I was watching “Big Love” on HBO on Sunday night. It’s a new original series that recently began on that network.
I watch this show because it’s interesting and amusing to me. Interesting because of the family make up, what they go through - which is normal as any other families, and how they deal with or handle their personal lives and amusing because some of the things or antics they get up to, gives me a good laugh and a rueful shake of the head most times.
Plus I’ve always liked the two main actors, Bill Paxton, who plays the character of Bill Henrickson and Jeanne Tripplehorn, who plays the character of Barb, wife number 1 or main wife. I am not going into the details of the show with this writing, but you can Google it if you want to know more about it.
In one of the scenes from this past Sunday’s episode, a few of the women (not the main characters) were watching the news on television. The person who was talking in the news program they were watching was Condoleezza Rice. In that “take” she was saying “…there are no good terrorists and there are no bad terrorists..” . The women watching nodded their heads in agreement and tut-tut-ted that they don’t know what’s becoming of the world these days.
The scene prolonged in showing Condoleezza on the television screen the women were watching, then I heard a mumbled “uppity”, then two of the women exchanged a ‘look’.
At first I thought I might have heard wrong. But the visual exchange, almost a smirk and nodding of the head of the other woman confirmed what I heard.
I haven’t heard that word in a long time. Then I said to myself, “well, I guess it doesn’t matter how far you are in your life, how intelligent you are some people are still going to cut you down a peg and put you in a place where they think you should be”.
Then I said to myself (and yes, I do talk to myself a lot!LOL!) “I guess since there are people in this world who still think the way some people did in the days of segregation and all that, they will definitely think this way. Ah well…
This is not a poor me, black person, or blame the white person blog – it just made me wonder how many times someone may have thought that way about me, or some other person of color (read this as any ethnic race) who speaks well, shows some sense of intelligence and smarts? Because I’m not exactly a typical black person, and I most certainly do know a thing or two – read intelligence; plus I’m such a chameleon – so proud of my multi-culturism. [And I’m not talking racial ethnicity]
But then I really don’t care two cents whether anyone might think me as “uppity” {I do care what someone’s opinion of me will be (because I don’t want someone to have the wrong opinion about me), on the days when I’m not in my ‘devilish-the-world-be-damn- mood- and-I-don’t-give-a-rats-ass-about-anyone-at-this-moment-mood’. I’m only human after all and I will have those moments.
If someone thinks I’m “uppity” though, I wonder if they would dare to say it to my face? [I guess not cause that has never happened. I’ve had some interesting moments though – maybe they’re afraid I might bitch-slap them! LOL!]
Any way, I thought that little scene was interesting and brought about some reflections although none too deep.
Here is one explanation of the word Uppity:
Taking liberties or assuming airs beyond one's station; presumptuous:
PS:
Now the word uppity can and is used for anyone who is deemed arrogant and presumptuous and takes too many liberties. So these days it’s a ‘reference to anyone word’ [anyone who the speaker may want to insult that is!]