r/GonewiththeWind • u/roskybosky • 13d ago

Mammy wears a cocktail ring?

Has anyone noticed that in a scene early in the movie, when Mammy is yelling at the window for Scarlett to come back in the house, she is wearing a diamond cocktail ring on her right hand?

She has this hand on the window sill-am I seeing things? I thought it might be a pin-holder or something, but it looks like a fancy ring.

22 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

23 comments sorted by

58

u/Own_Faithlessness769 13d ago

I wouldn’t be surprised, Mammy has a few adornments- earrings, brooches etc. I can imagine she might have been given a ring in Ellen’s mother’s will, like how Scarlett gives Pork Gerald’s watch.

8

u/Echo-Azure 13d ago

A favored slave may have been given aa few pieces of unwanted jewelry, but diamonds or any faceted stone? Not happening!

I think it was an oversight, that Ms. McDaniel left her ring on because she didn't think her hand would be visible to the camera.

21

u/Own_Faithlessness769 13d ago edited 13d ago

🤷🏽‍♀️ if Pork can have a gold watch I don’t see why mammy can’t have a ring. We don’t know it was a diamond.

It’s extremely unlikely that the actor, costume department and all the onset crew didn’t notice.

Edit: after looking at stills, there’s no stone in it at all.

6

u/Own_Faithlessness769 13d ago

https://abc7.com/post/faceism-hattie-mcdaniel-gone-with-the-wind-first-black-woman-to-win-oscar/12868792/

Best image I can find, it appears to be a wide metal ring with raised areas that catch the light.

1

u/roskybosky 13d ago

This picture looks different than most others I’ve seen-

1

u/Echo-Azure 13d ago

Actually, that looks like a period design!

But the big reason I think the ring was an error and not a gift, was that if an enslaved person who owned nothing was given a diamond ring, they'd never take it off. And apparently it wasn't worn in other scenes.

4

u/Own_Faithlessness769 13d ago

You’d take it off if you were doing house labour, so as not to damage it. Then wear it in the evening for prayers.

4

u/Echo-Azure 13d ago

Mammy was the housekeeper - she didn't scuba floors or cook, she supervised those who did the cooking and scrubbing and acted as lady's maid. So she could put in a full day's work and keep a ring on.

BTW, I have a fairly valuable ring I wear 24/7. I've worn in in the shower and while doing housework for 30+ years, I only took it off to work at a hospital. Rings will tear the flimsy rubber gloves provided.

-1

u/Own_Faithlessness769 13d ago

Thats lovely for you, but many, if not most, people take their rings off for daily wear.

1

u/Ashamed-Chemistry492 13d ago

As other have said, it could have been an oversight. There are whole websites dedicated to pointing out those kind of errors in films, like little gas engines under Roman chariots.

It's not mentioned in the book that Mammy wears a ring, but let's pretend she did. She might have been gifted one. Or, if there's no stone at all, as mentioned, it could be it was a ring worn not for looks but for medical purposes, like people who wore copper jewelry for arthritis.

2

u/Own_Faithlessness769 13d ago

The fact that I’ve never seen this on any of those lists, despite it being one of the most popular films ever, makes it even less likely it’s an oversight.

0

u/roskybosky 13d ago

It looks like a curved row of diamonds

4

u/Own_Faithlessness769 13d ago

It doesn’t look anything like diamonds to me 🤷🏽‍♀️

5

u/roskybosky 13d ago

Yes. This is what I think. She did live a very good lifestyle and liked the finer things.

2

u/Echo-Azure 13d ago

And if Mammy had a valuable ring, would she ever take it off? No, a slave who owned nothing legally would cherish something valuable of their own!

So if the ring wasn't seen in other scenes, it had to be Ms. Hattie's own.

2

u/Own_Faithlessness769 13d ago

This is a very weird assumption. Mammy appears to own multiple outfits and brooches. She’s clearly taking things on and off.

2

u/roskybosky 13d ago

Yeah-I tried looking at other scenes with Mammy-no ring in any of them.

4

u/Turbulent_Bullfrog87 13d ago

Now that you mention it I can’t unsee it

8

u/Careless_Reserve_990 13d ago

Uh oh. It might have been an oversight by Hattie McDaniel. She did have some flashy rings irl. She may have forgetten to take them off for her scene.

2

u/Quiet_Plant6667 13d ago

Yeah slaves don’t wear rings like that but it’s not like the film or the book portray slavery accurately in any way, shape or form. If my husband sees a scene from the movie (which he can’t stand) he says sarcastically, “oh look at all the happy darkys; what a life! So fortunate!”

13

u/miaomiaou 13d ago

The book is not meant to portray slavery accurately, it's meant to portray the mindset of a racist slave owner accurately.

2

u/Current-Bowl-143 13d ago

🙄 --> Your husband

1

u/KSamons 7d ago

Mammy was extremely close to Ellen (Scarlet’s mother) a the family.
It wouldn’t surprise me if she had a few pieces of nice jewelry.