I hated the way they showed her as a total bitch when she had every right to be pissed about her husband training Donnie. Danny Glover may have this whole notion of forgiveness, but how is the wife to know how bad this guy felt? Danny Glover could have shown enough forgiveness by just staying out of it and referrring him to the coach.
shareIt would have been a different movie in that case. Sure, she had a right to her feelings, just as George had a right to his. They're two separate people, not one person with the exact same feelings and ideas about things in two separate bodies.
shareTo be fair, I imagine any parent would have an unimaginable sense of pain to look upon a person that beat their child almost to death and into permanent retardation. One of the most powerful scenes in the film is when the mother catches Donnie giving them the money and pulls a gun on him. You can see the rage she feels for him, but she can't bring herself to act on it.
The way George sees it, hatred begets more hatred, and nothing will be accomplished if another boy is beaten to death in the name of it. The mother would probably see this reasoning if it had been anyone but her kid that was affected. She wanted vengeance, but she didn't lose herself to that want. That's what made her a three dimensional character in the end. Her conflict was very well portrayed as was her husband's and Donnie's.