Day 6: Blessing In Disguise?

Mrs. Doubtfire, 1993 starring Robin Williams, Sally Field, Pierce Brosnan

Marguerite is not the only wife who was fooled by her husband's disguise. Miranda kicked Daniel out of her house and marriage, and then welcomed him back in as an elderly lady, Mrs. Doubtfire, her best nanny candidate. Every scene between Mrs. Doubtfire and Miranda is so enjoyable because she does not recognize his true identity, which makes her lines innocently full of humorous double meaning and irony.

And when he is finally recognized by his wife, my favorite moment of the movie, we hear Miranda call out his real name a half dozen times. Sally Field does a great job of repeating the word "Daniel" in a way that shows how many emotions can erupt at the same moment during an apocalyptic event such as an unmasking: She's shocked, confused, angry, creeped-out, mortified, amazed. She has to suddenly deal with the fact that the ex-husband she despises is the same person as the nanny whom she and her children love as a wonderful addition to their family. How could he have played such a trick on her? But how could she have fallen for such a trick unless she believed in a system where people are easily categorized as either scum or super?

I love it that the children, as children often do, have the ability to recognize their father long before Miranda could.

And I love it that Daniel was willing to take on so much discomfort, and hassle, and stress, and cosmetics, to be near the children that he loved so much.