For many, over-politeness is merely inconvenient. For Geena Davis, it was almost fatal.
The actor, now 66, says she nearly died when she was 8 on a harrowing drive with her 99-year-old great uncle Jack. As Jack veered in and out of oncoming traffic, Davis and her parents declined to comment on his driving – even with a car fast approaching.
At the last moment, Jack swerved back in his lane, narrowly missing a head-on collision. Still, the experience sent Davis a clear message: Never say anything impolite, no matter the circumstances.
This struggle – of being too polite to stand up for oneself – serves as the through line of Davis’ memoir, “Dying of Politeness” (HarperOne, 277 pp., out now). The Academy Award winner details her humble Massachusetts upbringing, starry film career, three marriages, extensive archery training and many, many instances of detrimental politeness along the way.
“Because of certain roles I played, people sometimes think I’ve been a bada– my whole life or something, and that’s not the case,” Davis, who starred in “Thelma & Louise” and the action film “The Long Kiss Goodnight,” says over Zoom.
Crippling politeness hasn’t just landed Davis in awkward social situations: It’s also kept her from speaking out about mistreatment.
In her book, Davis alleges she suffered harassment while working with Bill Murray on the 1990 film “Quick Change.” She writes that the comedian pressured her into letting him give her a massage in a…
