Was anyone else bothered by...

Class differences. The relationship between Bud and Anne paralled the relationship between George and Bud's sister, Paula. They appreciated and were friendly and affectionate toward each other, but the Devereauxs, belonging to a higher class, would not really be able to consider them seriously beyond a platonic level, because from their respective perspectives, but particularly from that of the Devereauxs, they were simply not the same kind of people and their paths wouldn't normally cross but for extraordinary circumstances. It was a tacit barrier created by the difference in their lifestyles, manners, occupations, etc.

This is also evidenced and supported by much of the dialogue by the various characters. ("If you're so rich, what are you doing here?" "We're poor now. We'll have to drop out of school and work in the steel mills!" "They're working people." "Imagine your mother among the rif-raff!" "Your mother always thought she was too good to work." "Is this the kind of job that actually entails working?" "For being from New York, you're pretty stupid sometimes." Etc.) Even Paula's mentality about films (paraphrasing) "It's what people pay for. Happy endings. It make them think everything's going to be ok in the end." as opposed to George (when away from his mother) responding that everything does turn out well in the end. It's the kind of contrast between pessimism and optimism created often seen in people who don't have money and people who have always had it. It does make sense in this context that Bud's sister would be more cynical than George because she's seen more of the rough side of life, while George has been shielded from it by his family's wealth, so she would see opportunities as being more limited than George would, and perhaps from a realistic perspective, rightfully so. George's is portrayed as somewhat sour, moody, and cynical, but this is compared to his own people. Clearly, he is trumped in this category by Bud's sister where the class tension is evident. As a younger female, she is still the aggressive one, she's the one who puts him in his place, where he plays that role more within his own circles.) Even the situation with Bud's sister having someone wanting to pay to see her without her top, and her seemingly not being shy about opening her shirt to George (although it was supposed to be that she trusted him), I think also was meant (in this film) to highlight a lack of class and conservatism. (Thus George's "You're better than that.") So, things like that.

It just wasn't going to happen.

Also, in this context, Bud wouldn't really have been a pratical option for Ann considering the circumstances anyway, and Ann wouldn't have thought of him in that way for this reason. She had two sons to take care of, and he hadn't/wouldn't have attained the status to support her and them, aside from the age gap. They were in different stages of life, really. This being the 1950s, it would have been a bit strange for Ann to have seen Bud in the same way she saw the other men she was pursing/who were pursuing her who were very established. It also would have been out of character as, aside from the need for support, Ann did indeed admire men of status. Bud was just young, so even outside of class, status, and so on, Ann didn't consider him that way. Especially having two young adult sons herself. Erik McCormack's character may have been a little bit younger than her, but I think they were both meant to be several years older than Bud.

I think Bud was very realistic about this (moreso than his sister, probably because he was olderq), and with the class difference, it would have been hard for both him and his sister not to admire these irresistibly glamourous people. It think as a man he appreciated Ann's elegance and ladylike ways, especially as something he was unaccustomed to experiencing regularly in his circles (in the context of this film), and if he couldn't have her himself or wasn't a realistic choice for her, he just wanted to make her feel as comfortable as possible to the extent he was able, whatever that meant. He had intuition about Ann's situation and cared enough about her to know that she was deserving of all appreciation he could give her. I think that's why he was very nonchalant when she gave him that huge compliment that he was the first true gentleman she'd met since leaving New York. To him, it was like kind of like "business as usual" as he was satisfied in having done his duty and service to her as a man and connected with her by being able to help her when she needed it, and if that's what he could get, then that's all that he wanted.

She clearly innocently wasn't, but if for whatever reason, she had been attracted to Bud, George surely would have been right there to rake her over the coals.

I disliked the uber-negative, stereotypical portrayal of men in this movie

Oh come on. Men were not portrayed stereotypically. The movie does not say, and only a moron would think, that all men are like the men in this film. It shows us that the type of men that this particular woman went after and/or attracted, were like this. I find that quite believable, but that's certainly not about all men.

And were we watching the same movie that you think Anne came out smelling like a rose? Didn't you see that her sons, especially George, called her out on her selfishness, and he blatantly called her a bad mother. The viewer knows that he is justified in feeling that way.


You must be the change you seek in the world. -- Gandhi

Because at that age it is VERY hard to find a decent man....most single men around beyond 40 are usually rejects, loners or from the criminal element! AND thats the age men begin their mid-life crisis, thinking their teenagers and wanting young girls so they start cheating w/ younger women partying or buying muscle cars, etc, etc

"They snappin pictures of my brain
trynna get my mind frame!"

I don't know about every man. Her brother in law seemed like a decent chap. Charlie wasn't particularly a jackass. It was obvious to everyone but Ann that he preferred younger women. The movie producer was helpful in getting Robbie a job.

It was just that Ann wasn't very adept at working out these men were losers until a bit later.

She may have started out as bad mother and golddigger but that's certainly not how she ended up. Besides a really bad mother would've left them with George's father.

I don't think it was supposed to be a negative portrayl of men in general but rather Ann Devereaux's lousy taste in men. Plus the fact that she was a goldigger and aging goldiggers are seldom courted by the cream of the crop.

B

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