MovieChat Forums > Grace of My Heart (1996) Discussion > If she was an heiress, why the early fin...

If she was an heiress, why the early financial issues?

posted 17 years ago by Jane2005
5 replies | jump to latest

If the character of Edna Buxton was suppose to be a rich kid from Philly, why the financial troubles early in her career? There's that scene early on in the diner where the Phil Spector character asks if she has a phone, and she says she doesn't.

I'm not saying I expect her to live in the top floor of a condo along Central Park, but I can't imagine her parents not helping her afford a telephone. We're not talking the 1940's here.

-Jane

[–] reallivegirl 17 years ago

Well, as you can tell from the beginning of the movie, Edna didn't have a very good relationship with her mother. I think she was very headstrong and didn't want their help, and her mother was trying to control her. Perhaps they even disowned her.

Also, this takes place from about 1958 to 1971, not the 1940s.

[–] Jane2005 17 years ago

>>Also, this takes place from about 1958 to 1971, not the 1940s.<<

That's what I said...we're not talking about the 1940's here (where a phone would've been more expensive). I didn't realize she didn't have a good relationship with her mom. I must've missed the first part of the movie.

-Jane

[–] reallivegirl 17 years ago

For some reason i read it without the "not"...! :)

yeah, they had a lot of disagreement about edna's career at the start. her mom walked out of a performance because edna changed her dress and song.

remember?

[–] deering24 17 years ago

As well, Edna's differences with her mother went beyond just the choice of dress and song. She didn't look like the elegant Grace-Kelly-type a Philadelphia Main Line heiress was supposed to resemble--and her mother made it plain in the first scene that Edna was definitely a disappointment in this department. As well, she wasn't about to stick with her "proper" class and race--she talked to _black_ people, for heaven's sake. :) In short, she was the kind of person common to the 1960's--well-off white kids who turned their back on their repressive families and 50's mores to see what else was out there.

[–] bitherwack 17 years ago

You notice the only other time her parents ever feature in the movie is the last scene where her mother is listening to her record. It is as if it is the only bit of information able to penetrate her posh cocoon. Edna wouldn't have contacted her parents, and they wouldn't have any reason to buy pop records. (There was a much greater gap between the generations in those days; the boomers consciously separated themselves from the previous generations just as they have with generations succeeding them.)