Sophia's own fault


The whole thing that Sophia went through was her own fault. that lady just offered her employment, did she have to be so nasty about it? True, the punishment was too much but she could have avoided all that by just saying "no" and walking away. I mean the lady did ask her nicely and i don't think she was meaning to disrespect her in anyway. Surely there must have been other women who were maids back then. It's not like she was walking around with a P.H.D. She was a single black mother with three kids in the south in the 1920's or 40's what other job offer was she thinking that she was going to get?

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You can't be serious

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Yes I'm very serious. Please tell me what good reason did she have to respond that way.

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[deleted]

[deleted]

...I would've asked how much she was payin. Lol!


Yeah, I agree with the OP. Sophia should've learned to hold her tongue. She had her children, then feared for their safety only after she hit that white man. Too late! Nothing wrong with being feisty and a strong woman but one should not be quick to anger. Especially when you are putting others at risk.

Zina ( The Original Princess)

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That could be tramatizing for a kid to watch there mother getting cussed out, surrounded by a mob of angry people and them being taking away.

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Yes, they should've been allowed to live in a world where they were discriminated against because of their skin colour and no one said a damn thing about it.

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The mayor slapped her first.....No one seems to mention that, Hell you can say what ever you want but keep your hands to yourself

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"Hell you can say what ever you want but keep your hands to yourself."


Back then, during Jim Crow south you couldn't. You couldn't even look a white person in the eye. Black woman raised and nursed babies that they would eventually have to refer to them as "miss so and so and mister so and so and yes sir and no mam. While those same kids called them by their first name. I don't know why its so hard to get that this was the early 1900's not 2012. Even in 2012 you have the right to say what you want but you have got to know that there will be consequences.

Not only that, she chooses to do this while her kids are present. Anything could have happened to them just because of her mouth. Then the kids had to watch while a mob of white people surround, cuss out, knocks her out and then she eventually gets taken away. Like I've said earlier, you have to pick and choose your battles and there was no way she was going to win that one and it just wasn't worth it.

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My former employer tried to terminate me because I asked a white girl about her family. I am a black man. The year was 2012.

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What in the *beep* is wrong with you?

Sophia had a rough life, she was black, she was a woman, she was poor. It was *beep* TOUGH. She had to suffer all different types of discrimination, and she said it herself - she had to fight her whole life.

Some ridiculous white woman speaks to her offensively and in a discriminatory and rude manner - and just because it was the early 1900s and all black people were being treated like *beep* does not mean they should have had to lie down and *beep* TAKE it because, oh you know, THAT'S JUST THE WAY THINGS WERE and all the other black people were taking it and the other white people happily instigating it! People who make that disgusting argument like so many of you here have are the kind of people that keep morally repugnant and outdated social norms in fashion. Go the *beep* to hell and before you do, make sure you let other people think for you because you sure can't *beep* do it for yourselves.

Where was I? Oh yes. Some ridiculous white woman speaks to her degradingly and naturally Sophia answers in an offended manner, (so sorry to those of you who think she should have stayed in her place like a good little black woman did back in those days, how dare she have a sense of pride, how dare she feel she is worth something!).

Then she gets slapped by some total pig, and then she answers in kind!

HER FAULT? HER FAULT?

Go back to the early 1900s, morons, you're archaic and most of your kind are dead by now, wish their mindset had died with them.

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I think you really need to get over yourself jacinta-1-s

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How enriching.
If you're not on topic, f* off.

F* ing moron.

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Very hostile and aggresive jacinta-1-s! No wonder Sophia's reaction has pushed your buttons. No one will pay any attention to you if carry on like a pork chop.

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Firstly, you're incorrect. If you took to the time to read, you would see that I was reacting to the reactions of others to Sophia, not to Sophia herself. Very different.
Secondly, do you have nothing better to do than troll?
Thirdly, what you've written is boring, useless and no contribution at all.
Finally .. I won't bother replying to you any longer, interacting with you is clearly pointless.

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Who cares your a trollop!

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[deleted]

It wasn't even "fearing for their safety" - she didn't want them to see what was going to happen to her. SHe was a strong, proud woman and didn't want her children to envision her as anything else.

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She wanted to protect them from the lynch mob pure and simple.

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Why wouldn't my children be clean? Ahh, you did see Albert's kids right? Children back then were children and they got dirty. Not like today when the kids have cable tv, cell phones, video games, and computers and alot of people didn't even have indoor plumbing let alone a tub. I'm sure that the white kids, especially in the south were dirty as well.

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[deleted]

[deleted]

A classmate asked me to work in her yard because I was very good with landscaping, I threw away her phone number.

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I still say that the arguement was her fault. She didn't have to respond in that manner at all. In life you have to pick and choose your battles and that was a battle she chose and one that she lost. Again, if she had simply said "no" and walked away she would not have gotten half of her life taken in jail.

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[deleted]

Or maybe it was not the day she felt like being polite. We all have days like it.

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What in the *beep* is wrong with you?

Sophia had a rough life, she was black, she was a woman, she was poor. It was *beep* TOUGH. She had to suffer all different types of discrimination, and she said it herself - she had to fight her whole life.

Some ridiculous white woman speaks to her offensively and in a discriminatory and rude manner - and just because it was the early 1900s and all black people were being treated like *beep* does not mean they should have had to lie down and *beep* TAKE it because, oh you know, THAT'S JUST THE WAY THINGS WERE and all the other black people were taking it and the other white people happily instigating it! People who make that disgusting argument like so many of you here have are the kind of people that keep morally repugnant and outdated social norms in fashion. Go the *beep* to hell and before you do, make sure you let other people think for you because you sure can't *beep* do it for yourselves.

Where was I? Oh yes. Some ridiculous white woman speaks to her degradingly and naturally Sophia answers in an offended manner, (so sorry to those of you who think she should have stayed in her place like a good little black woman did back in those days, how dare she have a sense of pride, how dare she feel she is worth something!).

Then she gets slapped by some total pig, and then she answers in kind!

HER FAULT? HER FAULT?

Go back to the early 1900s, morons, you're archaic and most of your kind are dead by now, wish their mindset had died with them.

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Ummm yeaha>>> Its the 1930's, lets open our U.S history books kiddies>>>>>
The movie is long as it is so they prob did not have time to explain years of opression....This movie paints a picture of what life is like for black women in a time when they had NO RIGHTS. For a woman to fight back should instill some kind of emotional response for a viewer. If we as women had just quietly turned our backs and held in our feelings nothing would have ever changed.. The time this character spent in jail was a debt paied to all african american women during a time when they lived a life void of equality. So you are telling me she was wrong to take a stance, and she asked to get hit in the face by a man with a wrench?? she asked to be jailed for standing up for her right to be seen as any other mother, and respected as a human being?? I think not!! This scene is one of the stronger scenes in the film, to the point where it breaks my heart.. I think of the struggles of my sisters and I would feel THANKFULL that they where willing to fight so that women of all ethnic backgrounds can have the freedoms they have today.

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Best post of the thread.

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well said
Its clear to me Sofia's reaction was one based on pride and not an act of defiance. She explained to Ceelie earlier on in the film she had spent her whole life fighting against men. We see many examples of these kind of men in the film MISTER being the main one Her initial reaction was slightly over the top but to say she had no options at all in the 20's is rubbish as there are no other female characters in this movie that are maids at the time

When he hit her she didn't see the problematic situation she would find herself in she saw another man hitting her and reacted accordingly

Also there were no legal lynchings at the that period of time not even in the deep south

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also there were no legal lynchings at the that period of time not even in the deep south.


Are you serious? If you notice, people do a lot of things that aren't legal. Killing your children isn't legal but some people have been known to do it anyway. It being illegal doesn't stop people from doing a lot of things including rape, child molestation, child abuse, child pornography, child abuse, kidnapping, murder, conspiracy to commit murder, theft, buying and receiving stolen goods, selling drugs, buying drugs, prostitution, solicitation, drunk driving, extortion, arson, assault, aggravated assault, assault with a deadly weapon, perjury, lying under oath, tax evasion, bank fraud, check fraud, forgery, embezzlement, copyright infringement, animal abuse, jaywalking, littering, driving without insurance, driving without a license, underage drinking, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, truancy...The list goes on and on.

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Of course what happened was her fault, but asking "what good reason did she have to respond that way" is a bit out of touch. We are talking about impulsiveness and humans, here - they go hand and hand. It was her fault, but the position she was put in to make her act that way was certainly not.

(Yes Solaris, I'm talking bad about humans again! OOoOOooO! I must think I'm a GOD! OooOoOOOo!... lol...)

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Your point is kind of unclear, and I'm interested.
What do you mean to say?

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Who says in life you have to pick and choose your battles? Why not battle every thing you think is wrong? Just because you live your life by compromise does not mean others do or should.

The woman asking her was very disrespectful and got the answer she so rightly deserved. That man hit her first and she struck back and was then clubbed in the head and jailed.

It may have been '20's or 40''s' but that doesn't make it any more right.


Feed me a stray cat.

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damn right!

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Who says in life you have to pick and choose your battles? Why not battle every thing you think is wrong? Just because you live your life by compromise does not mean others do or should.

So. I guess you go around just complaining and arguing with people all day everyday, 24/7? If you don't pick and choose your battles then that's all your life would be, one big battle. Nobody can live that way, that would cause insanity.

The woman asking her was very disrespectful and got the answer she so rightly deserved. That man hit her first and she struck back and was then clubbed in the head and jailed.

What's so disrespectful about "Your kids are so clean. Would you like to be my maid?" I think people are forgetting that this is only about 2 generations away from slavery, not to mention "The Great Depression" era. I don't think that Miss Milly meant to be disrespectful. She probably thought that Sofia would jump at the opportunity for work. I'm sure that she had seen other woman working as maids, both black and white. How was she suppose to know that that type of work was beneath Sofia?

It may have been '20's or 40''s' but that doesn't make it any more right.

I never said that what happened to Sophia was right. I just said that it was her own fault.


Before trying cookies for the first time, Cookie Monster's name was Sid.

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I guess you don't really understand what it is to believe in something. Like basic human rights. The wrongness of discrimination.
I guess you'd let yourself be treated like crap so you could go on living the life you'd always lived, and continue getting treated like crap.
How is it worth it NOT to stand up for yourself?

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you were amazing in this post <3

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Do you know the time they were in? What kind of pressure they had? You think it was alright the way black people were looked down upon. Mrs Millie was full of it!

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Do you know the time they were in? What kind of pressure they had? You think it was alright the way black people were looked down upon. Mrs Millie was full of it!



Acknowledging something is not the same as agreeing with it. Nowhere have I stated that I agreed with the way blacks were treated. What I've pointed out is that a lot of black women were maids back in that era. How was Millie suppose to know that that sort of work was beneath Sofia? It's not like she was nasty or purposefully insulting and disrespectful. The way she said it was as though she was attempting to give Sofia a complement.

I woke up this way...

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QUOTE;

The whole thing that Sophia went through was her own fault. that lady just offered her employment, did she have to be so nasty about it? True, the punishment was too much but she could have avoided all that by just saying "no" and walking away. I mean the lady did ask her nicely and i don't think she was meaning to disrespect her in anyway. Surely there must have been other women who were maids back then. It's not like she was walking around with a P.H.D. She was a single black mother with three kids in the south in the 1920's or 40's what other job offer was she thinking that she was going to get?


If she had not been angry then many of the movie viewers would have said she should have told the woman off in no uncertain terms.

Besides, what kind of movie and/or book would it have been if nothing upsetting ever happened to the characters?

The reason it stays in the viewers mind is because of the amount of obstacles the characters have to overcome... or failed to overcome.

Adversity makes for hit movies and best-selling books.

************************************************
Ye Olde Sig Line:

It should be "I can NOT care less."

You are at the lowest level of caring.

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Sophia was used to having the upper hand with Harpo. I think for a split second she forgot who she was talking to.

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I had a problem with Sophie beating everyone, including Harpo. What goes around comes around. Her explanation was that all of the men in her life before (the audience meets her) came at her so she had to fight. But, I have a hard time accepting someone that has but one way of reacting to me.

I do understand Sophie's anger toward Millie. I wouldn't want any woman just kissing my kids - oh, those cute black kids. (White women get it, too. Years ago, total strangers used to tug at my daughter's long blonde pony tail.) I DO understand how Sophie was insulted by the "they are so clean". Black women today write about how (white) people tend to look at black skin as dirty. After all, dirty white kids would have brown skin.

So, with Sophie's slow burn all her life and her ONE way of reacting caught up with her.

"Two more swords and I'll be Queen of the Monkey People." Roseanne

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What I try to think of is how stifling life was for black women in those times, black folks in general. There's so much you have to swallow, just accept until it gets to the point you just can't anymore. I'm surprised, no I'm in awe of how they so many times, just looked the other way. I think some people just don't understand the climate back then, not that I do fully, it's hard for many of us to relate because we just didn't grow up with that. It's easier for us to say what she should have done. People today (to a certain point) have outlets to deal with injustices done to them, or problems they have. Well, moreso than in the past.




Hey tell me, is it stalking if I follow her like all the way home without her knowing?

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That makes a lot of sense.

"Two more swords and I'll be Queen of the Monkey People." Roseanne

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I'm glad you think so. I didn't want to seem like I was picking on you, I just get where you're coming from, and of course yours was the last post.



Hey tell me, is it stalking if I follow her like all the way home without her knowing?

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How was she beating everyone? What a ridiculous exaggeration.

She punched a man in response to being hit BY that man.

She fought against men who tried to beat her.

She fought BACK aginst Harpo, he TRIED TO BEAT HER. SHE FOUGHT IN SELF DEFENSE.

Are you stupid?

I'm not even going to start on 'after all, dirty white kids would have brown skin'.....are you...I mean, really? What the actual *beep* is wrong with you?



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"If she had not been angry then many of the movie viewers would have said she should have told the woman off in no uncertain terms.
Besides, what kind of movie and/or book would it have been if nothing upsetting ever happened to the characters?
The reason it stays in the viewers mind is because of the amount of obstacles the characters have to overcome... or failed to overcome.
Adversity makes for hit movies and best-selling books."


Believe me i know that it's just a movie and that's partly my point. Had this been real life that scene never would have happened.

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Whats so offensive about offering employment. I know people right now that clean buildings, hospitals, homes, whatever to feed their children. I really don't see anything so degrading about that. Especially for someone to react in that way. What's degrading is standing on a corner half dressed in 40 degree weather and selling your body or undressing and showing your goodies to men who only paid maybe $10 to see 10 females. So when you think about it he's actually paying a dollar to see you. That's degrading to me. Some one offering me a job as a maid is not worth me, even now, going off and getting so angry.

People should stop getting offended and reacting so fast.

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you are really, really stupid.


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i agree but it wouldnt have been interesting if the whole movie was happy an dandy. cant beleive she got 13 years in jail




http://www.myspace.com/450983229
them haterz can't tell me nothin

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[deleted]

you sound like a /b/ tard.

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A WHAT???

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I hate to agree with the OP on this, but I do.

Given the time period, Sophia should have held her tongue for once.

The subtle message I get from the movie, even if they didn't intend it, is "Careful how you speak; there will be repercussions. . ."


"The goldfish stays in the picture!"

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I really hope you read the message directly below you, by 'up north girl'.

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Jacinta, Why do you have so many replies? You could have said what you had to say with one reply. Then you and every other person who disagrees with me wants to bring up Martin Luther King as if he's the only civil rights leader that you've heard of. And since you keep bringing up Martin Luther King, do you really think that he would have handled that situation by saying "hell no"? No, because that would be an ignorant way to handle that situation and he was more intelligent than that.

Like I have said before, for all of you people who say that you would have done the same, it's not too late to exercise your freedom of speech. Tonight or any night in the near future, why don't you walk thru the most drug, and gang infested area in your city? Make sure that you are alone, or better yet, take your kids with you and wear your most expensive jewelry with the wrong color clothes? If a group of thugs approach you then take the same attitude as Sofia and stand up for your rights. Tell those thugs that you have the right to be in their neighborhood. If they try to rob you, tell them "hell no" and tell them all about your constitutional rights as an American citizen. Then conclude your encounter by throwing up a rival gang sign. See what your freedom of speech will get you. If you decide not to do so then whatever reason or excuse you have should have been the same reason Sofia should have had to simply say "no" and walk away. If you decide to do so (which I doubt) and make it out alive (which I doubt), then let me know how that works out for you.

Before trying cookies for the first time, Cookie Monster's name was Sid.

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@ Arimas01..... You really deserve to get the last say, as you started this interesting, important thread.

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Miss Millie was a condescending racist, and her husband too. And the law, seeing as Sophia could go to prison simply for hitting a man who hit her first. If she had been a white woman, he probably wouldn't even have hit her in the first place, and she sure as hell wouldn't have ended up in prison.

If she hadn't reacted the way she did, she would have been playing by the rules of a racist system. It's people who challenge the system who change the world - and have done - how do you suppose the civil rights movement would have come about if someone hadn't challenged the system?

If you argue that what happened to her was her own fault, you indirectly say that she should not have been expecting to be treated with respect as a black woman in the 20's. Which again means that you agree with the racist system that operated at the time. Which makes you a thoroughly unpleasant person.

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If you argue that what happened to her was her own fault, you indirectly say that she should not have been expecting to be treated with respect as a black woman in the 20's.

Okay this part I do agree with and you are really making my point. It was the 20's and realistically she should not have been expecting any respect as a black woman. At that time a black woman was the last person who would expect to be shown any respect. Not only were "blacks" shown no respect but woman period were looked at as being basically good for just a man's pleasure.


Which again means that you agree with the racist system that operated at the time. Which makes you a thoroughly unpleasant person.

How does my realistic view of that situation mean that I agreed with the racist system of that time? BTW I am a very pleasant person.

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There is absolutely no hope for you.

'Realistically' she shouldn't have expected respect?

TYou're one of those people who just shrug and say, 'oh, that's how it is, oh well'. By that logic, Martin Luther King would never have had his way, no revolution would ever have had it's way, Celie should've just stayed with her abusive husband, people in abusive relationships should just stay in them, people who are treated unfairly should just accept it. THAT is what you are saying, do you even realise that?

By your line of logic, societal norms would be the same now as they were hundreds of years ago.

You are pathetic, incredibly stupid, and really, really offensive. Stop talking, stop even trying to think.

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