7. One of Hattie’s most infamous quotes is “I’d rather play a maid for $700...

[smkelly]

One of Hattie’s most infamous quotes is “I’d rather play a maid for $700 than be a maid for $7.”

Her critics felt that was self-serving and she was enriching herself at the expense of her race. What are your thoughts on that?

[Badhaircutgirl]

I cannot express enough, nor could she, that she took the roles she did to better her life. Although I understand, as much as I can, why people criticized her, as they did not find it fitting for their life. She has every right to say this, and it was powerful for her. She also made it clear throughout her life that she has all the respect for people that do domestic work, but she felt she had worked too hard to go back to that.

[June]

Hattie wanted to work and certainly earned the Oscar - I am glad she decided to will it to Howard University.

[LML47]

I loved this quote! I can relate to having unequal, forced choices. She made the choice within the context of options that were so limitted and so unfair. I respect that she was a survivor of an ugly time period

[Bbaker12jo]

This is such a powerful quote! When change is needed we most do what we can to help make that change. She may not have been able to do much. But she could be a powerful woman in her field. Why should she turn down the only roles she was given to satisfy others ideas? She knew no change would come from that. And she did well for herself!

[Lisarob1013]

We all have to support ourselves any way that is available to us. Hattie did that. She took the roles given to her and pushed the limits of each by adding her own energy and stamina. Although the roles were not her dream roles, she took them and made them her own. She did what she had to to be able to live a life she dreamed of. Taking the roles of a maid enabled her to have a life that she did not have to worry about being hungry , we all do what we have to to make our lives the most comfortable.

[SudgiePot]

I listened, read, and watched a few more things after I read this book so I could better understand Hattie and her times. She came from a very poor family. She went to Hollywood during the Depression, a time when people were literally starving. She was already widowed, and had lost many family members. She was overweight and very dark skinned, which I also think limited the roles available to her. There was as yet no Tyler Perry or Spike Lee. There was no parallel Hollywood where she wouldn’t have to play a maid. She did the best she could with the choices given. She was literally choosing between being a maid or playing one. The economic realities plus the racism of society really gave her few other choices. Remember, she didn’t go to Hollywood until after her live entertainment career had flamed out.

[Mher1]

I don’t fault her for thinking that. She wasn’t wrong saying those roles were what African Americans generally were in the real world, and I think most people would rather make that much more for just acting as one instead of actually doing the job.

But the quote did make me feel a little uneasy. It comes off as haughty to me. She had both been a maid and played a maid, so she had every right to say that. It seems almost like she was suggesting she was better than those who may never get the opportunity to move above that level of work.