IMO Connie shouldn't have called the shore patrol on Selena. She should have understood what the girl and her family went through and just minded her own business. She was really good at keeping her mouth shut about her own past, but couldn't do it when it came to someone else. That is so typical.
shareI think she shouldn't have called too. Selena didn't just murder Lucas out of cold blood, it was self-defense and there were lots of other reasons factoring in there as well, so i don't think Connie should have called it in. Lucas deserved it.
shareSelena should have told the police right away. It was a justified act. I guess it was because of the way Peyton Place would have judged and labeled her (even more than she already was) that kept her silent.
"What do you want me to do, draw a picture? Spell it out!"
She was right to call.
Maybe now, Selena can truly move on and the town can stop crucifying people with their crazy standards.
Hey j-j-jaded
You got your mama's style but you're yesterday's child to me
So jaded
I saw the film this afternoon and thought the same thing. Salina confided in her and Connie picked up the phone and betrayed her just like that.
shareConnie HAD to call the police....Connie would become an accessory to murder and subject to jail time if she did not.
I totally agree, OP. Connie had no qualms about keeping her life secret and lying about her past, but she sure liked to get up the buttcrack of everyone else's private lives. I kind of hated Connie after that.
I also didn't understand why the entire TOWN didn't testify on Selena's behalf because they all knew what an abusive alcoholic that SOB was.
This film also made me realize just how much contempt and disrespect I have for prosecutors. All they care about is getting a conviction and another star on their records, forget decency or morality. What pigs. I have more respect for defense attorneys representing criminals because they are just doing their jobs. Prosecutors are the *beep* stirrers.
The whole point Nolan was trying to make at the end is that despite all the gossiping going on nobody realy knew one another in Peyton Place. People knew little nasty things about other people, but not how people realy were and how they felt. So nobody knew about Lucas abusing Selena, let alone raping her (except for Nolan).
As for prosecutors: they are doing their job. It's up to them to present a best case as possible, just as a lawyer does. It can be a rather unthankful job, but also a very gratifying one. Depends on the accused I reckon.
Of course Connie was right to call. The police would have found out eventually. Besides that Connie did not know about the extent of the abuse let alone the rape. If she had known her decision might have been different, but she did the right thing under the circumstances.
To be honest, making that call was probably the one single thing Connie did right in the entire film. Lucas was officially AWOL from the Navy during war time - that kind of thing doesn't just go away after one visit to his step-daughter's workplace to ask if she'd seen him recently. One way or another, that body wasn't staying hidden in the sheep-pen forever and the longer Selena (and Joey) kept it quiet, the guiltier they'd look. The point is even made several times both before and during the trial by both the prosecutor and the defence - if the murder truly was justifiable as self-defence, then why was the first instinct not to report both the death and Lucas' behaviour that led to it occurring but instead to try and hide the body (and then later compound the lie by claiming to have not seen him since he skipped town)? Of course, we as the audience know the reason why it was kept quiet and why Selena didn't want to help her own defence by admitting the assault and pregnancy, but no one else in the town did. No one except the doctor. Sure, the rest of the town knew Lucas was a drunk and a generally bad guy but it's still quite a leap to go from that to "this is a guy capable of r--ing his step-daughter", especially at a time when these things just weren't discussed in public at all. The doctor even pretty much has to spell it out for all of them (as much as the Hays Code would allow, anyway).
Bottom line, the longer Selena kept quiet, the worse it made her look in terms of pre-meditation for the death. Ideally, she should have reported it either immediately or at least within a few days of the killing, claiming self-defence and having Joey as a witness. Again, we know she was just too scared about the town's tendency to gossip and slander (which the doctor calls them all out for) but the entire point is that no one else besides the doctor knew how badly Lucas abused her and no one, even Allison after seeing him hit her, ever bothered to find out and help.