I recently purchased a second-hand copy of this movie and watched it again after many years. I am surprised that nobody has commented on how horrible Elaine turned out to be. Carnell kept mentioning "the red dress" and Elaine kept making excuses. Then Carnell found it in Elaine's luggage and was crushed.
shareIt was Elaine's vanity.
As she displays to 'mad brother' Delmont earlier on - she's used to the finer things in life. Winning her first beauty pageant at Carnell's age, and then marrying off to a wealthy man, changed her perspective.
Carnell asking about the dress, and Elaine's bold-face lie regarding its whereabouts, was indeed horrible.
I think Elaine wanted to hold on to the dress because it was a symbol of her youth and beauty. It was very important to her. Kind of like how Meryl Streep's character would never allow her daughter to borrow the dress she had worn when she was with Clint Eastwood's character in "Bridges of Madison County".
I understand why Elaine couldn't part with the dress. It was vanity, regret (maybe that winning the contest was the highlight of her life), and longing for the past. It made Elaine seem more vulnerable to me.
no, she was a first class bitch and did not want to share the title with her sister. she could have at least told her sister so she would not be scrounging up a dress at the last minute. a first class bitch that thinks she is better than everyone. mary steinburgen played her so well. i loved this show.
shareI hated Elaine for withholding that dress. I won a beauty pageant when I was a teenager and I would have gladly loaned out any dress. You can pretty much only wear them once anyway. Clearly that was the peak of her life or she wouldn't have been so petty and selfish. I thought Carnell had the talent and she certainly had the drive- just give her the dress!!! It makes me mad every time I watch it.
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