MovieChat Forums > The Way We Were (1973) Discussion > Hubble was a dirty scumbag

Hubble was a dirty scumbag

posted 11 years ago by RomanceNovelist
9 replies | jump to latest

How many men abandon their pregnant wives and newborn baby to save their careers? Hubble was spineless and had little honor or integrity. If he was ever complicated. it was because of the inner conflict caused by his cowardice.

I don't quite understand the attraction to Hubble, other than the way he looked. He wasn't serious, a coward who refused to stand up for what he believed, and like his friends took nothing seriously. Hubble was SHALLOW. He wanted Katie's strength, and determination but cared too much about what his friends thought of her. Whenever she embarrassed him in front of his group, he broke up with her.

I also ahated the way he looked at her, with this look of pity mixed with admiration.

At the end, when she tells Hubble, "Your girl is lovely, Hubble, why don't you stop by for a drink sometime."

I thought she was talking about his girlfriend until it occured to me that she was talking about his daughter, especially when he says "I can't..." as in, he can't see the daughter he abandoned because he was too much of a spineless coward to face them.

The only thing Hubble had going for him as a character was Robert Redford, who made this man better than he was supposed to be.

The statement below is false.
The statement above is true.

[–] Trixie27 11 years ago

I agree that Hubbell comes off as very weak in the beginning of their romance and needs the validation of his "friends" too much. However, I do think he falls in love with Katie in spite of himself and his lifestyle. She brings out the best in him, but he's not as strong as she is. He comes from a WASPy background where appearances are everything. Katie's allure is she is so confident and could care less what people think about her. Yet, they do live together for years out in Hollywood when Katie is helping him live out HIS dreams. But the movie shows the shift in their relationship when they are getting ready to screen one of his movies and they discover the house has been bugged behind the Picasso painting. I actually felt a little bad for Hubbell in that scene because his wife totally forgot about him and his movie and took up with her activism again full force. So, of course, he goes and has an affair because he's feeling neglected. Katie had to give him all of her attention and praise in that relationship or he felt neglected, like a child. Streisand does an excellent job portraying how exhausting it is to love that kind of a man, the golden boy used to getting his way, until she lets him go for good.

That final scene when they meet is so famous and touching because he FINALLY realizes what he lost in Katie. The way he stares at her and follows her across the street to stare some more. She's being a bit condescending when she says his new wife is lovely because the women is so perfect and plastic, like a Stepford wife. But that's what he wanted and that's what he got. I think she really hopes he's happy now but we know he isn't because he chose style/appearance over true love. But Katie IS finally happy and free to live out her life doing what she loves without having to change who she is, hence her hair being back to a curly 'fro. She invites him and his wife over because she's stronger now and has moved on but he can't do it. He still loves her.

[–] Prismark10 11 years ago

Hubble was weak which was a problem.

Its that man again!!

[–] EllisFowler 11 years ago

Don't confuse "weakness" with "passivity." He wasn't very ambitious (nor did he have to be due to his talent) and often took the path of least resistance, which included, ironically, allowing himself to be persuaded into reconciling with and marrying someone he'd been smart to leave in the first place. She, on the other hand, had a whole "model" of what he should be (including living in Paris) and by God, that's how it was going to play. It's pretty evident he finally just threw in the towel, exhausted. Being in love is not even close to a guarantee that a couple can build a successful marriage and these two were just too ill-suited.

[–] jashwor 9 years ago

To "romancenovelist": you got the ending line wrong. The line was, " Your girl is beautiful,Hubble. Why don't you bring her along when you come for a drink?". He responds with, "I can't.". She was definitely talking about his new wife there, not their daughter.

[–] ghghghgt 8 years ago

Katie was a bigger bitch, I am sure Hubblle was not attracted to her at all, but alot of manipulation and pressure and he gave in, it was Katie who practically raped him, it was Katie who was dancing with someone else and Hubble is by and he ditches him, Katie was the worse person out of the two

[–] best_of 8 years ago

Streisand and Redford deserved each other in this film. She was nothing but a pretentious close horse and he was an eternal narcissist with no talent. The movie simply does not hold up after all these years, no matter how many feminine weepy songs are in it.

[–] ecarle (14979) 3 years ago

This was a "70s movie" -- many of which had flawed protagonists, bleak world views, and unhappy endings. This one was just gussied up with big stars and weepy music.

But this: in the context of the time of the story -- the Hollywood blacklist of the 40s and 50's -- Katie's activism was very dangerous to Hubbell, he could lose his studio job and be blacklisted from working for any other studio. This happened especially to SCREENWRITERS in that era.

Katie "came along to Hollywood" as a talented screenwriter's wife(he had won some awards) but to Hubbell's chagrin, instead of playing the "Hollywood wife," Katie immediately threw in with the political people and rather hijacked his marriage for use in the political crusades. Hubbell resented being shunted aside in favor of the political people.

So you can see his side, I think. He didn't sign on to be the husband of a political firebrand(though really, given Katie's Communist youth, he should have seen that coming.)

Scenes filmed and cut from The Way We Were reveal that the James Woods character(Katie's young Communist friend in college) had grown up and testified against Katie as a former Communist -- Hubbell was getting caught up in something dangerous and forbidding Katie to further participate, as I recall. But that was all cut. Still...you can sense it.

[–] Michelle09 (-1) 4 years ago

[deleted]

[–] R_Kane (15828) 3 years ago

Romance”Novelist”

I doubt you’ve ever published a novel, but, tell me: how can one be a CLEAN scumbag? There must be a way. You added the adjective “dirty” to the noun “scumbag” in your topic title. I’m sure you had a good reason for doing that, other than sheer ignorance.

Yes. I am mocking you. You arrogate “novelist” to yourself, yet you have no command of English.