MovieChat Forums > Meet Me in St. Louis Discussion > Tootie is annoying and disturbed!

Tootie is annoying and disturbed!

posted 18 years ago by zatarains80
100 replies | jump to latest

While I usually enjoy Margaret O'Brien, I cannot stand her character in this film! Yes, her eccentricity MAY be seen as a way to get attention, I cannot believe the way her family is so quick to dismiss her "cute" behavior.

The Halloween scenes could have been completely removed from the film and not have it effect the overall feeling. First of all, who are these parents that let their 5-10 yr olds run around wild on Halloween, lighting bonfires, and throwing flour in their neighbors' faces?? The scene that irks the living daylights out of myself, my sister and mother is when Tootie is retelling the story of the stuffed dress that was placed on the trolley tracks!!! Dozens of people could have been killed and Tootie's punishment is only ONE kind of ice cream? Meanwhile, Agnes calls Rose a "snob" because she is shocked that her sisters were involved in such a dangerous prank! Why did the filmmakers bother with this? This is ridiculous and one of the most irritating scenes in film history.

Anyone else find the Halloween scene obnoxious and irritating?!?

[–] xanthas (3215) 2 years ago

I realize I'm responding to a really old thread, but Tootie's scenes are extremely entertaining, whether shocking or not. Margaret O'Brien is hilarious! What a talented young actress she was.

[–] LimeGinger (1) 9 months ago

Wow, here were are 17 years later. I signed up for MovieChat because I am seeing Meet Me in St. Louis for the first time. It's charming and I love it, except...Margaret O'Brien. There were (and are and always have been) children who can sing and dance; Margaret O'Brien doesn't appear to have been one of them. My ears were bleeding from her off-key tone-deaf warbling, and she had no sense of rhythm in her "dance" number. Why was she cast? And the character of Tootie is grating, obnoxious, and just repellent. As to the Halloween sequence--while watching I kept wondering why it made the final cut. It took me completely out of the movie. It feels bolted on the side and doesn't flow in any way. It should have been excised. Would love to know the backstory on why Margaret O'Brien was cast--given her--not even average--but truly awful unmusical voice (I get it--she is cute-looking but cute kids who can act are/were a dime a dozen--that's irrelevant to my point) AND why that Halloween scene was included. I also wonder what contemporaneous audiences thought of Tootie's weird disturbed character.

[–] mikethemartian (6528) 9 months ago

Tootie is my idol.