Blanche's Nanny Episode - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

delawaregeek · 08-15-2009, 11:49 PM

Just watching the episode where Blanche's nanny comes back to get the music box. I know we're suppose to feel sympathetic towards the nanny but I don't. I'd be mad if this woman came back after 50 years and told me my dad ran around on my mom and then demanded I give her something. I just felt no sympathy for the nanny even though I'm suppose to.

JL82 · 02-07-2010, 01:50 PM

Well, I don't doubt that inter-racial couples had to deal with prejudice in her time (and probably still do in some places.) But basically, I agree. It's one thing to say to an outsider, "don't judge us, you aren't in our situation." But don't tell a daughter, "he really loved me, not your mother, but society was against us," and expect her to share your romantic perspective on it. And worse, she essentially says, "You owe me back this gift I gave you, and the reason you owe it is that your daddy loved me and not your mother."

But that plotline bothers me from another perspective. Viola (the nanny) tries to present it as a love affair of equals, albeit adulterous. Well, she was a black servant in a society with strict class divisions, some based on race. Big Daddy was obviously a fairly well-heeled plantation owner. And we've heard elsewhere that Big Daddy was reactionary to the point of being bigoted. Dorothy even calls him "Grand Dragon," (a Klu Klux Klan reference) at one time. A guy like that might well have had sex with a black servant, but it wouldn't be the romantic thing that Viola describes. She'd be a convenience, essentially, and perhaps not fully human. Is that a blooper, or, perhaps, could Viola be kidding herself?

SageSlowdive · 02-10-2010, 05:11 AM

I didn't feel any sympathy for her whatsoever. She never showed herself as someone that needed sympathy.

I really don't like this episode anyways.

08-15-2009, 11:49 PM	#1
delawaregeek Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Aug 10, 2009 Posts: 30	Blanche's Nanny Episode Just watching the episode where Blanche's nanny comes back to get the music box. I know we're suppose to feel sympathetic towards the nanny but I don't. I'd be mad if this woman came back after 50 years and told me my dad ran around on my mom and then demanded I give her something. I just felt no sympathy for the nanny even though I'm suppose to.
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02-07-2010, 01:50 PM	#2
JL82 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Aug 14, 2009 Location: Toledo, Ohio Posts: 189	Well, I don't doubt that inter-racial couples had to deal with prejudice in her time (and probably still do in some places.) But basically, I agree. It's one thing to say to an outsider, "don't judge us, you aren't in our situation." But don't tell a daughter, "he really loved me, not your mother, but society was against us," and expect her to share your romantic perspective on it. And worse, she essentially says, "You owe me back this gift I gave you, and the reason you owe it is that your daddy loved me and not your mother." But that plotline bothers me from another perspective. Viola (the nanny) tries to present it as a love affair of equals, albeit adulterous. Well, she was a black servant in a society with strict class divisions, some based on race. Big Daddy was obviously a fairly well-heeled plantation owner. And we've heard elsewhere that Big Daddy was reactionary to the point of being bigoted. Dorothy even calls him "Grand Dragon," (a Klu Klux Klan reference) at one time. A guy like that might well have had sex with a black servant, but it wouldn't be the romantic thing that Viola describes. She'd be a convenience, essentially, and perhaps not fully human. Is that a blooper, or, perhaps, could Viola be kidding herself?

02-10-2010, 05:11 AM	#3
SageSlowdive the real hank queen Forum Regular Join Date: Feb 10, 2010 Posts: 659	I didn't feel any sympathy for her whatsoever. She never showed herself as someone that needed sympathy. I really don't like this episode anyways.