Why do so many people not understand the ending?

Yes, and yes. But then again, maybe not quite. Yes, Susanna is and always will be the mother, but the way the ending played out, there is some hope that Margo and Lincoln will still have some sort of permanent role in Maisie's life, once the vacation is over.

It is possible the beach house ending is the end and that's how the film ended. Is this unrealistic? Maybe it's not. Who are we to say what is and isn't unrealistic. There are some very strange relationships out there in the world today.

I just watched this tonight and fell in love with it. I feel that the mother, when she asks Maisie "You know who your mother is, right?" at that moment, knows she is probably going to relinquish her rights to her. I would like to think that she knows in her heart that Lincoln and Margo are the better people to raise Maisie and that she will be able to see her, but knows that Maisie is better off with the two of them. *Sorry for the rambling or somewhat incoherant sentences, but it's almost 1A.M here.* I just think that the ending is left open for whatever interpretation the audience wants to have. I'd like to believe that Susanna does what the father did, moves on..gives Maisie what she deserves, which are two people who love her and want to spend their time with her.

To add to this: I felt that Susanna was a train wreck and never deserved custody of Maisie to begin with..and that Maisie's father was too wrapped up in his job to be able to spend time with her. I could go on, but it's late, and I'm exhausted :)!

On the one hand, I agree with you that Maisie's happiness is more than likely fleeting – which is certainly better than her situations with her mother and father, which were downright miserable. On the other hand, I accept that others might see this as a permanent resolution to her misery.

I accept the diversity of views in this world, and you might try to do the same rather than lecturing others on how they should interpret the ending. It is very subjective, and your insistence that it is cut-and-dried does not reflect well on you.

I think the important point near the end was Maisie getting to choose to stay to take the boat trip that she was so looking forward to, instead of passively allowing her plans to be changed yet again. In her young life where all the decisions were made for her and plans changed from moment to moment, this was quite an achievement for her, to put her foot down.

Further to your point, stack176, the mistake is to think that this is a story of these particular people. Rather, it is a statement of the ever-worsening state of families, parenting, and marriage. The most obvious focus is the unsuitability of certain people as parents - bearing children is all too easy, rearing children is all too difficult. The secondary focus is the victimization of children through the cruelty of selfish grown-ups. Perhaps a third focus (if two is not enough) is how people ancillary to the family can often be better role models for the children than the parents. There is no ending to this story. There are Maisies all over the world, yesterday and today, but not all of them are as 'fortunate' as Maisie seems to be as this movie ends. The damage done is another story....

It is interesting that the original story was written over 100 years ago, long before broken families became as prevalent as they are now. What insight the author had to have seen it back then.

It's not like nothing shifted. The resolution was that everyone finally worked out their place, with Susanna getting it last. She could have claimed her daughter there at the end but she didn't. Maisie won't be claimed unless she wants to be. That is a resolution to the conflict.

Thank God for people on the internet explaining things for we folks who "don't get it".





I'm a Prick With a Fork.