Fresh as a daisy

Today in American Lit I showed a brief clip from the wretched 1974 film version of "Daisy Miller" starring Cybill Shepherd, who fulfills no one's ideal image of Daisy. So I asked the class: whom would you cast? "Paris Hilton" said one, and another suggested Angelina Jolie. Daisy Miller with tattoos? Come on, we need someone who can convincingly portray an ambiguous innocence tinged with recklessness, and Angelina ain't it. A student nominated Reese Witherspoon. "Too perky," said one. "Too old," said another, but at least she can act! Finally someone suggested Scarlett Johansson. She could be Daisy...but she'd better start filming soon because, as everyone knows, Daisies lose their freshness fairly quickly.