Granted what she did was wrong but Linda and Dan were no saints either. Linda was a skanky gold digging whore and he was a jackass going through a mid life crisis. After Betty became older he tossed her aside for the skanky gold digging whore trophy wife. He would have done the same to her when she started to show signs of wear and tear as she aged.
shareYou know I don't condone what Betty did but I 100% agree with you. This movie made him out to be a dang saint (Linda too) and they weren't. He ditched old Betty during his mid life crisis and found himself a pretty young thing. I felt sorry for Betty.
shareI've read two books about the case - Until the Twelfth of Never and Hell Hath No Fury.
I kind of agree that this movie made him out to be a saint where the books show that he enjoyed drowning Betty in legal paperwork, as well as being punitive about visitation, etc.
What always bothered me was that Betty would always say he took the children from her. He didn't. She had initially dropped each one off, one at a time, during the interval of several weeks.
Betty thought that Dan would be so overwhelmed that he'd come back to her. But technically she gave the children to him - as if she abandoned them. And the ultimate irony was that Dan did man up and try to be a better father.
That said, I also had the imperssion that Betty was somewhat locked out of the legal community as far as looking for an attorney, but her behavior was very very unbalanced.
If you look at the initial monies she was awarded in alimony - %16,000 per month - OMG, that's close to $200k per year. Yet she claimed her lifestyle couldn't be supported by so small an amount.
Dan and Betty were each other's bete noir. Dan was right when he said they'd be fighting it out forever, or at least until one of them was dead.
Baxter gave a truly bravura performance.
English/History MA: Symbolism rules. "Loyaulte me lie...Richard III
I read the book as well. About her monthly alimony, the reason she demanded more than $16,000 was because Dan was pulling in close to 1 to 2+ million a year. Betty felt she deserved more since she helped him get through college and taking care of the children. Then all of a sudden Linda steps in gets to share all of his wealth and she did nothing to earn it.
shareTrue - that's the one consistent theme. There is an updated version of Until the Twelfth of Never out. Although the author died 12 years ago, a co-writer added in info about Betty's first parole hearing, and more information about the children.
Dan was very methodical about it, and because he knew that she always acted before thinking about it, he could get to her in many different ways. I think he purposely gaslighted her.
If you think about it, with the exception of the murders, their divorce is a story that has happened to many people: one spouse works to support the other while that person goes to school. The thinking is: more education the better the earning power.
And Dan and Betty are right in there. She not only supported him through part of med school, she was also the main earner when he was in law school, and also managed to have 4 children, make their home habitable, and was generally Super-Mom.
Her settlement was $16,000/month, but he had also been paying the mortgage on the house she bought for herself, and the other credit card bills and many other things.
I don't think he saw the deep rage within her. It was as though he replaced Betty with a younger version of the Betty he originally met: blonde, perky, slender.
I cannot even come close to imagining how devastating this whole thing was to their children. At the parole hearing, only 2 agreed that she should be paroled; the other 2, plus members of Dan's and Linda's families argued against parole.
Betty feels no remorse. She acts and talks as though she HAD to kill them. I think that she lives in a nether world where Dan and Linda are still alive inside her head, and they are still trying to persecute her.
English/History MA: Symbolism rules. "Loyaulte me lie...Richard III
Also about the alimony - each party had to file a Statement of Net Worth listing assets and debts/liabilities. So while Dan was pulling in a boatload of money, I am sure he meticulously noted any and every liability he could - the mortgages on his house and the one he purchased for Betty, etc. And he did a few shady things, such as paying minimums on credit cards until after the divorce when he paid them in full.
One of the books goes into detail about the why of all that - apparently it gave him legal standing to deduct more liabilities from their community property settlement, and essentially cheating Betty out of a larger settlement amount.
English/History MA: Symbolism rules. "Loyaulte me lie...Richard III
I read the book as well. About her monthly alimony, the reason she demanded more than $16,000 was because Dan was pulling in close to 1 to 2+ million a year. Betty felt she deserved more since she helped him get through college and taking care of the children. Then all of a sudden Linda steps in gets to share all of his wealth and she did nothing to earn it
ROFL @ pooch.
hola.
good evening,
and love ur post because well, your right!
But in some scenes,as i am now watching it again on DVR,was able to record it on a weekend in early june 2014,so happy because i love this movie,EACH PART is never boring well done,and no wonder the woman is still talk about for decades over 20 yrs or so amazing movie!
AND YOUR RIGHT,but dan broderick,was not "completely made to be a nice sainty-man"
i.e. remember the scene where we see dan literally going of on her,"calmly"but say i am deducting cash from your month-to-month alimony,etc. and also other few scenes were not so nice,but i think the movie was pretty much establishing,the man did at times as kids say,"try"at times to be nice,but they also said,DAD AND LINDA were so evil to mom,we KNOW THIS IS TRUE,and that! will set any 1 off imo whose done as much as she has to allow him to procure a million dollar a year + income as a lawyer,she was amazing with him,and he never even deny that.
We were talkin'bout this movie again on Betty popular page on the FB other night.
.
Sad all around but wow what a great true to life story.Love it.dan and linda assume your able to call her whale,elephant "in front of teenager kids,and the smaller ones,no ... that is so wrong,and other bad words,then do other things to "set Betty off"not right,no wondre she LITERALLY snapped!!! But again i do not think either deserve it,but as my parents happy in life still after almost sixty years of marriage,adage"treat the one who was THERE FOR YOU,during the MOST relevant time in your life,or it can come back to haunt ya,it really can."
and we know now,it is TOO LATE SADLY FOR
DAN BRODERICK and the mistress,turned wife for such a short time,Linda
RIP
adios
Noche.
BMWRedheadBella
Amo(love) mi soaps!
GH/Bold/Days/Y&R soaps por eternidad.
I totally agree. I really feel bad for Betty. She gave her whole life to make his life better, and when they are in the restaurant and she says she won't back down because "he owes her," I totally agree with her. She wasn't perfect, of course, but she deserved much better than that.
shareI agree. The movie seemed to make Dan and Linda out as these good ppl who were unfairly targeted, yet they didn't include the crap they did to her, sending her pictures, creams, etc and bullying of her. Linda was a slut, Dan was a bully who wanted to beat Betty into submission like he did as a lawyer.
Y'know, I could eat a peach for hours
Dan and Betty were in an insane power struggle. Linda was no saint, but Dan kept her hanging on for 6-7 years before finally marrying her.
My feeling is that Dan was stupid in the way he treated Betty. He knew her. Both of them were messed up, imo.