They both are shady characters. Sid used his uniform and Navy aviator promises to lure Miss Fabulous Set of Tatas into bed. So why was he so devastated when she dumped him for choosing to be a plain old Okie from Muskogee?
shareIn the end, Sid tried to do the right thing. Neither were villains or perfect. Things just happened the way they happened. But I don’t begrudge Zak or Paula for feeling upset and emotional after Sid killed himself. Not sure the point you’re trying to make here.
sharePoint - Lynette was what she was, a “Puget Sound debutante” as Foley called her type. But Lynette was not a villain. Sid was stupid and naive to think Lynette was interested in him beyond his aviator-in-training status. Even he was using his fancy uniform and status in the program to get laid. His issues with his parents and deceased brother were not Lynette’s fault. He didn’t even introduce her to his parents when they visited. Then he wants to marry her as part of his long delayed rebellion against them. She had every right to reject that.
In the end, we see Lynette slogging away in the factory and looking dejected while Paula gets swept off her feet. This comparison is shoved in our face: Paula, nice, honest v. Lynette, manipulative, wicked. We are supposed to rejoice that Lynette’s dreams get burned.
You sound rather bitter. I don’t think many people had this kind of hang-up with the movie. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it....but I do recall that both Paula and Sid realized and admitted the error in their ways, whereas Lynette did not.
Although even she was happy for Paula at the end (“Way to go, Paula”)
I don’t think we were supposed to rejoice in anything negative about Lynette. If anything, I kinda felt pity for her.
I always felt so sorry for Sid. Not.
I always thought the world is gonna be a better place with idiots like him hanging themselves in the closet over a skank like Lynette.
We should admire him and his courage.
Sid totally misread Lynette. He thought she was really in love with him when in reality she didn't care for him one bit. Her only interest (which she admitted to him as she dumped him) was that she wanted to be the wife of a naval aviator and live overseas, not be married to some Okie.
That is why he was so devastated.
A villain no. Stupid yes. She was giving up a future with Sid when he could get his job back at JCPenny and be floor manager within 6 months.
shareLynette *was* a villain. She never loved Sid; never wanted Sid, only wanted to be "the wife of a naval aviator." You're forgetting that she set out to trap him, and LIED ABOUT BEING PREGNANT. How you could possibly develop the take you did is baffling.
shareI think that is a very 1980s take on this story. If this movie came out now, Sid would not come off as the poor ol’ luvable sap that got done in by a hussy. He’d be seen as a stupid fckboi which is what he was all along.
shareWhy can't all three be true?
Sid *was* a knucklehead. And selfish. But then his character went through a transformative arc, and he developed as a person, realized he really did want to build a life w/Lynette, and was crushed by the realization that she never wanted Him. . .she wanted a Navy Pilot. *Any* Navy Pilot. And was willing to lie about a pregnancy to get one.
Reading back on my posts above, that was what I was essentially saying. There were both shady. She was not a villain because for there to be a villain, there has to be hero adversary. Not so here. Just two bad faith people grifting off each other. I don’t think Sid transformed. He was spiraling down and was treating Lynette like a lifeline. I don’t think his problems would have been solved if she married him. They would have had an awful marriage.
shareThey weren’t both shady. Lynette was a deceitful cold-hearted ‘cunt’ as Mayo puts it. Sid’s only flaw as that he was too naive to see through her trickery and believed she loved him back, plus he fell for her fake pregnancy mind games.
There’s no moral equivalence between them at all.
I completely agree with your assessment of Lynette, but let's be fair - Sid didn't mind laying pipe with Lynette while planning his life without her with his girl from back home. There is indeed no moral equivalence, but Sid was still a user who cheated on his girl.
At least Mayo was very clear with Paula that he didn't want a girlfriend, only to have fun with Paula for the 13 weeks he was in training.
Presumably because he took it to heart, and didn't brush the whole relationship off as just another episode of toxic heterosexuality. Like any real person would have.
share