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Post by tweed on Feb 16, 2006 8:05:58 GMT -5
I just watched The Good Girl - it was kindly recommended to me by egregious.
A really good movie, full of very believable characters, beautifully acted by a talented cast.
Some of the themes hit home - feelings of isolation within a rural environment, of being incarcerated by work and domesticity. Stuff that a lot of women feel when they hit the age of 30, as did our main character, Justine.
The focus of being offered an alternative to such a life puts the viewer in Justine's shoes. What would we do in the same situation? Where does morality fit in when pitted against personal satisfaction and happiness?
I won't say too much about the outcome/ending of the movie as yet, except to ask...how many options did Justine feel she had? Two, or three? As in be with her husband, be with her lover, or thirdly, strike out on her own? I wasn't too clear on this.
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Post by egregious on Feb 17, 2006 8:00:42 GMT -5
Oops...can't believe I didn't see this before...
I love this movie - sosme of the themes really resonate with me. Like the idea of finding someone who 'gets' you...although I guess in the end, Holden didn't really 'get' Justine at all.
I feel empathy for both characters...I understand what it's like to be in Justine's shoes to a certain extent, but I also feel like Holden sometimes too (although less insane!)
I always saw just two choices in the end...I never really considered her going it alone.
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Post by tweed on Feb 21, 2006 6:02:53 GMT -5
I've absorbed more of this movie to allow a few more thoughts to emerge. Are any of the characters particularly likeable, for example? If I can divorce myself from Jake being Holden...do I like him? Do I even like Justine? I feel really sorry for Holden, and I wonder what he would be like if he had been treated properly for his problems. He was capable of love and sweetness, and was creative, but his dark side was so destructive. Was his fate inevitable, whether Justine had been in the picture or not? To be honest, I was disappointed that Justine didn't take off and start a life on her own at the end of the movie. She accepted her lot and that was that. I suppose that was a realistic ending - a lot of women would have done exactly the same thing. She had made her bed, so she would lie in it.  I was also horrified when Justine offered Holden the blackberries. True, she changed her mind about potentially leading him to a horribly painful death, but there was still that moment where she thought the best way to solve her probs. was to get rid of him permanently! It was another moment of disappointment in her character. This is not a criticism of the movie, btw, I really liked the movie a great deal. I just want to explore what I think about the main characters...  |
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Post by egregious on Feb 21, 2006 6:14:41 GMT -5
Well, I have to admit, although I can empathise with Holden, I don't really like him much. It's hard to say what has happened to him in the past, but it is obvious that instead of doing something about it, he has wallowed in his own self-pity. Worst of all, he is sooooooo manipulative. The letter he writes her? Gah!
It's hard to say whether he was already on the path to destruction or not - was Justine just a slight reprieve for him, or did she push him over the edge?
As for Justine...well, my biggest disappointment in her was when she slept with Bubba. I know she was kind of stuck...but I think she should have just told her husband about the affair...she could have lied about who it was with if she wanted to protect Holden.
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Post by tweed on Feb 21, 2006 6:29:57 GMT -5
Well, I have to admit, although I can empathise with Holden, I don't really like him much. It's hard to say what has happened to him in the past, but it is obvious that instead of doing something about it, he has wallowed in his own self-pity. Worst of all, he is sooooooo manipulative. The letter he writes her? Gah! It was spooky that I watched this movie and then there were events (as in a person) in real life that echoed Holden and his fictional/veiled reality stories. It seemed like he was up and down, and Justine was one of his 'ups'. Though the high emotion she inspired in him probably led him to bigger and bigger acts of manipulation/attention seeking in order to keep her from slipping away from him. God, yes! The more I think about it, the more Justine is just a bundle of panicky and decisions. That was a strange little subplot, Bubba's 'redemption' I do applaud it for being unpredictable - I for one was sure Justine would have told him to eff off, but she didn't! I read somewhere that Justine is a character that tries to please everyone except herself, and that is what gets her into trouble. |
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Post by egregious on Feb 21, 2006 6:35:18 GMT -5
I read somewhere that Justine is a character that tries to please everyone except herself, and that is what gets her into trouble. Yep - she is 'The Good Girl'...that's why the option of her going it alone never comes up. That would be doing something for herself...but it's like the thought never even occurs to her. |
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