I wonder did Joanna even try to make her marriage work? How can she be so insensitive at least towards her son? And at the end she leaves her child with her husband forever. How can she do that? Doesn't she have any maternal instinct within her? She'll always remain a cold-hearted, selfish, insensitive b***hy character in the history of hollywood.
shareI think you're being somewhat hard on her.
It's clear from her testimony in court and from what Margaret says earlier in the film, that Joanne suffers from depression and felt worthless in her purely domestic goddess role.
She wanted to resume her career feeling that may assist her to regain some sense of self esteem.
She gives up custody of her son, because she feels Ted has made a better home for him and yes, because she feels Ted is a more dedicated parent than her.
She may not have the strongest maternal instinct, but I'm not sure how that makes her ...
a cold-hearted, selfish, insensitive b***hy character.share
Hello Spookyrat, you really do seem to turn up everywhere I go. I've bumped into your username at least 6 or 8 times since I said hello a couple months ago. Wildly varied subjects and genre too. Crazy.
Hi rp.
Wildly varied subjects and genre too.That's really the fun part of the whole thing for me. May be the same for you?🐭 share
'I think you're being somewhat hard on her.'
'It's clear from her testimony in court and from what Margaret says earlier in the film, that Joanne suffers from depression and felt worthless in her purely domestic goddess role.'
'She wanted to resume her career feeling that may assist her to regain some sense of self esteem.'
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Oh, poor Joanna being a woman who can do whatever she wishes due to her special misunderstood needs. So depressed and worthless that she had no problem resuming her career, though. Let's feel sorry for Joanna based on her gender. Walking out on your husband/child should had LOST her self-esteem. Too bad Joanna was put through that trial, how unfair it was for her. Think about things before spreading the legs to conceive. Like men, much?
I side with Ted but I think your post is a bit rough. "Did she even try to make her marriage work"? Well, considering she said she'd been unhappy in it for about 5 years, i'd say yeah she tried. 5 years is a pretty good portion of a human life. So yeah she tried but it didn't work. And she herself realized in the end that Ted was the better parent.
She'll always remain a cold-hearted, selfish, insensitive b***hy character in the history of hollywood.I really, really disagree. Especially with the "cold-hearted" part. If she's the most cold-hearted, selfish, insensitive, bitchy person you've ever seen in a movie, you can't have watched very many movies.
I'm watching KvsK now - haven't seen it for a while. In response to the OP, I'm always fascinated that in books or film or TV, when the father has left the family and comes back, it's always seen as a good thing. Characters in film are often trying to get approval of their fathers, even if they're bastards. On the other hand, when mother leaves or is less than perfect, she's always a cold-hearted bitch, the audience hates her and wants her to suffer. Ted was work driven, ignored his family (he didn't even know what grade his son was in), probably treated her like a servant. Why wasn't Ted a cold-hearted bastard? Why the double standard?
She's obviously made a mistake in marrying Ted or probably anyone. She's tried to be the perfect mom/wife and can no longer do it. I fully understand she made a commitment, and I'm big on living up to your commitments, but real life doesn't always work the way you want it to. I also believe that an individual has the right to be happy, fulfilled, whatever - and is not required to martyr themselves for the sake of others. I don't think you should have to be miserable for 50 years in order to make someone else happy.
I do think the ending was a bit insensitive towards her son in the end, changing her mind after he knew he would have to leave his father. But she was incredibly upset and it was obviously a difficult thing for her to do. I don't see why he would be left with his father for good, it seemed she really loved her son.
Every sin is an escape from emptiness.
Divorce brings out the absolute worst in people. Especially when lawyers are involved.
I remember hearing nothing but good things about this movie so when it came out in one of those retro theaters, I jumped at the chance to see it. To the OP, rhetorically asking, are you married and/or a parent? If I remember correctly, after Joanna left the family home, didn't she "stalk" Billy from the coffee shop across from his school so she could see him everyday? What's to say how anyone reacts to how they 'sacrifice' themselves for the sake of staying in a "happy" marriage? Joanna's husband obviously wasn't listening to her or giving her any kind of emotional contact so maybe she thought it would get better as Billy got older. But it didn't according to Joanna or she wouldn't have gone talking to her friend or the doctor. After Joanna was awarded custody of Billy, I think even Joanna realized it wasn't about winning but what was best for her son. She talked to Ted about the clouds she had painted in Billy's room and how at that time in her life she felt emotionally "unready" to heave Billy from everything he knew. She felt that Ted WOULD HAVE been the better parent for Billy so she committed a very unselfish act by leaving Billy with Ted and I'm sure that Ted would have granted Joanna every chance to see Billy whenever she wanted. And in the closing shot, didn't Ted stay downstairs while Joanna went upstairs alone so she could explain to Billy on her terms and time that she WASN'T going to take him away from his father? I don't see how Joanna appears to be 'such a bitch' when she thought of only what was best for Billy and not what was best for her and Ted also did what was best for Billy by dropping the "appeal" when his lawyer told him that they would have to put Billy up on the stand next time.
P.S. Was that "Mrs. Poltergeist" displaying her "wares" in the hallway scene after her and Ted did the "sheet-shimmy"?
"Why me?...I mean, why me?"
We never saw her trying to be a good wife or mother. She was selfish!
shareI don't think that the character of Joanne knew what she wanted from life. She had a son and left him with the father. She later wants him back because she probably felt guilty for leaving him and wanted to make amends. Once she gets him back she realizes that he truly would be happier with the father. I think she was buying into society's view of what a woman wants and not into what she truly wanted which was her independence.
shareYes but once you have a kid, you can't just change your mind and decide it's inconvenient to be a mother because you'd rather have a career.
shareIt has a great fantasy ending for single divorcee fathers. But, it's still a fantasy because the majority of these cases ends up where the fathers are completely screwed over by custody and alimony payments and he may not ever get to see his kid.
Do women even know or care what kind of damage custody or alimony payments can do to these men? No. The majority of these mothers / ex-wives don't give a sh!t.
LOL. Nice description.
Unfortunately, because Meryl was actually having a child of her own, they couldn't use her enough to really establish a rocky history between Ted and Joanna. BUT, there was a vague suggestion that she was very unhappy. She wasn't directly abused but in her mind, Ted's ambitions and authority over her in the house was abusive. She needed to get away from that suffocating situation. It's just a shame that Ted couldn't find a stronger, more understanding and caring wife.
I like this movie a lot. Her character was selfish. I think Ted was pretty good dad and husband.
shareI could almost see her feeling like she was having a mental breakdown & taking off for a month or so.
But OVER A YEAR?!
The topper though was when Joanna sends that purely sadistic letter to her own son! Telling him that she basically is 'tired of being his mommy'!
Why didn't that vile little note make it into court?!! I bet even the old-school jury would have raised a brow or two.
I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus.
Didn't he discover America?
Penfold, shush.
I made similar posts on how horrible I thought that letter was which basically said that she needed to find something more interesting to do than being a mother. Just the fact that it was said in a letter was bad enough, but the letter itself was truly sickening.
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