Paula


I've been reading the message board about how Lynette was such a user and lowlife but what about Paula. In the beginning of the movie Foley was telling the class about the women that come there to meet the possible naval aviators and to marry them. Wasn't Paula looking for the same thing. She was hanging with Lynette. She working at the same factory where Lynette was working. Where she stayed was better than Lynette but she said in the the movie that she looks at her mother working at the factory where she works and she knows exactly what she doesn't want and her home life isn't all that great because when she invites Zack over for dinner it turns out to be a disaster. Also after the bad dinner when Paula and Zack are talking outside Paula shows Zack a photo of her real father which turns out to be a naval aviator which Zack is trying to be and she said he wouldn't marry her mother. Then later on when Zack is trying to break away from her by not calling her and she's upset at work and starts talking to her mother about it her mother is telling her to let me him go and not to to trick him or trap him it makes you wonder if her mother was a "Lynette" and wound up getting pregnant with Paula to try to trick Paula's dad into marrying her but that didn't work so now she's stuck in a marriage she doesn't want to be in and a dead end job and she's doesn't want her daughter to go through the same thing. Zack wasn't stupid that's why he tried to break it off he knew after that talk at the bad dinner that she was trying to get out of there possibly through him and also after they found Sid dead and they were talking at the hotel and he said another class is coming through and you and Lynette will be right into business. The only comeback was she said I'm not Lynette. I've loved you since I met you. Would she have loved him the same if they had met on the street and he was the way he was before he went into training. I wonder if they would have got back to together if Zack would not had went over to house and picked her up to look for Sid. He said he didnt know where to look for Sid so his last resort was her because he was concerned for his friend only. But it just so happens that Zack couldn't fight his feelings for Paula and winded up picking her up from her job and they take off with their lives. I guess Paula just lucked out. When her and Zack were leaving her job Lynette at first she was was kinda upset and then she started clapping and saying way to go Paula. She probably was thinking that she won Zack fair and square and praised her for it. Just curious what are your thoughts about Paula?

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[deleted]

One of my favorite movies
So I bought into it
Paula redeemed herself and got her guy at the end

In reality Paula slept with half the fleet when Zack was on his deployments then divorced him and took half of his pension

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While Zack was out screwing every prostitute and military groupie around. It worked both ways; and, more often than not (from my experience) the deployed sailors were more unfaithful than the spouses at home.

Paula is pretty straight with Mayo, that she's just looking to have a good time, same as Zack. She starts falling for him just as he does her. He doesn't want to let anyone close because they either die (his mother) or disappoint (his father). Paula doesn't want to end up in a factory for the rest of her life; but, she isn't willing to trap someone. She opens up to Zack about her mother's past.

I don't think Paula redeems herself; I think Zack comes to the realization that he loves her and that he is the better for letting her close to him. He is the one who is redeemed, as he moves past his inhibitions and terrors and opens up to love, coming to find the woman he loves and have her with him, for the rest of his foreseeable life. The road isn't easy; but, Zack is at least willing to try.

The movie is about Zack's growth more than anything else: he finds a purpose in life, he finds self-respect and a calling above his own concerns, he finds love and lets himself feel it. He grows from the tormented boy in a man's skin to an actual man, willing to take on the responsibility of leadership and deeper human contact. Paula follows her heart, has thoughts of doing something desperate; but, doesn't succumb to them. That is the difference between she and Lynette. Lynette wanted glamour and escape; Paula wanted love and a future, with someone who could share her love.

Fortunately, Ah keep mah feathers numbered for just such an emergency!

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You seem to forget these are fictional characters in a fictional story. How did you miss that??

Richard

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Paula played it coy with Zack at first but she clearly had marriage on the mind.

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