MovieChat Forums > TT3D: Closer to the Edge (2011) Discussion > Odd reaction from Dobbs' wife (spoilers?...

Odd reaction from Dobbs' wife (spoilers?)


After Paul Dobbs death, they interviewed his wife, and she seemed almost impassive about it all. I don't know if they did they interview some time later, as they filmed her and the family in NZ later, so perhaps the time elapsed made it less raw. I know she explained the love of the sport, and knowing the risks there are before you go, but it almost felt like she was talking about her own husband as collateral damage in the pursuit of entertainment.

This was just one on the moments in this film where I really struggled to get my head round what the people were thinking or doing. I'm not a biker, so I've got no experience to draw from there. My step dad is a biker and I know how passionate he is about it, so maybe I'll show him this and see what his reaction is. But for me, I just couldn't understand the apparent lack of emotion from Mrs Dobbs (Bridget?)

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Totally agree with you there. I'm not a biker and the idea of risking my life for fun seems anathema to me. I guess for the wife, it can't have come as a big surprise - all these guys are living on borrowed time it seems to me. Even the guys in the film who had massive accidents and lived to tell the tale can't wait to get back on the bikes and start racing again.

I guess being married to a biker who competes in the IoM TT, she had conditioned herself to the possibility of his death, even mentally prepared herself for the inevitable, so when it arrived, it didn't come as a shock.

I could see she was struggling though - laughing and smiling on the outside the way she did is often used to mask the grief and sadness on the inside.

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Look closer - there was genuine emotion there. Also - not everyone is from the same part of the world - some may be more stoic than folks in North America...

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Oi, watch what you're saying! I'm from the UK! ;^)

Its a while back since i saw this, but from what i recall, I did actually watch this section twice, as I was quite surprised at the reaction and wanted to see if I'd misread it. I think the other reply on this thread made a good point, that it possibly is something that's almost hanging over you at all times in that world, but it did still feel that she was very matter of fact about the whole thing.

It may have been that the passage of time made it less raw, or that she kept her grief more private. Right now, I want to say I wouldn't judge her for her reaction whatever it was - perhaps my surprise was more about the complacency for life from all the participants.

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As a motorcyclist myself (although not a racer, most I've ever done is a trackday at Silverstone), I completely get what she was saying. Her husband understood the risks of what he did and that sense of his mortality made their lives (at least from her point of view) richer.

I think people today place too much emphasis on a long life as opposed to a happy and fulfilling one. I'd prefer to die quickly doing something I loved rather than sinking into a decrepit old age. If your loved ones are of the same opinion then whilst sudden death will always be a painful shock I think it would ease the mourning.

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