'At least I'm white.'
Did I hear her right?
There were too moments in the film where I could've sworn I heard her refer to being white or "the right color". Did anyone else catch that?
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MovieChat Forums > Kitty Foyle (1940) Discussion > 'At least I'm white.'
That's the way it was then. That was then, this is now. Get over it.
Wow, thanks so much for that insightful and thought-provoking feedback.
"Well, for once the rich white man is in control!" C. M. Burns
She said it twice!! I couldn't believe it, but after reading up on Ginger and her strict and outdated beliefs, it all made sense. Sometimes it is very hard to separate the "art" with the "artists" and the same goes with Ginger.
sharepedro4300, are you out of your mind? Your comment is ridiculous! The film maker was just trying to show the attitude of those snobbish Philadelphia upper class people. That's why he had the future bride speaking sarcastically about her not being good enough for those people by pointing out ironically that at least she was the "right" color for them (his parents).
Ginger Rodgers was just an actress reading her lines, for god sakes! Please eat some intelligence food!
Howly, you are the one that comes off as a buffoon. First thing, do your homework and look at the political background of Ginger. Now if you can't guess that I'm making the leap of associating a terribly outdated line with an actress who was of a very strict conservative background for a tongue in cheek moment, then you have a major problem, and should go back to school. But aside from that, the day I need a feebled minded person to explain to me something that needs no explaining, I will jump off a bridge. For you to take my post seriously and insult me that way shows that you need an intelligence buffet. I mean you really need to gorge out.
shareI was struck by those lines as well, and do know Ginger's conservative beliefs, but the book upon which this movie is based was pretty blunt and true-to-the-time about non-Anglo-Saxon races. However I don't think Ginger's personal beliefs had anything to do with the script--after all, Myrna Loy didn't like that black actors were always maids and servants, but it didn't erase black servants and porters from her movies.
shareAgain, my comment was tongue in cheek.
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Very well said, busby1959. I don't understand why some people get an actor intertwined with the roles he plays. I am 65 years old, plenty old enough to know how things were regarding race in this country in the 1940s and beyond. You are right on the mark when you said people should focus on what's happening in the world today instead of harping and harping on old movies and their content. We are all well aware that there were injustices in the past. What if people kept pointing out that the Spanish Inquisition was bad. If there were movies being made at the time... well, my point is made. Movies reflected what was going on at the time. good or bad.
sharetongue in cheek
shareGiven Trumbo's political beliefs, I think we must conclude that Kitty is speaking ironically. She's trying to show the prejudice of the "main-line" Philadelphian socialites.
Tom B.
It was, in fact, written by Dalton Trumbo, who was widely known an an anti-fascist, left wing political activist (he later joined the American Communist Party and was one the original "Hollywood Ten" who was blacklisted, fined and jailed). So I'd say it's safe to assume that Trumbo would not have included any racist remarks in his work.
That's assuming that no Communists are racist, and I think that's a bit of a stretch. share
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Welcome to 1940.
Shut up and deal with it.
How pathetic must ones existence be to feel the need to tsk tsk other posters who start a topic that apparently doesn't meet ones standard of validity?
Clicking on such a person's other posts, you usually find he/she has absolutely nothing of value to add to any topic.
"Well, for once the rich white man is in control!" C. M. Burns
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It has nothing to do with the actress or actor. It was common usage then.
shareIt has nothing to do with the actress or actor. It was common usage then.
shareIt did make me cringe.
I like Ginger Rogers' movies a lot and hope she wasn't that way in real life.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-ginger-rogers-161710 0.html
The director Joseph Losey, himself blacklisted, declared "Ginger Rogers was one of the worst, red-baiting, terrifying reactionaries in Hollywood," while her supporters argued that she merely followed her mother's lead and, according to one RKO employee, "I doubt that she could have told you the difference between the Republican and Democratic parties."share
You have to be careful about applying 2010 values to a film made 70 years ago.
Slavery in the US had only been abolished 80 years earlier and the civil rights movement was still more than 20 years in the future.
In 1940 many US states still had laws banning inter-racial marriage - so Kitty's comment is valid. These hideous laws were finally struck down by the US Supreme Court in 1967.
There are also plenty of comments in the movie about the role of women, and class that make you cringe now.
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I cringed at the line too. But lets face it, it was a harder life for Black people than for White people, especially in those days. Foyle didn't strike me as someone who was prejudice against anyone. On the contrary, she struck me as a character who would sympathize with the underdog and anyone who faces injustice.
When I thought more about it, I concluded that she was pointing out how things would be a lot worse for her if she were Black-and she was right. If she were Black, it would be harder to get a job, harder for her to do anything! She wasn't saying she was better than Black people, she was just referring to the automatic privilege afforded to Whites, even lower class ones in comparison to Blacks. Being White did not make her better, but it sure as heck opened more doors for her than being Black would have. And that's just the sad truth.
I recall she said "I'm free, white and 21." That was a very common line at that time."
What is your point? The movie was made in 1940- 70 years ago.
Yup, she used the phrase "Free, White and 21" and I NEVER heard the quotation that the original poster used in quotation marks "At least I'm white..." which has slightly different implications.
shareThe phrase used by Kitty, "free, white and 21" is my only recollection of any comment by any of the actors about the desirability of being white. From everything I've read, that was a very common expression in the 30s, 40s, 50s and into the 60s. Probably some posters will say it was a racist comment, and maybe it was, using today's standards, but the film was made in 1940-72 years ago. I don't see what the big deal is. It would be interesting to discover the origination of that phrase.
Clearly Kitty stood a better chance of getting a good job in an office and a much better chance of winning Wyn's love if she were free, white and 21, as opposed to free, black and 21, or free, white and 51 for that matter. Everyone to his and her own taste (lol).
I agree. Kitty never said "at least I'm white" and it's just wrong to say she did. She said she was "free, white and 21", a common saying at the time and certainly one that did not originate with Kitty. To see people coming out of the woodwork to attack Rogers is ludicrous.
It's a line in a film. Get over it.
"Joey, have you ever been in a Turkish prison?"
I would be surprised if Ginger Rogers was racist, because she was such good friends with Lucille Ball, who was decidedly not racist, at least against blacks and Hispanics.
sharewell, she was right about that.
Top 250 Foreign Movies
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I think she said "I'm free, white and 21."
shareIt was definitely "free white and 21". There's another movie where the lead actress says it. I can't remember which though. It was either Jean Arthur or Claudette Colbert.
Her dad was actually a bit ahead of his time, talking about how fairy tales were poisoning the minds of young girls and making them dissatisfied with regular guys. And that fairy tales end just when the story is really starting. Of course, so do most romantic comedies.
I just saw the film, she mentioned it a few times. Like others have stated, a sign of the times sadly.
share