History Theatre / DrivingMissDaisy

* DeepSouth: Atlanta Georgia to be specific. Somewhat overlaps with SweetHomeAlabama, as that state is visited.
* DefrostingIceQueen: Daisy is very cold to Hoke at first, forbidding him from doing much of anything. Through the movie, she grows fond of him.

* GrewASpine: During the course of his employment as Daisy's chauffeur, Hoke grows a spine in his dealings with Daisy, while he at first had been somewhat deferential to her. We first see this when Hoke is driving Daisy to Mobile and he tells her he has to pull over in order to "[[CallingYourBathroomBreaks go make water]]." Daisy wants to keep going but Hoke decides nope, they're stopping and he [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech tells]] Daisy that it's humiliating for him to have to ask permission to take care of his needs like a small child while he's almost 70 years old by then.

* ScrewPolitenessImASenior Miss Daisy, and to some extent also Hoke. Surprisingly enough, Miss Daisy is ''not'' overtly racist nor is her son but she did despise Hoke at the beginning, for patronizing her (to her son, too) and especially ''because'' Boolie hired him, as she's fiercely independent.

%%* DeadpanSnarker: Miss Daisy.
* DeepSouth: Atlanta Georgia to be specific.
** Sometimes overlaps with SweetHomeAlabama and the state itself was visited once.
* DefrostingIceQueen: Daisy was really cold to Hoke at first, forbidding him from doing much anything. Through the movie, she grew fond of him.
* {{Determinator}}: How Hoke convinces Daisy to let him be her chauffeur -- he follows her around in the car while she walks. Rather be embarrassed, she ducks in and lets him drive her.
* DramaticDrop: [[spoiler:Idella drops a bowl of peas when she dies.]].

* EthnicMenialLabor: Idella and Hoke, being a maid and a chauffeur.

* InformedJudaism: Neither Daisy nor Boolie advertise their Jewishness very much, beyond Daisy's cynical "all these Christians giving their money to Georgia Power" comment on ostentatious Christmas lights displays.

* AdultFear: For Daisy and Hoke late in the film when her mind "takes a turn" on her. Hoke is watching his friend slowly dipping into dementia.
-->'''Daisy:''' ''(panicked)'' The children will be so disappointed if I don’t give them their homework back.

'''Idella:''' Washes it in mayonnaise.\\

'''Idella:''' Yes, she did. I read it in ''Life'' magazine.

* NotSoDifferent: When Daisy is puzzled as to why ''anyone'' would bomb her temple, Hoke sighs and says it's always the ''same'' people. He goes on to describe a lynching he'd observed. Daisy, disturbed, asks him why he told that story, then unsuccessfully insists those two incidents have nothing in common.

* NeverLearnedToRead: Hoke. Daisy, as a schoolteacher, is practically offended ("Stop saying that! You're making me ''angry''!") Since Hoke knows the alphabet, Daisy states it'll be relatively easy for him to learn. And he does, though mouthing the words as he reads -- realistically, since Daisy used the phonetics of the letters to help him learn, to hear them out loud.
* NiceGuy: Boolie. When his wife berates a young maid for making a minor error, he chuckles and privately tells her not to worry, saying "It's not ''quite'' the end of the world."

* SecretlyWealthy: Miss Daisy wishes and tries to act like this, she does not succeed. To be fair, ''she'' is not rich, her ''son'' is, and she doesn't want nor need his money.

* NothingIsScarier: Daisy and Hoke's encounter with two Southern policemen. Hoke [[OhCrap knows the danger]], especially when one of the cops yells, "Hey, ''boy''!" at him and demands to know how he got that car. Daisy, on the other hand, is oblivious to the racism, though the cops have a very low opinion of her, too, as is made plain when Hoke is allowed to drive away.

'''Cop 1:''' Ain't that a sorry sight? A nigger and an old Jew woman.

* NothingIsScarier: Daisy and Hoke's encounter with two Southern policemen. Hoke [[OhCrap knows the danger]], especially when one of the cops yells, "Hey, ''boy''!" at him and demands to know how he got that car. Daisy, on the other hand, is oblivious to the racism, though the cops have a very low opinion of her, too.

* NeverLearnedToRead: Hoke. Daisy, as a schoolteacher, is practically offended ("Stop saying that! You're making me ''angry''!") Since Hoke knows the alphabet, Daisy states it'll be relatively easy for him to learn. And he does.

* NeverLearnedToRead: Hoke. Daisy, as a schoolteacher, is practically offended. Since Hoke knows the alphabet, Daisy states it'll be relatively easy for him to learn. And he does.

* OscarBait: Obvious attempt, and succeeded (won Best Picture.) Trying to get anyone to remember the movie in a serious context is surprisingly difficult, however.

* DeadpanSnarker: Miss Daisy.

* Determinator: How Hoke convinces Daisy to let him be her chauffeur -- he follows her around in the car while she walks. Rather be embarrassed, she ducks in and lets him drive her.

** Boolie states he can't attend Martin Luther King's speech because his racist fellow businessmen would start dealing with New York Jews instead of a Georgia Jew like him.