In this touching scene from the 2012 Steel Magnolias remake where M’Lynn (Queen Latifah) prepares to donate one of her kidneys to Shelby (Condola Rashad), we are reminded of the unbreakable bond between a mother and daughter.
There was never a moment that M’Lynn’s circle of friends let her deal with Shelby’s sickness alone. From Shelby’s episode with hypoglycemia at the beauty salon to her kidney failure, M’Lynn’s friends, including Ouiser (Alfre Woodard) and Clairee (Phylicia Rashad), are there to hold her up.
The beauty salon owned by Truvy (Jill Scott) is where the women congregate to gossip, support each other, and let their hair down, literally. Through humor and love, they convert the space into a sanctuary for sisterhood. It is where we learn of Shelby’s diabetes, find out that Annelle (Adepero Oduye) is pregnant, and discover Truvy’s troubled marriage.
Though M’Lynn is her biological mother, Shelby is also raised by Truvy (Jill Scott), Ouiser (Alfre Woodard) and Claireee (Phylicia Rashad). Here, her proud auntie Truvy shares a few words of wisdom with Shelby before her wedding.
Despite her illness, Shelby’s greatest wish is just to be normal, and being a mother tops her list. She looks at childbirth as “the opportunity of a lifetime.” “Sure, there may be risk involved, but that’s true for anybody,” she tells her worried mother, M’Lynn. “But you get through it and life goes on.”
Shelby’s sass knows no bounds. To celebrate her son’s birth, the young mom decides to chop off her hair. “This is going in the Hairdo Hall of Fame,” a disappointed Truvy tells Shelby after cutting her hair.
While we loved the overall theme of sisterhood, nothing was as titillating as Clairee Belcher’s snarky commentary. “Well, you know what they say,” she tells Truvy. “If you don’t have anything nice to say about anybody, come sit by me!”
