Meredith should have worn a fat suit

There is a terrific scene in the first film, right after the St. Patrick's Day party when she sees Dan's interest in Linda. It's obviously bedtime - she's in her nightgown and robe, makeup removed, and she's assessing herself in the mirror. Baxter made this scene so real. She pulls her cheek taut a bit to see what a facelift might do; she looks at her fine lines and slight wrinkles; her hair looks like it needs a touch-up. She turns and looks at her sleeping husband.

In short, she's very human in this scene and Meredith played it without guile; she portrayed a woman who's somewhat past her youthful glory days, and feels threatened about losing her husband because she feels her looks are fading.

I don't think a fat suit would necessarily have made her more sympathetic. The first film is sympathetic to her but the second one isn't. Baxter played her well - you definitely lose your sympathy for Betty and it makes you wonder why she didn't realize that murdering Dan meant that the money would stop. She was getting almost $200,000 a year from him, not to mention the house and car(s), etc.

The photos in Stumbo's book are frightening in that they show marked deteriation in Betty's face and figure. And Betty's behavior was beyond strange - she was known as "Crazy Betty." I noticed that in the scenes for the second trial they had Baxter dressed in bright, large prints, which did make her look heavier.

But Betty was heavier than that and she was tall (5'10") and loved wearing 4 inch heels to court to tower over the men. In Stumbo's book she obviously uses food to self-medicate. One passage described that, after buying the gun, her sone were terrified that she'd shoot their father when he came to pick them up. She had it in her robe's pocket because in her rationale, she wanted them to see that even though she had a gun she wasn't going to shoot them. Yet she was more concerned with the robe, which was an A-line with a front zipper which she loved because as she said, ...[she] could gain all the weight [she] wanted."

I cannot believe that she will be rational enough to be considered for parole. After reading several books about it, it seems that even now she is still not remorseful about her acts.

The books state that their Catholicism was probably one reason that she held on. I'm Catholic and 54 years old and attended Catholic elementary and high schools as well as a Catholic college and grad school. In the 60's, even with all the new ecumenism, we were still taught that, other than certain reasons which would make an annulment possible, the marriage bond was unbreakable and this was part of the problem with the Broderick marriage. They both knew during their honeymoon that their marriage was a mistake; but as Catholics, felt that divorce was not an option. Betty's behavior (fueled by Dan's behavior and control and his affair with Linda) was what finally pushed Dan to leave and get a divorce.




"...truth against the world..." - attributed to Boudicca of the Iceni