MovieChat Forums > Monster's Ball (2002) Discussion > 'Cause I really need to be taken care of...

'Cause I really need to be taken care of...

posted 12 years ago by HoorayforHolly
14 replies | jump to latest

This part just breaks my heart! It's like she's saying, "I can't take this anymore, I've been through so much and I need help." And BBT just loves her so much.

I also love that she decides to stay with him in the end. Even though it's disturbing to her that he withheld information (that he pretty much executed her husband), I think she realizes that he has completely changed his life, and together they can go forward and hopefully leave their dismal pasts behind.

[–] alohahome 12 years ago

Agreed. Although it pushes disturbing buttons, this is ultimately quite a beautiful and touching film about reconciliation.

[–] HoorayforHolly 12 years ago

Her comment ("I need to be taken care of") might rub some people wrong because, I don't know...some feminist BS or something. But I don't care who you are, if your spouse was executed, your son hit by a car, and you're out on the street because you've been evicted from your home...I think I would be ready for some help!

[–] manage-932-700755 12 years ago

And if the girl that neded to be taken care of looked Like Halle, I'd be there to provide it. Definitely.

[–] SaraTheTree 12 years ago

It's not 'some feminist bs"- it literally makes a more interesting story line- character- human being to not be taken care of as the main development in their story.
I get her wanting to be treated well, but that it has to come at dependency on a older white guy that is kind of planning their lives to fill some need of his own is no really the best thing.

[–] HoorayforHolly 12 years ago

I think they really loved each other and they were depending on each other - not just her on him. isn't that what relationships are all about - loving each other and depending on each other? They actually had much more in common than either realized early on.

[–] Trackmaster 11 years ago

I think that it was a realistic ending, not a Hollywood ending. In Hollywood, she would have stormed out, he would have gone after her, and maybe a half hour of screen time later they would have made up.

Some people might think that she thought little of herself to be with him, but think about it this way:

-Her husband was on death row, and openly admits that he was a bad guy to his son. So, he was probably a deadbeat criminal. There's probably not a whole lot of love lost.
-She knows that he didn't murder him, he was just a guard following orders.
-Her whole family just died, she's homeless, and has no money. A stable guy with a solid job offered to take her in and put her up.
-Maybe he'll eventually put a ring on it, she'll pop out a few kids, and she can be a homemaker and not have to worry about being a waitress.

[–] HoorayforHolly 11 years ago

Maybe they could help each other be better people, and maybe someday she could be something she really wanted to be (assuming she didn't want tone a waitress).

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Sandy0095 8 years ago

I also think they loved each other. Leticia said she had been dealing with her husbands criminal history for 11 years. Even he admits he wasn't a good man. Hank obviously didn't know Leticia at the time so it wasn't like he was pushing to get her husband out of the picture... the whole thing felt like an awful coincidence. I can see why he didn't tell her but then again, I can see why she was upset not being told.

I took the ending to be Leticia letting go of the past. Again I think she really did love Hank. She even sold her wedding band while she was flat broke to buy him an expensive hat. I also think she knew the type of man Hank was- she knew by that point he wasn't racist like his father. He legitimately wanted to take care of her, so that's why she lets him feed her.

-Who is it?
-It's Grandpa. And it sounds like he's gotten into the horseradish again.

[–] HoorayforHolly 8 years ago

There are some parts in the movie that are just unbearably sad! (Like the part when Heath Ledger is with the prostitute - you can hardly bear to watch.) But other parts provide the tiniest glimmer of hope...

By the end, I do think Leticia is shook up by what she knows about Hank, but also relieved that she can finally just LIVE...and relieved that she will no longer have to fight so hard to survive.

[–] Onetrickpony-1 9 years ago

I doant think she necessarily decides to stay with him. Dozent the movie end at the point she discovers he is the prizone guard that executed her hubsand? And she looks at him all funny while therr eating ice cream, like maybe she going to do a fast fade first chance she gets.

[–] legnadibrom (6515) 4 years ago

it was acceptance

[–] cartesianthought 9 years ago

The film tried the "discovering something unpleasant, storming out without explanation, avoiding communication and eventually reconciling" trope before when Hank's father called her a *beep*

I hoped Forster wasn't going to use that plot device again, and thankfully he didn't. My interpretation of the ending is that you can't change the past and there's just some unpleasant things in life that you have to accept.

[–] cartesianthought 9 years ago

The film tried the "discovering something unpleasant, storming out without explanation, avoiding communication and eventually reconciling" trope before when Hank's father called her a n----r.

I hoped Forster wasn't going to use that plot device again, and thankfully he didn't. My interpretation of the ending is that you can't change the past and there's just some unpleasant things in life that you have to accept.