i read the roper review and he said one could consider the boy to be the predator.
your thoughts.
Me, I don't think the boy should be considered, he is just a dumb kid lying to her trying to get laid. who hasn't done that.
i told you not to stop the boat. Now lets go. Apocaylpse Now
Clearly the teacher! The boy is just that, a boy....
shareThe kid was clearly the 'predator' and I don't see how people can't realize this?
Yes it was illegal and wrong for Sheba to sleep with him, not only because he was 15 but also because she was married - but it's completely foolish to act like he's this innocent little 'boy' who was hurt and completely changed by sex with an attractive older woman.
He's the one who hounded HER, it probably made her feel somewhat young again and good to get the attention of someone, and if he wasn't like this, I highly doubt anything would've happened.
I mean the kid wouldn't have been negatively affected by this affair at all if they didn't get caught. Even when Sheba tells him Barbara knows, he says that "it was fun and all" but he didn't want anything serious - he just wanted to *beep* an older woman. He probably bragged about it to all his friends (withholding identity) and it made his ego bigger than it already was. It's not like Sheba trapped him in a corner and raped him in any way.
I'd say it's both of their faults really ... the boy for starting it all and basically stalking her, and Sheba's, for going with it.
what the boy did was wrong but again he is just some dumb kid and as for Sheba, shes not an animal. SHe has control over what she does, just cause a kid hits on you doesn't mean you have to give in.
i told you not to stop the boat. Now lets go. Apocaylpse Now
A teenagers brain isn't fully developed. It's why they don't have the same rights as adults. So no, he isn't culpable for these actions.
shareNo. In this case, LEGALLY he isn't culpable for these actions. His brain was developed enough. Knowing that she'd be the one whose life would be destroyed, she should have said no/
shareThe affair was at least partly the boy's fault, because it never would have happened if he hadn't been pursuing Sheba, and stalking is a predatory behavior. But Sheba was mostly to blame for the affair, because she was the adult and he was just a kid. There was definitely something wrong with Sheba. The right course of action for her would be to go to her headmaster immediately. She didn't seem to realize that stalking was something she shouldn't have to put up with. What I wonder is how often in real life do teenage boys pursue their teachers as intensely as this one did?
Edit: I haven't read the book myself, but some posters who have say that Sheba is more predatory in the book than she is in the film. That makes more sense to me. I had a hard time believing that a student would be that bold with his teacher, no matter how beautiful she might be.
What I wonder is how often in real life you have that hot and classy teacher you can pursue?
shareIn high school we had a math teacher that must have been a recent college graduate so was not that much older than us. (We were 16-17. She was 21-22.) She was beautiful and had a fantastic body -- which really showed in those bluejeans she liked to wear. And did the boys ever talk about her. They wanted to get into her jeans in the worst way. It wouldn't surprise me if some of them tried.
But she was the adult and the teacher. And she stayed professional, to the best of my knowledge. We did have another teacher (male, btw) who was widely rumored to have had sex with a number of the boys. And my teenage next door neighbor was publicly sleeping with one of her teachers. So it's not like we didn't talk when it happened. But never a hint of scandal about this beautiful math teacher.
Boys and girls have the hots for teacher. Happens all the time. Teacher should know better to do anything about it.
my website -- http://maggieameanderings.com/Archive.htm
Alas, meadowlark54, not as often as one might hope . . . ; )
I say 50/50. He hardly seemed like an innocent virgin. Two to tango.
I say 50/50. He hardly seemed like an innocent virgin. Two to tango.
Thanks, you pointed out what I failed to - that he was actually kind of a nasty, lying little bugger.
She was the most wrong. She was an adult , married, his teacher and even had a child his age.
He , like others have said was just a boy who wanted to get with an older woman.
When he made up that lie it reminded me of my 24 year old intern who tried to get with me (I'm 31). He knew I'd never give him the time of day then one day he told me his best friend killed himself. I felt bad and invited him to lunch. We got closer but I never did end up crossing the line. The only reason I didn't was because I knew he would talk.
Totally different since we were both adults but still reminded me. Now I realize he was probably lying!!! Dam he had good game
Steve was definitely creepy, but Sheba was an adult. He should not have seduced his teacher, and she should have known better than to have an affair with a student (and an under-aged student no less). I believe they were both at fault.
Also, Sheba didn't stop the affair. She became obsessed with his obsession with her, and continued to sleep with him after Barbara warned her of what was at stake. I do believe that Sheba was also clouded by the teacher-student affair she had with her husband. After he found out about the affair, he yells "YOU WERE HIS TEACHER!" And Sheba yells "AND YOU WERE MINE!" Since Richard had an ex-wife, we can presume that Sheba broke up his marriage. Basically, she wasn't exactly the moral role model.
I sometimes don't read the bottom of posts because I think it's a signature.
I don't know how things work in the UK, but in the US the courts can be cringingly (imo) rigid about the "age of consent." You might hear a news story one night about the "shocking" affair between a 19 or 20 year old student-teacher and a 17 year old student, then the next night see that a 12 year old is to be tried as an adult for murder.
Totally screwed up!
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jarspeck, my last post was awkwardly phrased. I was referring to a 19-20 year old student teacher - a teacher's aide - having an affair with a 17 year old (under-aged in most US states) student, and the fact that most people would be up in arms about it.
shareAlthough he did his best to seduce her it is ultimately 100% her fault. She is the adult and should have enough reason to know it is wrong. The character of Sheeba is also very weak as she is a grown woman that is swept by anything a person says to her. She went with her impulses with Steven and as she stated thought that she deserved to commit adultery/indiscretion because she had put up with a hard deal in her life. She is a pathological to rationalize having sex with her teenage student. I still think the sentence they gave her as punishment was strict and unrealistic compared to what happens today for similar crimes. She should have got a month in prison, her credential yanked away and counseling. She never raped Steven and he was 16, not 9. In earlier times he would have been married at his age, so it is all in how you look at the situation and its context. I myself thought the film was about the relationship between the two women and the boy was a distraction or glue that held the relationship together.
shareExcellent post. I agree that Sheba is a weak person. I think she must have some sort of personality disorder to allow herself to be seduced by her student. I also agree that this film is really about the relationship between two incredibly dysfunctional women - Sheba and Barbara. The sexual relationship between Sheba and Steven is important because Barbara uses it to manipulate Sheba, who is very weak and easily manipulated by just about anyone.
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