The reason I stopped watching this show, and it's been close to 20 years since I've seen it, is because of the character Lilly, who was sooo annoyingly calm. She just seemed too calm and controlled. Very tight-lipped, she has zero spark, zero personality, she was too clamped-down. In short, she bugged me. A lot. Just thinking about her riles me up. Guh! she was annoying!
shareI agree. Lily was an intellegent black woman. Why does this mean she can't talk. Her role seems to take away from outspoken black people who rose up against the injustes imposed on them in the 60's.
shareHmm, not every black women is outspoken and full of sass. Though, Hollywood would have us believe differently. :)
Some of us are actually calm, soft-spoken people. I found Lily's portrayal to be refreshingly unexpected and non-stereotypical.
[deleted]
Actually, she played the role pretty much exactly as it would have been in reality for a black woman of her class, with that job, at that time period, in the deep south. I.e., head down, mouth shut, don't draw too much attention to yourself. That was the drill if you expected to work in any white person's house.
Never wrestle with a pig. You'll just get dirty, and the pig enjoys it.
True that! OP, what exactly is it that you wanted her to do? If she was the way that you wanted her to act, she'd be fired or even killed. Lily reminds me of my grandmother a little bit. She had sass don't get me wrong, but she knew when to use it & when to keep it shut. You had to back in those days. Also it's a stereotype to think that all black women act like that.
shareReminds me of Aibileen Clark, the character Viola Davis played in "The Help."
Lilly's character may have seemed calm and quiet but she had an awareness, intelligence, strength and spirit that was remarkable.
I loved how each show would end with her voice providing a short commentary which summarized the theme of each episode.
And it was always quite intense.
What made a big difference in believing Lilly as real were story lines that took her out of the Bedford house. I especially liked her romantic story line -- to me it illustrated how domestics (even today) often only bring a very controlled, measured version of themselves to the family they work for. The Bedfords, especially the children, thought they knew Lilly as an almost-member of the family but she reserves a lot of herself for her own family and life, probably as a protective measure.