MovieChat Forums > A Patch of Blue (1965) Discussion > 'I wish I'd never been done over'

'I wish I'd never been done over'


After Selina kisses Gordon, she says "I wish I'd never been done over". Why does he get mad after she says that???

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I think it was the unexpectedness of it. If I remember that scene correctly, they were just having this sweet moment and he was taken aback by what she said and how she said it; so random and matter of fact. His reaction to it was probably more out of shock and anger at the fact that it happened to her, not directly towards her. At least that’s the way I saw it.

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I think he's more frightened, and angry at himself for letting things go that far.

They are embracing and have just kissed. There is clearly passion building between them.

What she says is the kind of thing a traditional, romantic, and very young woman might say when she is about to have sex with the man of her dreams -- the man she wants to marry. She wishes he could be her first lover.

The implication is that she expects him to have sex with her, and that it will be very important to her.

It carries the triple whammy of making him realize how far things are going, while reminding him how monstrous her life has been, and how important he has become to her.

It terrifies him, and he pulls away.

People focus on the race and disability issues in this film, but there is another important aspect -- Selina is not yet 18, and has lived in a bizarre, restricted, horrible situation. In some ways she is mature beyond her years, but, in others, she is very childlike.

Gordon, being an ethical guy, doesn't want things to go further until she has been free, educated and had some other experiences of meeting people and getting to know the world.

Even if they'd been the same race and she was sighted, backing away at that moment, and carrying through with the plan for her to go to school, would have been the appropriate reaction for a man of his age with ethics.

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Very well put.


*****
Most of the time, I'm just trying to be funny.

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Very well put.


Thank you!

I love how well Poitier plays this character, and others in which he has to portray the Perfect Guy That Everyone Will Love, Even Bigots. 

With help from the writers and director, he keeps Gordon from being a dull plaster saint. He has humor, style, joie de vivre, and flaws. But, flaws, desires and all, he just keeps deciding to do the right thing, or at least to try.

I'm lucky to have known men and women like that in my life -- he's not an unrealistic character.

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I always thought she said "I wish I'd never been done before." Same meaning, though.

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No, it was "Oh, I wish I'd never been done over."

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On a side note, someone on another board pointed out to me that "making love" back then didn't actually refer to sex, after I heard it in the 1960's sitcom "Bachelor Father". Not sure what it meant in the context of this one though.

Take Care

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While the expression "making love" was used to mean "courting" in the past, by the time the 60's rolled around it had DEFINITELY also started being used to mean "sex." (Do a search among Google Books for the phrase, "make love" or "making love" and you'll see books that pretty clearly are using it to talk about sex from the 50s and even the 40s).

The book that "A Patch of Blue" is based on makes it much clearer - in the book IIRC Gordon has already carried her to bed and gotten to second base (sorry to be crass) before he stops when she says "I wish I'd never been done over." So it's pretty clear that Selina WAS talking about sex when she said "making love" though of course they didn't take it that far in the movie.

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