Does anyone think Joan WOULD regret her decision in the future?
Does anyone think Joan might regret her decision to not go to law school afterall (in the future)? I've always wanted to meet future Joan and ask her.
-Jane
I think she would. She's 22ish at the end of the film, and newly wed. She and Tommy would probably have kids within the next year or two, making her a mother by let's say 24. Let's say she has two kids close in age. The kids would be out of the house by the time she would be 45ish.
Now what? 45 is not old by any stretch of the imagination. Now she has no children to raise and no career.
Luckily that would put her in the mid-1970s, when women's lib was in full force. Maybe Joan could have some kind of career later in life.
Really good answer
shareAnother possibility:
One-quarter of 1950s marriages ended in divorce. Joan could end-up like Betty with no husband. Betty was still young with options (live at home, goto grad school, meet a man). Unfortunately a 30-something Joan would have no way to support herself.
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Your question made me think about The Women's Room, a book and movie about the perfect trophy wife and how she handles her needs after she really grows up. Joan could easily fall into this category, but her guy as opposed to Durnst character's husband seems a little more enlightened.
shareI reckon there would have been a few 45 year old women in the 1970s who decided to go back to law school. They would have the money from their husbands to pay for it AND wouldn't be distracted by parties, drugs and sex and 'finding a husband' - they could really focus on their studies and bring passion to them.
share[deleted]
No, the point of the film was that these women could choose any life they wanted. Joan wanted a husband and a family, so she went for it. At the same time, Tommy did manipulate Joan into choosing him over Yale. Unfortunately for Joan, I have always suspected that Tommy would dump her once they both are around forty-five maybe forty-eight years old. Joan would probably get pregnant maybe two or three times, have the children and Tommy to look after, that would be her life. On the other hand, Tommy goes to grad school, finishes, gets a corner office job, and spends his life trying to get promoted. With Joan's help, Tommy makes it to the top around 1976 (in time for that twentieth reunion at Penn), by then women are being hired as more than just secretaries, and Tommy meets an exciting young woman who just finished (business and or law) school and joins his firm. Tommy falls for her, and with so much in common with her (plus the fact that she is twenty years younger than him) and the kids off at boarding school/college, he dumps Joan after twenty some odd years of marriage. At that point, who wouldn't be filled with regret (not to mention anger) for having bought into the old ways, without leaving themselves a net? Or admit to herself that she gave up Yale only because Tommy wanted her to? (all of a sudden he wants to elope instead of having a big ceremony, come on) She may finally understand why Katherine was telling her to go to law school, and if she still wants to, marry Tommy.
Think about it, would Tommy have stayed with Joan if she had gone through with attending (and graduating) from Yale law school? Nope, he probably would have eventually dumped her for some Betty Draper type from Bryn Mar. Plus, if Joan isn't with him, who will do his homework? 😊. Even if they wait until they both graduate from grad school to marry, Joan would be independent with her own career, Tommy loses the advantage in their relationship, and would have to treat her like an equal. Being a male member of the so-called "Greatest Generation" Tommy doesn't know how to do that, and their relationship would probably fail.
"Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end." - Spock