MovieChat Forums > We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) Discussion > The Author of the Source Story Hates Chi...

The Author of the Source Story Hates Children (PROOF)


The author of the original story (Lionel Shriver) was a woman in her forty's, who decided when she was eight that she did not want children. (Source: DVD Extras Interview)

For those of you who consider Kevin to be a complete psychopath, remember that he is not a real person, but a fictional character devised by an author who said the following about children:

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"Childless at 48, I'm now old enough for the question of motherhood to have become merely philosophical. Still, I've had all the time in the world to have babies. I am married. I've been in perfect reproductive health. I could have afforded children, financially. I just didn't want them. They are untidy; they would have messed up my flat. In the main, they are ungrateful. They would have siphoned too much time away from the writing of my precious books."

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/sep/17/society
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So she calls them untidy and ungrateful, despite not having any! This is the equivalent of a misogynist author writing a female character, or a racist writing a minority character.

I found some of the characters to be unrealistic almost to the point of being a Lifetime Movie. For those of you looking for other movies on similar subject matter, I would suggest "400 Blows", "Precious", "Ordinary People" (troubled childhood) or "Elephant" (school massacre).

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So what? Everyone does not need to have children to make life complete, nor does it make you weird or a kid-hater to make a choice to not have children. OP, get off your judging high horse. People like you are the people that tried to question me for my personal decisions in life. Bit is her life, none of your damn business what she choose to do. And hardly putting down women who do choose to become mothers.

As usual, judgement from the peanut gallery. MYOFB.

Yes, I think the Kevin example is extreme, but, hello, do you think ANY of the kids that have committed mass school shootings showed no signs of their psychosis? I've had a few students I know are sociopathic, and their parents are seriously clueless. When you see a former student (or even worse, a former colleague) on the news getting arrested, you realize your initial impression was correct.

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I don't think it's that big a deal. It's not like being a racist, being a child is something everyone goes through and children just are less mentally developed than adults, which some people find hard to deal with, so they don't have any. I sort of feel like if these are her real opinions, then Eva is the kind of mother she might expect to be, which is why she never had kids.

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[deleted]

"So she calls them untidy and ungrateful, despite not having any!"
- A wise man learns from others mistakes while a fool learns from his own.

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For those of you who consider Kevin to be a complete psychopath, remember that he is not a real person, but a fictional character devised by an author


A fictional character? In a work of fiction? Mind. Blown.



Working in the movie business since -92

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I have never understood why those with children deride those without. It is a personal choice for all and should never be criticized. My son and daughter in law have chosen to not have children. Not because they are not the nurturing type. Quite the contrary. My son is the 1st of 4 children and his wife is 2nd of 5 children. She worked at a daycare in the 18mo to 24mo room while obtaining her Bachelor's in accounting and my son helped me immensely with his 2 younger brothers while their dad was away on deployments for the Army. They both are terrific with children; she would make an awesome mother, he an awesome father - both of them simply say they have had their fill of taking care/helping raise children. They are both 28. They do have time to change their minds and I harass them lovingly on when I am getting grandchildren...to which their reply was a greeting of my new granddog - a minpin puppy LOL! The point being, there are those that simply choose not to have children for their very own reasons, be it they spent plenty of time helping others raise children or they don't have a parenting bone in their body and they know it. But just because they choose this path for themselves does not mean they do not know children, how they act, etc.

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So she calls them untidy and ungrateful, despite not having any!


One does not need to have children to know what impact they might have upon one's life. I'm a 37 year old woman, married, and have no desire to have children. They're noisy, messy, ungrateful, destructive, expensive, and will consume all of my free time for the next 18, more likely 25, years. Sorry, that doesn't sound like fun to me. I'd rather write, travel, and spend time with my husband and loved ones. I'd rather babysit my brother's kid(s) and dote on them, and then go home to my quiet, peaceful house to enjoy my husband's company. Don't presume to tell me, or the author, that we don't know what we're talking about just because we haven't spit out a few kids of our own. I'm not a chef, but I sure as hell can tell you when something tastes like sh!t.

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/// They're noisy, messy, ungrateful, destructive, expensive, and will consume all of my free time for ///

Your decision not to have children is perfectly ok. Yet your statement is profoundly disrespectful towards any mother, and shows only your own gross immaturity.

Listen to your enemy, for God is talking

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How the hell is that disrespectful toward any mother? I was talking about the kid, not the parent. It seems to me you're seeing what you want to see. It also seems to me that you're sexist. No mention of disrespect toward parents, just the mother. I suppose fathers don't matter then? Good to know.

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So, you don't understand what I say, that is pretty natural, for you don't have a clue about parenthood. But yet you believe you know everything about children. Ok, let it be. Any attemt to explain would be senseless, like to tell to a blind man/woman about the difference between white and yellow.

Listen to your enemy, for God is talking

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So instead of explaining your nonsensical comparison or answering my question, you: 1) shift blame; 2) claim that people who don't understand you also don't understand parenthood (???); 3) claim that I believe I know everything about children when I said no such thing; and 4) use these lies to excuse yourself from having to explain your made up crap. Basically, you can't back up your crazy so you're doing the typical blame-and-flee routine. The irony in this is hilarious. Thank you for the laugh :)

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OK. Briefly: I love children, you don't. Well?

Listen to your enemy, for God is talking

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I love children. I love working with them, being around them, playing with them. I do not love taking them home with me at the end of the day. Well?

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