MovieChat Forums > Atonement (2008) Discussion > Danny Hardman

Danny Hardman

posted 9 years ago by movieinsider411
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One thing I couldn't help noticing was the treatment of Danny hardman. First Cecelia in the beginning treats him like he's stupid because he didn't know what room she was talking about to put the bags in. Then briony won't let Danny watch during rehearsals. And then Cecelia and Robbie were about to accuse him of raping Lola. I want to sympathize with their characters but it's hard to do that when I see how they treat the lower class. I guess the lower class has to be hot like me Robbie in order to be liked.

[–] zootie 9 years ago

I also disliked their treatment of him. Albeit, I tolerated because it presented yet another plausible suspect (thinking he might have been a bit slow or out of place that day), it showed how cursory was the investigation.

And it builds on their characters and back story (they just pile it on a single character). Cece's treatment of him seemed to play into her annoyance, into her being in love with Robbie and not wanting to acknowledge and not knowing what to do about it (besides the heat, she was uncomfortable and was taking it out on everything around her). Briony's attitude just shows her as cold, uncaring for others, and myopic, unable to think things through (she was starved for attention, and here was a boy wanting to pay attention to her play, and she dismisses him - same thing happens when she gives her testimony, she doesn't entertain the idea that she might be mistaken in her reconstruction of events).