She is double dating both men at the same time, so she thinks she is deceiving them and in control. Of course it's really the other way round, but she doesn't realise that till the end.
shareThis is true, but you have to remember she is a deaf woman living in a world of superficial *beep* and was understandably overcome with the idea of being pursued by not one, but two men. This is precisely why Chad chose her in the first place, because he knew the way she was perceived by men and that she was ripe for flattery. This makes him all the more evil, and her actions more understandable, IMO.
"I guess I started smoking when I was about...four."
She felt bad about dating two men but as vfrance mentioned she was overcome by the excitement at first, when neither one was serious. As she realized she was about to get serious about one of them, she did the honorable thing and told the other guy, (whom she hadn't even kissed). I don't think she is very culpable, and I hope (unlike lovebug) she loses her attraction to charm boys.
share[deleted]
I would have preferred a "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" type of approach for this movie, where the woman, although deaf, leads both Chad and Howard along, and then outscams both men by dropping them simultaneously. That would have really given her some deceptive power!
shareShe was just as bad as both of them. And, no, she did NOT tell Howard anything until after she realized they both knew each other and HE told her he had feelings for her.
So she was deceiving them both, too.
The only truly bad character was Chad who deceived everybody.
Oh, yeah, but in the end remember she ignores Howard.
My take on all of this is that she never planned on becoming serious with Howard because he was not conventionally attractive. She sell for Chad because he was attractive.
Even after Howard makes a fool of himself going to find her in the end she ignores him because he is "ugly."
Er, but there's nothing wrong with not fancying someone just because you find them ugly.
Is she supposed to like Howard just because he flies back all the way to her and tries to win back her affection? After what he did??
>>>My take on all of this is that she never planned on becoming serious with Howard because he was not conventionally attractive. She sell for Chad because he was attractive.
Even after Howard makes a fool of himself going to find her in the end she ignores him because he is "ugly." <<<
erm... i disagree. she doesn't ignore him because he's ugly. she ignores him because he's got anger issues, and is pretty self-absorbed. he wants a pat on the back because he learns some simple sign language. he thinks because she's "disabled" that she should need him more and bow down to him. even at the end with that powerful and hysterical "LISTEN TO ME!!!" scene-- it just shows that he wants to covet her pureness and possess her. there is no real love there-- and maybe she avoided him because of that fact, not because he wasn't as "handsome" as chad. chad was just a good actor, that's all. howard was being himself, but that wasn't enough, because she could tell he had some major issues. maybe if he out-acted chad, she would have chosen him instead. who knows? but i'm sure labute did want it to look like handsome vs. ugly in a sense... so... whatever. :)
She was a sincere, guileless, and caring woman who didn't want either man to be hurt. The only lie she told Howard was that she couldn't go to lunch with him that one day because she had lots of reports to transcribe; and though it was misguided, I'm sure she did this only to spare Howard's feelings (it seemed less blunt to her than saying, "I'm having lunch with someone else.") Describing her behaviour as deceptive and tantamount to Chad's is nonsensical. The two don't even compare.
Christine is simply dating two people. She develops feelings for one, and she comes clean with the other when she realizes how she feels. Unlike Chad, (1) she did not maliciously set out to string a man along and dump him; (2) she did not target Howard because she perceived him to be unlucky in love; and (3) she did not take Howard for everything she could get -- not his money, not jewellery or other gifts, not a better job opportunity (considering the prestige of his position), etc.
She was a sincere, guileless, and caring woman who didn't want either man to be hurt. The only lie she told Howard was that she couldn't go to lunch with him that one day because she had lots of reports to transcribe; and though it was misguided, I'm sure she did this only to spare Howard's feelings (it seemed less blunt to her than saying, "I'm having lunch with someone else.") Describing her behaviour as deceptive and tantamount to Chad's is nonsensical. The two don't even compare.
I love the people who say she deserved what she got. They use the same exact mysoginistic logic a guy like Chad would use to justify what happened to her.
She didn't deserve what happened at all for several reasons. 1.) Eckhart's character even told her they could date other people, 2.) she kept her options open like most people who date 3.) it was apparent she didn't quite know how to tell the other man that she was falling in love with Chad.
She didn't deserve to get purposely manipulated, but she deserved to get hurt in the end. She kept stringing Howard along to the point where he fell in love with her, then decided she liked the other guy better. It's not like she ever told him she was keeping her options open. She even lied about why they couldn't go to lunch. It's not fair to keep someone in the dark when you never had any intention of being with them.
shareI am surprised that some people on this board are criticizing Christine and find her evil. To me, her character was entirely sympathetic, and wasn't trying to hurt anyone, for many of the reasons given my others here. And if it matters, I'm a guy, not a woman.
This was a great film but a disturbing one. After I saw it, I knew I could never watch it through all the way again, and a few friends of mine felt the same way at the time.
That was the point of the plan. If they just wanted to hurt a woman it would only take one guy. Forcing her to compromise herself was their justification for destroying her. It's explained throughout the movie.
"Illusion, Michael. A trick is something a whore does for money...or cocaine!"
She isn't entirely blameless, but the amount of deception on her end is minimal.
She did string Howard along longer than she probably should have, but she admitted that and was truly remorseful about it.
All of her behavior, though not always perfect or blameless, was reasonable and justifiable.
All characters should have flaws. Christine isn't perfect, and she doesn't handle the situation as tactfully as it could be handled, but she's an overwhelmed woman being *beep* around with by two self-centered and evil men. Under the circumstances, to say that she deserved any of what happens to her is absolutely ridiculous.
No way. I agree with Pearl Jade. I think Christine is perfectly sincere when she says that Howard started taking her out and doing things for her, but that she didn't mean for it to go so far and that she doesn't want to hurt him. This movie is about the cutthroat personality it takes to make it in the business world. Howard is used by Chad for his own diabolical ends. He's the conniving, cutthroat b@stard at the top of the food chain.
shareInteresting answers again. Christine was just playing a part in Chad's disgusting plan. This was a girl who, we can only assume due to her disability, hasn't had much luck with men in the past, so when two seemingly genuine guys show an interest in her, she is can't help but get excited and caught up in it all. This is her moment she, quite frankly, she is relishes it all - that is until she realises that her feelings for Chad are developing at a faster rate than her feelings for Howard. I actually quite like the fact that she soaks up the attention a little longer than she should have because it shows a fair and impartial reality of the humanc condition. She's not perfect and is prone to being a little selfish herself. But it's mostly harmless and not done with malicious intent.
No matter which way people try to paint it, she at least eventually told Howard the truth, and did so in the nicest and polite way she could, and he couldn't take it. Chad himself conciously knew that out of the two, Christine was far more likely to pick him over Howard, because, well, Chad is a more charismatic and attractive man than his colleague. This is clever because again it shows that Christine herself isn't wholely innocent, and Chad probably uses that as some sort of justiication for his actions.
Your missing part of the reason why Chad wants to do this in the first place. A) It will have a more devastating impact because she is going to be humiliated-and feel some trace of guilt for two timing when really it was just a big scam. He is trying to double his pleasure for her destruction by making her complicit and double defiling her. B) Chad also wants to humilate Howard and assert his dominance over him.
shareShe didn't do anything wrong. She was dating two men casually. There were no promises broken because there were no promises made.
shareimdb has changed to boards, i cant seem to reply to a specific comment anymore. anyway, i will try to keep it short and say that if we put the level of deception on a scale, i would say;
the woman-2
howard -5
chad 10+