MovieChat Forums > Lewis (2006) Discussion > Why is Hathaway so horrible to his siste...

Why is Hathaway so horrible to his sister?


Yes, dealing with an aging father with dementia is challenging and emotionally stressful but why is Hathaway acting like such a child? Did I miss something here? My grandfather also has Alzheimer's but he isn't in a facility yet b/c my grandmother is taking care of him 24/7 and the rest of us visit pretty regularly to help out, so I totally understand just how difficult it can be. It's clear that Hathaway is not keen on having his father in a nursing home but considering how busy he is (and presumably, his sister has a full life of her own too), it really is the best alternative for someone who obviously requires round-the-clock care. He then misses scheduled "family" visits, doesn't bother to call his sister to let her know of delays or absences, ignores her calls, hangs up on her abruptly, etc. I find his behaviour incredibly rude and uncharacteristic of the Hathaway I thought I knew. I guess his awkwardness, emotional inaccessibility is really coming to light this season...

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However, we are only seeing a snapshot of a 30+ year relationship. We all know the prodigal son story, I also know, from first hand experience, the long distance hero story and no-one knows what kind of Dad this man was anyway. Distant, patronizing, harsh, violent, loving, kind...all of the above depending on the year?

For me it is the long distance hero (heroine) story that kicks in most. My sister has always been a selfish soul and settled 100 miles from my parents, I now live 800 yards from Mum as she moved here after Dad died 8 years ago. I did everything from find the house, arrange all the work on it etc... My sister flounces in once a quarter to a ticker tape parade and just criticises everything, why aren't you doing this, why are you doing that and then disappears off to her own life for another couple of months. Meanwhile I have to listen to how great my sister is for deigning to drop in occasionally whilst I do everything from the shopping to the DIY. Eventually it destroyed my relationship with my sister.

So we can't criticize Hathaway because we have no idea of the history. The sister might have a horrible, horrible way about her that we haven't seen yet. Not every sibling gets on and we don't know if Hathaway has to shoulder any of the blame. Plus what does she do for a living? My sister does very little, a housewife is the best you could call it and I run my own business. Yet, if you were to listen in as a stranger you would think she has always been there and does all the heavy lifting. Hathaway's sister might just be a pain in the arse and this is the "cause of the month" before she loses interest to do something else. Badgering Hathaway to do things that she has little intention of being around for. Maybe he knows this and doesn't have time to indulge the spoiled little princess who is used to getting her own way and who hasn't been around at all in the last 9 years. Maybe she suddenly turns up and expects you to jump when she says so, irrespective of your other (policing) commitments.

It's impossible to judge without more background. The above is just the other side of the coin and we haven't really seen either side. Hathaway has an issue, certainly, we just have no clue. Hathaway isn't purposefully a cruel or irrational man, we have got to know a bit about him and I would surmise that if he is annoyed with someone he would most probably have quite a decent reason.

It wouldn't be the first time that someone who does the least in a family is the one who expects everyone else to do more.

'tler

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We're not getting all of the history, but my observation is that the daughter was undeniably the fathers favorite (look at his reaction to her compared to James). I also think that the father and the sister never missed an opportunity to remind James of that fact. But once the dementia and other medical issues set in, being the favorite isn't so much fun anymore. Now she suddenly plays the 'he's your father too' card when it all becomes a bit too much for her.

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If you were to look up sibling rivalry in dictionary you'd see a picture of me and my brother.. we. did. not. get. along.... at all..

If now if we spend more than a couple of hours in eachother's company we get in eachother's hair (well what''s left of his anyway..).

We know that the relationship with his father was strained because when his father was mentioned Hathaway was even more silent than usual (I thought he was dead)...

The whole relationship with the sister, we did not even know he had one till this current (sadly last) series/season, so they were not close, we did not know his father was alive.. so that was not someone he spend losts of time with.
Now all of a sudden he gets bombarded with messages and obligations towards 2 people he was not close with.


I'm not crazy, I'm just not your kind of sane
He who laughs last, didn't understand the joke

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I was under the impression that the rift was longstanding. The reason was never given and now that the series has ended, we will never know.

"To Serve Man" - It's a cookbook.
"Soylent Green is people!"

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In "The Dead of Winter" we find out that Hathaway's dad was the estate manager at Crevecoeur Hall, and he gave up that position when James was about 12 in order to get him away from the pedophile Lord Montmaigne.

Maybe whatever job he got after that was a come down from that position and he blamed James for forcing him to do it. "If you hadn't gotten friendly with those kids up in the Hall, I wouldn't have had to quit such a good position to protect you." That sort of thing.

We just saw in the Endeavour episode "Prey" that Philip Hathaway had started as a gardener's assistant and would have worked his way up to estate manager over many years. The estate was his home, and he had to give it up. That resentment could have colored their relationship after that.

Yes, that blond young man in "Prey" was Hathaway's dad.

Other factors could have been, as suggested, that Nellie was dad's favorite, and the fact that Philip was outdoorsy kind of guy who just didn't understand his bookish son.

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I was under the impression that the rift was longstanding. The reason was never given and now that the series has ended, we will never know.


I think it's a brilliant piece of writing, getting into it like a cold open. There's obviously a very long backstory to all of that that we are not privy to see. And it adds tremendous depth to Hathaways character. It's a mystery to us, and perhaps to them as well. But so it is with life, and getting a glimpse into other peoples private matters. It's just a slice of life...

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I tend to agree that there was a backstory we'll never know. Throughout the series we got very few peeks into Hathaway's private life. Too bad that we'll never know since the series has ended. I don't hold out much hope that there will be anything more. Yes, they left the door open a very small crack for a one-off movie, but I'm not holding my breath. I'm OK with the ending, though. At least they didn't kill off Lewis or Hathaway.

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It seems we watch/like the same sorts of shows, my dear!

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So it would seem. :-)

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This is not uncommon with children of aging parents, particularly if one is called upon for most of the care. My mother is in a facility near where I live, and I see her often. I have sisters who live far away, and only see her once or twice a year. I often resent that they get a big deal made of their visits, when those who see them frequently don't. They don't have to deal with the emergencies, the late night calls, etc. It's not unlike divorced parents, where the custodial parent has to enforce bedtimes, cleaning their room, school, doctor visits, etc, and one gets to pick them up and take them to the movies, or a theme park, or camping, you know fun stuff.

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I think they both behaved rather poorly to each other. She was unhappy because she had to stay around and Hathaway was angry that she got to be around their father all the time.

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