Driving Miss Daisy Essay

Film Review

Driving Miss Daisy is a heartwarming production about an Atlanta native Dana Ivey playing the lead role, as Miss Daisy, Morgan Freeman as Hoke, and Ray Gill as Boolie(Driving Miss Daisy). Driving Miss Daisy is set in Atlanta, Georgia spreading its action a quarter of a century from 1948 to 1973. This movie production takes place before, after, and during the civil war movement. The two main characters, Miss Daisy and Hoke, start their relationship off very early in the production. Hoke is hired by Miss Daisy’s son, Boolie, to become Miss Daisy’s personal chauffeur. Boolie is concerned about his mother’s driving abilities, especially in the opening scene where Miss Daisy backs her car into a neighbor’s flower garden by

A general theme that is recognized right at the beginning of the movie is quite obvious. The opening scene shows Miss Daisy backing her car into a neighbor’s flower garden by pressing the accelerator instead of the brake. Miss Daisy brushes off the scene like nothing ever happened but her son, Boolie, thought completely different. Boolie decides to hire a driver, Hoke, who is a younger, black counterpart. This film about old age takes into consideration how the issue of growing old can be hard when your society poses prejudice. A common theme throughout this movie is the idea that even though Miss Daisy is growing older, she is still trying to maintain an independent life with dignity, despite the slow deterioration of her physical well being. Hoke is also shown throughout the movie to be aging, but he wants to continue working and making a living despite the barriers that he had to overcome especially during the time when blacks were not allowed to be anything but slaves to the white individuals (Doron, 2006, p.239). Losing your independence is a huge fear for many individuals as they grow older. Driving is just a simple example about how it enables older people to continue to function independently, maintain social ties, live active lives, and contribute to the community. Miss Daisy describes throughout the movie that the feeling she experiences of not having her car that ,”She is a real pariah without her car.” (Doron, 2006,