The daughtor - Affliction (1999) Discussion

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

Maybe the little brat will get a scourcing case of Herpes when she gets older. Her mom put BAD ideas into her head against the cop/father. I'm sorry folks, but I have NO patience with people like this even as kids, at least she KNEW her father, unlike me, take (not steal) what U can get in life, her father wasn't perfict, wow big deal man, he probely was nicer then my father.

From Fast times at ridgemont high
Stacy; "Mike wait a sec, mike, mike!"
Mike: "Ahhhhhhaa"
Stacy; "are u okay"
Mike: "I think I came, didn't u feel it?"
Stacy: "Yeah I guess I did"
Mike: "I gotta go staci, I really gotta go"

Stacy, ya sex crazed girl, go on the PILL already (there was no patch back in '82), I know you were gonna tell mike to either put on a condom or pull out, but he came quick before you could even say anything, opps. Pills are alot safter then abotions wherther surgical or drug induced.

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[–] Ryb33338 18 years ago

That's the whole point of the story. He didn't know how to make emotional connections with people because of the abuse he suffered as a child. When he attempts to make those contacts with his daughter, they come across as flat. It's like his daughter says at one point, "I love you but I want to go home." When I watched this movie, it reminded me of my own father when I visited on weekends and such. Like Wade, he was abused as a child by his father and he was an alcoholic/drug abuser. He tried to be a good father, but not having a good father of his own, how realistic could that be. Of course, my father didn't kill two people like Wade, but I think the movie had to add that for the dramatic affect. It had to go over the top to make a point about abuse.

I think maybe you need to look at it from the daughter's perspective.

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[–] ohara825 18 years ago

Correct, she is emblematic of the misery felt in families where alcoholism is the engine that makes people who and what they are. The two main characters (Nolte and Colburn)are driven by alcohol and the demons manifested by its consuming nature. Everyone is affected by its wrath. This movie works, in part, because it's able to recognize that. Excellent movie.

You have two forms of expression, silence and rage: Midnight Run

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[–] joshua_carpino 18 years ago

i undserstand what you're saying, but the daughter is just not a sympathetic character. she really doesn't have a perspective because all she does is complain,and in the scenes where nolte interacts with her mother we see where she got it from.

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] joshua_carpino 17 years ago

the mother was even worse.

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[–] chandler-47 17 years ago

"Did anybody else hate her."

I agree. She killed the movie for me.

-------------------------
"They don't give you the leads, they don't give you the support, they don't give you dick." (Dave Moss)

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[–] pauljfrain 15 years ago

do you people understand what its like to grow up with an alcoholic scum like that? the only time they are nice is with the first few. jill was a nice kid who was revolted by her father who didnt give a crap about her. same with the ex wife. she was obviously abused by wade during her marriage evidenced by wade stating "im not gonna hit anybody" after he knocks horners hat off ....

This Bellini is starting to look like a real Kapuchnik.

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[–] Edward_de_Vere 15 years ago

Where's the evidence that makes it "obvious" that Wade was physically abusive toward his ex-wife and daughter? It seems to me that Wade's wife just left him for a wealthier man.

Everything at the beginning of the film suggested that Wade was doing his best to be a good worker, boyfriend, and father. We see him going out of his way to try to keep his daughter amused while she sulks like a spoiled brat. There was nothing to suggest that he was abusive or even a drunk until the later part of the story (if he was a drunk, I doubt that LaRiviere would have hired him as the town Deputy). The film strongly implied that the daughter acted the way she did was because her mother systematically poisoned her opinion against Wade.

The whole point of the movie was that Wade was basically a down on his luck but decent man who was too emotional to handle the pressure of an abusive father, a manipulative ex-wife who ruins his relationship with his daughter, and a series of coincidences that let him conclude that he was being used as a pawn by his boss in a corrupt murder for land scheme.

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[–] pauljfrain 15 years ago

well for one when he shoves into horner when they are picking up jill and says "i didnt hit him. im not gonna hit anybody." only a person who had been abusive in the past would have made a statement like that. also noone just suddenly starts drinking browns at 50 years old--at the halloween dance he steps outside as soon as jill is coerced onstage (real involved parenting) with larieveire and is offered a plug of booze which he quickly accepts---all indicative of a person who abuses alcohol. the fact that lillian married wade twice to me indicated she was not motivated by $--the reason she married horner was he was the opposite of wade--meek and predictable--really this is easily implied in the film. wade was not a good man he was confused, alcoholic bully just like his dad. he suppressed this for a while but lillian knew this and marge found out as soon as wade became more involved with her

This Bellini is starting to look like a real Kapuchnik.

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[–] GuyOnTheLeft 11 years ago

I agree with this take. It is interesting to see the different angles though, and I can see how it is possible to view it differently.

I am a divorced dad, and it is painful when my kids don't want to spend as much time with me as with their mother. So that really hit home, although I'm certainly more "together" than Wade. Still, I think you're right that he's decent at the beginning, and his daughter's rejection kind of kicks him in the gut.

At the same time, I don't think the daughter should be harshly condemned as a "b*tch" or anything, because she is young and emotionally stressed by the situation, and you can't expect kids to always be all diplomatic and concerned for everyone's feelings.

--------
See a list of my favourite films here: http://www.flickchart.com/slackerinc

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[–] corruptmatt 17 years ago

I think one of the best scenes in the film is when Wade just snaps and pushes his dor-tor (lol excuse me) and bloodies her nose. Whenever you get a role like this in a film the casting is so important and I think the actress was excellent. I remember kids like this from school, abusive parents, believe me the way she acted was completely realistic. Makes you wonder what her life will be like.

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[–] e_pienkosz 17 years ago

I agree. I beleive the big problem with much of the charecterization in the movie is because alot of the background information was lost from the novel. The thing with the novel was that alot of the plot is supposed to be told from Rolf's narration from the stories that came from his brother (Wade) as well as the other people in the town when Wade went "crazy." It's somewhat weird to read, but definatly interesting.

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[–] ceebeegee 17 years ago

I agree, the daughter is pretty unsympathetic, although certainly the movie is constructed to make us (somewhat) sympathize with Wade instead. My main problem with the daughter was that she seemed too adult for an 8-year-old. Her remark about "it's okay, I love you but I want to go home"--that line strikes me as far too advanced for a child of 8. I just can't believe she would've been able to read his subtext that way. At that age children still identify strongly with both their parents--she would've loved her father simply because he's her father (and he's much nice than HIS father was--he's a mess but he still clearly loves her and is reaching out to her). She would've feared being around him sometimes because she senses his lack of control (children need and want control in the adults around them) but she still would've loved him.

Also it's a structural mistake to have the child be that unsympathetic. We should see her love for him at SOME point, so it's more of a tragedy when his actions drive them apart.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] spifff-1 16 years ago

"Also it's a structural mistake to have the child be that unsympathetic. We should see her love for him at SOME point, so it's more of a tragedy when his actions drive them apart."

That's it in a nutshell, CeeBee.
Also begs the question why would he sue for custody? WHo would want to suffer constant whiney dissapproval from a child? Well, maybe poor coo-coo Wade would...

No doubt the daughter saw her share of instability when the parents were together, so her reserve makes sence. Yet, the new and improved nouveau riche parents definitely left their spoiled, bratty mark. A fearful child does not likely become a snob. Look at how she scoffed at her old school. Wouldn't even talk to anyone. Private school brat, maybe? If she was so uncomfortable around her father, you would think she'd want to meet up with some friends.

How about how she and her mother rush off after the funeral. They didn't even show up at the house beforehand. Their reason? Princess has a skating lesson. Come on now. What kind of people are these?

Wade was, at heart, a decent fellow, I think. Despite occasionally acting like a caged animal, it took a good deal to get him to that point. He was very kind and affectionate with Sissy. Things only went downhill when he was dumb enough to subject them both to his father's abuse. (I was suprised that not even DeFoe's character remarked what a bad idea that was.)

Anyhow, I can't help but think that, with a couple of better decisions and a less frigid, snotty ex and daughter, poor Wade might have turned out O.K.

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[–] xdayton 16 years ago

A "kind and decent fellow," who kills two people and suffers from delusions and a hair-trigger temper.

I think you are all confusing your affection for nolte as affection for the character. The point is that the little girl always senses the violence beneath Wade's surface, and becomes terrified and withdrawn. Every time she's with him, she sees him explode: at Halloween with the stepfather, in the tarvern with the bartender, and finally against both his girlfriend (sissy spacek) and even herself.

Anyone who would blame the little girl for being "whiny and snotty" clearly has no clue what this movie is about. It is about Wade slowly becoming his father: an abusive drunk who can't control himself. One of the the things this briliant movie captures so honestly is the way children perceive unspoken danger, perhaps not always understanding it, but sensing the danger nonetheless.

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] kathykato 16 years ago

In the first scene between Wade and his daughter, when he told her to the halloween party, I really couldn't understand why she was so sulky and unfriendly. It was clear that Wade had taken some trouble to arrange activities for her, and wanted her to have a good time, and was excited to have her visit. It was her rejection of him that drove him over the edge when his ex-wife came to pick her up. As viewers we were never given the history about why his daughter didn't want to spend any time with him--there was no indication that he had been physically abusive towards her or his ex. In the later scene, when he grabbed the waiter and lost his temper in the restaurant, I could understand in that context why she wanted to go home, but not in the first scene. I did not find her to be a sympathetic character at all--and I agree that at age 8, children do want to spend time with their parents (unless they are themselves being abused).

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[–] saneman1 15 years ago

She was a goddamn bitch. It's one thing to be uncomfortable with her dad. But come on. She was complaining about the freaking vehicle at the end. Acting all prissy about the fast food thing .At least humor the old coot and laugh off the fast food suggestion instead of giving him a lecture on it.

And she kept saying "let's go home" way too early in each visit. And her behavior during her own grandma's death was cold.

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[–] redk94 15 years ago

I thought Wade repeatedly tried to reach out to his daughter and was continually shot down. He was trying to be as nice (and self-controlled) as possible during the pick-up truck ride back to the farm, but she objected to every idea he attempted. She came across as whiney to me also.

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] clogan8307 15 years ago

I felt sorry for Wade. Can you imagine having to deal with that ex-wife and that spoiled brat of daughter?

I'm the world's most interesting man. Stay thirsty my friends.

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[–] JRAZI 14 years ago

ALL THE DAUGHTER WANTS TO DO IS GO HOME. I WAS BOTHERED BY HER, I FEEL SHE REALLY DIDN'T CARE FOR HER DAD, HE WAS ALWAYS TRYING TO PLEASE HER TO NO END.

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[–] Drumcheeny 14 years ago

I can only imagine what that marriage breakup must have been like for a child. I think her reactions were pretty valid.

You must be here to fix the cable

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