The line Shelby says to her mother in the scene when she tells her mom about her pregnancy. Does it insinuate that Jackson pressured Shelby into having a baby despite her doctor's orders? Maybe they were having marital problems, maybe he was messing around with the Miss Christmas skank?? What do you think?
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but in real life, according to the trivia on the film, the "real Jackson" got married 6 months after Susan/Shelby passed away. I guess he had someone waiting already. I know a man with a small child might want a mother, but 6 months is quick.
shareThey had problems since day 1. He was sneaking into her room the day of the wedding to make sure she would show up.
They had problems since day 1. He was sneaking into her room the day of the wedding to make sure she would show up.
If the real husband got married that quickly I am surprised they didn't have more negative comments about him thru the movie!
What they did say was bad enough, it was very obvious that M'Lynn thought he was a jerk.
I don't recall the M'Lynn and Jackson having any serious or cordial contact at any time during the movie.
He was just there ya know. He and Drum got along ok, typical men.
I think M'lynn knew Jackson wasn't going to deny himself a child just because Shelby might die from it. And that is hard to take when the guy is married to your sick daughter.
Good post - I always got caught on that line. It made me really dislike Jackson - though now watching when I'm older with more life experience, I think that might not exactly be fair.
Others have replied here that they think that Shelby and Jackson had "always had problems" pointing out the part where Jackson sneaks in her window, etc. And while I agree with the idea they may have had problems, I don't believe the problem was that Jackson was pressuring Shelby to have children - but rather that Shelby wanted to back out of the wedding because she wasn't going to be able to give him kids.
Like most women (southern or otherwise), it is thought that giving the husband a son (more than a daughter) is what is expected and the greatest gift to give. It's an old-fashioned idea, but still very much alive in certain cultures.
I believe Jackson had been telling Shelby all along that she didn't need to give him children - he wanted her to marry him anyway.
Regardless, when Shelby says "I think it would help things a lot" its definitely an indication that the marriage isn't going well. But again, it may not be Jackson who is at fault. A feeling of inadequacy or self doubt can ruin any person let alone a relationship.
Having said this, I still don't like how blazé Jackson seems about the pregnancy. Then again, we only see a snippet of these people's lives. We have no idea what else may have happened. All we can do is speculate.
"When a day starts like this, it's all uphill from here."
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