MovieChat Forums > How to Make an American Quilt (1995) Discussion > young Sophia Darling

young Sophia Darling

posted 18 years ago by movielovrr916
9 replies | jump to latest

I saw this movie years ago when it first came out. But I remember when I saw it feeling the most saddened by her story. I know she wanted to be a diver and that her dream was put on the back burner because she married and had children. But what I can't remember is why she didn't try to make it work with her husband, please understand it has been a while since I've seen this. Did she ever really love him? I remember things were not perfect between them but it seemed like he tried to make it work right before he left. I don't think it was right that he abandoned her and the kids by the way. I felt bad for her because she become so bitter and she wasn't always like that. She was full of life and beautiful. Can anyone help?

[–] belleandguaca 18 years ago

She did love him. But she was so bitter that she took it out on him. At the very end of their relationship when he was fed up and about to leave her she attempted to reach out but he was sleeping. It was really sad.

[–] KittenCaboodle 18 years ago

She wanted to became a diver & get out of that small town (remember her telling Preston "Take me out of this place" (or something) right before they made love. unfourtunately she ended up pregnant, having to get married then having to spend alota time home alone looking after baby .Thats the LAST thing an ambishious young girl with a passion for life wants at a young age before getting to enjoy & experience life. She did love him but after that she became bitter & mainly blamed her husband for her life going wrong (making her pregnant, not being around, not getting her outta the town, etc) so he couldnt take it any longer & left

"Get In Touch With Your Inner Bitch!"

[–] pmitsi-1 15 years ago

Yes. And she unwillingly ended his efforts to get back together when he was building her a pond. He was making that to remind her her old free self, but it was too painful for her to remember how she was (comparing to what she is) and so they argued. She tried to make ammends but it was too late.

From all the characters, Sophia is the one I empathize the most. Life played her un unfair game. The scene that make me feel sorry for her the most was when she brings Finn the pages from her thesis, Finn is polite but very indifferent:

I mean this is the only scene in the film where Sophia actually wants to say something personal, to open up, and Finn is not encouraging at all. She is like (IMO): "Ok, thank you for bringing me the pages, but this doesnt mean I have to pay attention in what you have to say. Actually, I already know your story. Now buzz off and let me be".

[–] EllenOlenska 14 years ago

Finn is unbearably self absorbed. I would have preferred to see the whole show without her, maybe from the crows perspective. or from a tree, or an itinerant vagrant. Anyone working on their third thesis needs to spend a few months working at McDonalds. And she was very rude to Sophia, and the only thing she took away from the interaction was that Sophia thought she (finn) was a good writer.

Sophia is heartbreaking.

[–] pmitsi-1 14 years ago

Yes. I would agree with that one. I found my self at the end to care more about the secondary characters than Finn...

[–] angelprincess6879 14 years ago

I totally agree. Finn was very unlikable and it's kinda sad that she's the one that winds up with the happy ending.

[–] thenYES 14 years ago

I was saddened by Sophia's story, though at times it was very hard for me to like her. She was so bitter, and she took it out on her husband and kids (it makes me so sad to see her telling her daughter that she doesn't need to go to college-she can just get married...it seemed to me like Sophia didn't want her daughter to have what she had never had, like she was jealous of her daughter's ambition). So in a lot of ways I understand why her husband left, and I can't judge him too harshly for it.

But when Sophia steps into the pond as an old woman to fetch Finn's paper, it was heartbreaking. And her little speech to Finn was so sweet. It was just so sad to see how unhappy she was in her life, and how that translated into her cutting others down.

"And then he started cheating...especially at magnetic travel scrabble."

[–] kisses5050 14 years ago

that to me was the saddest thing.. building a pond for her to wade in... building a pond for someone who loved to dive is so ironically sad and lack of understanding that it is almost disrespectful...

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[–] gblove 12 years ago

building a pond for someone who loved to dive is so ironically sad and lack of understanding that it is almost disrespectful...

It may indicate some lack of understanding, or it may be the best he can do with the resources he has. Let's say it's a total lack of understanding; the man is still building a pond! I think that suggests a great willingness to make things work as well as a great love. He notices her unhappiness, he cares, he tries to fix it but doesn't know how ... gee, what a disrespectful prick.