relationship with her father was rare in that time period (at least in most places). Children were often thought of as little adults. Rich people usually handed their children off to nurses or nannies and never saw them at all. Miss Minchin probably wasn't abused by her father, but she was probably neglected, in that way, by him.

In the novelization of the movie, it says that Miss Minchin feels somewhat touched at the words, probably since no one's ever told her that she was a princess before.

[–] sun78 17 years ago

I do believe that was very much true about parents and children for that time period. But there's one thing I don't get about the rich people. Why did they have kids, if they just handed them off to nurses and nannies and never saw them?? What the point of having kids, if you never see them??

I don't know what it was like for the poorer people, like farmers, but I could see where they would need lots of kids. They needed them to help out. but I also think that farmers and people who lived in the country had a better and healthier relationship with their kids because they were always together working the land and always ate meals together.

[–] fosthoff 17 years ago

Rich people wanted heirs to carry on their family names or create ties to better families or to inherit their money. Girls married boys from other rich families and boys took over their father's businesses and got their property. People back then just didn't get that children *need* to be held and loved to grow and that giving that love isn't spoiling or creating weakness in the child.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] sarahxelizabeth 17 years ago

I definitely got that message too, but it was more like her father probably left the family when she was a child and so she never had a real relationship with him. That's my guess.

[–] sun78 17 years ago

I think that maybe she was abused by him. Because if the thinking during that time was that children were seen as little adults, then they knew no other life. They didn't know that parents could have a relationship with their parents becuase if you're rich, you most likely have rich friends and those rich friends have children too and their children also have the same kind of relationship with their parents. I know that it is human nature to want affection, love and attention, but if you really know no other life, other then the one you have or don't realize that parents are meant to be parents and not just the people who bore you and then left you, then you get used to the life you have. Like if we all lived in the early 1900's. We would not know the life of having computers, tv, movies, Ipods, etc. We would have to find other things to entertain us. But since we lived in that time, then we would have found lots of things to do because that's the life we know. I always thought it'd be cool to live during the 1800's, like Laura in Little House on the Prairie. My mom told me that it was hard work, but if I were a farmer, then I'd know no other life. I grew up working, so therefore work is my life. Just like in Sara's time when children never really had a relationship with thier parents, they didn't know any other kind of life that they could've had with thier parents.

Anyways, am I making sense?? Did anyone understand what I just wrote??

I sure hope so.

[–] kirstyknight 17 years ago

I don't think Miss Minchin's father abused her. Eg: hit her or anything.
I think it was cause he wasn't an affectionate father.
Like giving her hugs, playing games with her, saying he loves her or calling her princess etc.

[–] chutesslang 17 years ago

if thats the case then why is minchins sister so nice and happy? surely she would have had the same treatment by the dad. maybe minchins just a b****.

Peace and *beep*
Believe.

[–] fosthoff 17 years ago

Maybe Minchin's sister had a lot of friends and Minchin didn't. Or maybe the sister was naturally kinder, which meant that more people where drawn to her. That might have made Minchin more withdrawn and bitter.

And Sara did enjoy a very rare relationship with her father. I doubt that Minchin's father was so kind to her.

[–] PimpSmackersGOM 16 years ago

I didn't get the feeling that Sara's relationship with her father was rare for that time period. For example, none of the other girls seemed to have been neglected by their parents. Except for maybe Becky, who didn't seem to have parents, and Lavinia. What made Sara different was that she was rich and she had an imagination.

clear emotions guide / to the gates of open mind / leave the shame behind / peace is by your side

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] j_angelbaby 17 years ago

you also have to remember the ms. minchin is the older sister, and probably had more responsibilities and such that may have made her more serious and trying to act like an adult much earlier than her younger sister.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] coolbluegreen 15 years ago

<<if thats the case then why is minchins sister so nice and happy? surely she would have had the same treatment by the dad. maybe minchins just a b****.>>

I have mentioned this in other threads. This film has a lot of "doubles" or foils. Sara and Lavinia are both pampered rich girls but they behave (until the very end) quite differently.

Although Amelia and Miss Minchin ARE sisters they ARE different. This is where personal choice comes in. Miss Amelia has chosen to be a better person than her sister, to love, to be kind. We can't control what kind of parents we have, but we do have control over how we ourselves will behave.

[–] saphique 16 years ago

thank you so much for bringing this up! I adore Miss Minchin. Don't get me wrong, I hate how she treats people. But I always think villains (ok, no murderers or rapists) have a more interesting background and I am often left with a sad feeling for them.
And that scene explains all. I was reading about a post where people comment scenes that makes them cry.
That was one of them... when she locks the door and wipes off a tear. You can tell she had suffered a lot.

[–] coolbluegreen 15 years ago

<<In that one scene where Miss Minchin was yelling at Sara because she still thought that she was a princess, even in her current situation. She told Miss Minchin that all girls are princesses, even if they are in rags, live in little attics, etc. She asked Miss Minchin if her father ever told her she was a princess and Miss Minchin froze and then got really mad at Sara and then left the room and stopped, as if she was having some bad memeories of her past with her own father. That right there tells me that Miss Minchin's dad may have been abusive and maybe that's why she was so mean and cold and didn't allow any laughter, talking or anything else fun at her school.

What does everyone else think??>>

I think you are absolutely right.

[–] jjsan13 15 years ago

All I have to say is I wish I was an heir.
=/

[–] its_a_GeoffreyRush_thing 15 years ago

I think it just hit her at that point. She may have had an unhappy upbringing of her own, perhaps an emotionally absent father or something more serious perhaps, who knows...

But it pains her to see what Sara had with her father. Her own cold and bitter manner prevents her from experiencing that kind of closeness to others and having meaningful relationships herself so she takes some of it out on Sara.

I always thought Minchin was never really capable of warmth and respect because she'd never been shown any herself.

French existential absurdist tragi-comedy rocks! G.Rush

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] velcronewsletter 12 years ago

i always thought the miss minchin was surprised to hear that there were fathers like sara's. i got the impression she had never understood how that was like or even considered it an option

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OCOE - obsessive compulsive olive eater

[–] velcronewsletter 11 years ago

added to that, i think it was neglect on her father's part. abuse no but it's obvious she never had anyone telling her she was or treating her like a princess

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let's not go to camelot, it is a silly place