Do you actually sympathise for Peyton? - The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992) Discussion

[–] Reva_C 9 years ago

Yeah, I felt for Peyton too. Things were pretty horrific for her....and for all we know, she might have firmly believed that Claire and the others were lying and drove her husband to kill himself over something he was innocent for. I don't think we're explicitly told one way or another if she believes the accusations or not.

That, and she was so fabulously fierce that I couldn't not secretly love her a bit ;)

~ I hardly looked at his face. His knees were what I wished to see. ~

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[–] Ltay328 9 years ago

I think that's a major point that we don't know if she believes the accusations or not and that point is it doesn't matter whether she believes them - Peyton isn't justified either way. Whether she believes them or not is irrelevant. If she believed that the women were lying - she is still dead wrong for all that she did.

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[–] whitespirit26 8 years ago

That's another thing, Reva. When I was a teen and first saw the movie, for some reason it never occurred to me that she WOULDN'T believe the accusations. Now it's clear: of course she didn't. I don't even think she allowed herself to go that far, she was too busy reeling from the loss.

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[–] electricrat66 9 years ago

My sympathy for "Peyton"/Mrs. Mott ended the moment she showed up at Claire's house under a false identity & false pretenses with criminal intentions.

One's hard luck is no excuse to purposely cause harm to or to harass others...morally and legally.

If you have sympathy for this character, some introspection is in order.

"Stupid closet full of bugs!!"

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[–] Melton (2534) 15 days ago

Exactly right, and let’s not forget she was happy to taunt and destroy a ‘retard’ with a heart of gold, and tell a 6 year old boy ‘I’ll rip your fucking head off’ before physically assaulting him.

‘Peyton’ was a vile bitch from the start, bad luck or no.

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[–] Patman111196 (1265) 12 days ago

It's also foolish to sympathize with a woman who shows zero remorse or empathy over the fact that her husband had cheated on her and sexually assaulted several women and that Claire put a stop with it and saving other women from a man who took advantage of them, something Peyton should know is the right move to do and stand up for one's self.
Unless she already knew and decided to look the other way, which is possible. But given that she was recently pregnant and would need him at her side, I doubt she would have approved of that in the slightest. If so, that makes her even LESS sympathetic.

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[–] Melton (2534) 12 days ago

Good point.

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[–] stevenackerman69 9 years ago

Well, she felt that Claire was someone who caused her problems with her husband's suicide and her miscarriage. She felt that all she could do was get revenge for that, which was wrong, since her husband was the scumbag.

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[–] Hanz-Willhelm 9 years ago

Yes, but only in one way. When all the lawyers were around her in the board room telling her all of your assets are frozen and basically, get ready to get evicted from your own home. That made me angry and I felt bad for her losing her child. I had no sympathy for anything she did after that.

Checkmate!
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[–] dhmason6155 8 years ago

I absolutely rooted for Peyton. I loved watching her destroy Claire and Michael's smug, perfect little yuppie world!

We got a job.
What kind?
...The Forever Kind.

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[–] whitespirit26 8 years ago

Um, did you see the house Peyton and her doctor husband lived in? THEY were ten times more yuppie than Claire and her homegrown vegetables in the country house. Get a grip.

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[–] whitespirit26 8 years ago

Sure, we're supposed to feel sorry for her. But what's alarming is her underlying coldness and how relentlessly she devotes herself to destroying other people, including Solomon and Marlene rather than just the person she blamed. I'm sure she was never aware of her husband's deeds, she clearly thought the world of him. I still think it's the saddest thing in the world that she lost her baby.

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[–] dhmason6155 8 years ago

Rebecca De Mornay made a PERFECT sociopath!

We got a job.
What kind?
...The Forever Kind.

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[–] sxymommacitaprincess_227 8 years ago

I do feel sympathy for Peyton. She had it all til Claire destroyed her life. The worse thing besides losing her baby and being forced to have a hysterectomy was having her house stolen from her. No one should be able to do that!

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[–] whitespirit26 8 years ago

Claire did nothing to her for Pete's sake. She was even sweet enough to refrain from getting what she could of the doc's money after he died.

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[–] SpaceMountainMike 8 years ago

And perhaps also Marlene. But he should have at least paid someone to murder him (in the style of Fletch) or make it look like an accident so that Peyton would be covered.

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[–] Patman111196 (1265) 12 days ago

No. This person she is trying to ruin did the right thing by standing up for herself and helping other women out, and she doesn't care or empathize with these women with the fact that her husband was a scumbag that was cheating on her while she was PREGNANT? Clarie was punished by her simply because she did the right thing. I would never sympathize with someone like that.

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