I was wondering if anyone who has ever seen this film has ever found themselves siding more with Emma or Deedee or did you understand where they were both coming from? When they have their final confrontation that begins at the bar and they start spitting accusations at each other, did you feel one was more on target with her accusations than the other? I'd love to hear some thoughts on this.
shareI choose Deedee's side because I can understand how she felt. I didn't feel that she was jealous of her daughter, I felt that she wanted her to succeed in her dancing.
shareI don't think Deedee was jealous of Amelia's talent either...I think Deedee resented what looked like, in Deedee's eyes, Emma's attempt to steal Amelia's affections from her. Whether or not Emma is trying to do that is up for debate, but I can see why Deedee felt the way she did.
shareDee Dee. After all she gave up her dancing career to have Emma. Imagine, if she did have an abortion, the world would've missed out one incredibly talented ballerina.
share
I think they were both on target, like that Robert Frost poem, "The Road Not Travelled."
They both were happy with their choices but yet, both a little bit resentful of the other, and wondering how their lives might have turned out with a different choice.
"the best that you can do is fall in love"
I mostly sided w/ DeeDee b/c it was easy to understand how she felt. But then as I saw glimpses of Emma's life - her married lover that no longer wanted to be w/ her at least not forever the way she now wanted, being made to feel too old against all these young up & coming ballerinas, I felt for her too. The argument & then the fight was great to see, but during that I didn't side w/ either. I think thru that it was revealed that neither one really had the right to blame eachother for their own choices, is how I saw it. I also didn't think Emma acted out of line w/ DeeDee's daughter, but was acting only as a Godmother. When she cares for the girl when she's drunk, she's doing so b/c she seems to really care, not to spite DeeDee or push her aside b/c she didn't even know she was backstage.
I have next to no interest in ballet, but I really enjoyed this movie, b/c I think most women can relate to all 3 women in the film, especially DeeDee & Emma. Who doesn't have somebody in their life that they can't resist comparing themselves to or wondering if the grass is greener had they made the same sort of decisions she had - who hasn't wanted to have it all?!
"Are you going to your grave with unlived lives in your veins?" ~ The Good Girl
I sided with Emma. Emma really IS an artist who admits that she lives to be onstage--her whole life has been committed to this and it's who and what she is. To have so many of the underpinnings of her support system knocked out at once is heartbreaking to observe.
Deedee, on the other hand, would rather just obsess about what she thinks could have been but she clearly lacks Emma's passion and commitment: she'd had talent but no talent for having it. I find her whiny insecurities annoying and she cheats on her husband, which he doesn't deserve. Observe also that unlike Deedee, he's absolutely at peace with the decisions he made and the fact that he also lacks whatever it is that drives Emma.
Totally agree with Ellis. And I didn't think for one minute that Emma was trying to steal Emelie. Dee Dee was bitter and jealous. Imagine wondering if you should have ABORTED your flesh and blood daughter. yikes.
Emma seemed accepting of her life and her decision even though she was getting lonely and afraid. Dee Dee was just bitter and jealous and not thankful for all teh good things she had in her life. Like her husband.
...and I am just going to have to feel this way until I DON'T feel this way ANYMORE!
[deleted]
No, I felt no need to take sides at all. I thought Laurents' writing was brilliant and conveyed two lifetimes of complex emotions very succinctly.
Edward
I watch the movie for the ballet scenes, and couldn't care less about Emma and Deedee.
share