About Tom


I know he really was in love with Julia in the beginning, there was no mistaking that. And even when he fell in love with someone else, it was understandable. But why did he act the way he did towards Julia once he started drifting away from her? If he worshiped her as much as we're led to believe, wouldn't he at least treat her better when he starts falling in love with Avice? His affection for Julia had started waning before Avice, anyway- so what was his motivation?
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Pull the pin and count to what?

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~ I don't think Tom ever loved Julia. He just wanted to use her. Entill he met Avice. Those 2 a--holes deserved eachother.




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I don't think he ever loved Julia either. The word OPPORTUNIST comes to mind here! He was a user from day one!

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Dolly was right! TOM was a GOLDDIGGER just like Avice!

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I'm not sure if he was a golddigger, though - I mean, if he was, he wouldn't have given back that Cartier watch and cigarette case she gave him. I think he just wanted to seduce her - Julia Lambert, the greatest actress in England.

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the stuff he gave back was trinkets. he never paid her back the money. he "borrowed" probably a good deal of money.

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> I know he really was in love with Julia in the beginning, there was no mistaking that.

Well, that kind of "in love" is meaningless. It's just a feeling. Maybe he did like the theatre and hoped to bedhop his way into some opportunities. He was an opportunist. He was also an idiot, treating Julia the way he did. It's sheer luck he was successful. She was not comfortable with his behaviour in his flat, and she fled. But she was tempted by his youth. It was a mess, neither something well calculated nor intensely meaningful. "It happened." Very realistic, a mix of motivations that lead to another snarl.

He didn't fall in love in any meaningful way with Avice either. The minute she's trouble, whining about her contract in this production she hates to be part of, he will be moving on to the next bit of glitter that catches his eye.

But it's true he can't have been strictly a golddigger, or he would not have returned the gifts, which were hardly trinkets. I think he said it was a Cartier watch, and the case was gold. Both would have been far more expensive than any gift he could give in return. He wanted the upper hand, so he gave the gifts back in a fit of pique. That's how I see it.

He was just a shallow young user with no insight into anyone's being, attracted to the glitter of the acting world, but not seeing below the surface.

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I didn't want to believe it, because he was so genuine, but I don't think he ever really loved her. He was using her from the beginning.

Tomorrow's just your future yesterday!

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I hated the 180 Tom did when he started Dated Avice...not only did he blow Julia off. but had the nerve to DEMAND Julie put Avice in "Nowadays"? Tom started out sweet and turned into a complete jerk.

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I wouldn't say he used her (why would he get all upset over Julia paying for everything?) but I think at the beginning he had lust for rather than love. It didn't take long for him to start losing interest in her, which is obviously noted at the family dinner before Avice is introduced.

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I dont think, from the book, that he's really meant to be "in love" with Julia. He is infatuated with her because of what she represents to him, glamour, beauty, sex appeal and a chance to mingle with well known theatre people and society people....And she's older than him and married. I think that his feelings for her start to wane when he has had sex with her and has also gotten a toe hold on the social round...
Also I think that he begins to resent Julia because she is more powerful than him and makes him feel it by buying him things...When he meets Avice, he thinks that she's a "nice girl" with whom he can fall truly in love and marry... But I still have not seen the film and am not sure how it is played in the film....

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Yes, he was in love with her status.

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Tom was never in love with Julia. He was a jerk, using her always, and being indifferent when he found someone else. What a creep, but a good actor!

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Tom's rejection did seem to come off as abrupt, yet young men may not have the skill or maturity to break up with women in a kind and gentle manner. I think Tom was attracted to her, plus the fame and celebrity was probably a turn on. When the younger actress came on to him, he became impulsive, like some young men would. Seemed realistic to me.

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