Julia's motivations (*SPOILERS*)

For every fifty fans a diva such as Julia Lambert,Norma Desmond,Margo Channing or Maria Tura has there's one fan who doesn't care for them. They'll survive. lol

It's a dirty job, but I pay clean money for it.

Posted this in another thread but wll post it here as well.


Julia and Michael had an open marriage and they no longer had a sexual relationship. More to the point I believe on some level Michael introduced Tom to Julia for her "amusement". Julia's main bone of contention with Avice was that she was plotting to take everything that Julia had. I am almost for sure that Avice first went after Roger who asked Julia about putting a "tart" in her play. (Roger was very astute and saw Avice for what she was). When that didn't work Avice went after Tom (for the sole purpose of meeting Julia and getting in her play)and later Michael (for the sole purpose to replace Julia as Michael's muse). So Julia esposed her and I enjoyed every minute of it.

I must agree that it's hard to find a sympathetic character here. Since none of them are pure and innocent it's more difficult to feel justified when one of them is trampled. I think Julia has 3 possible motives for hurting Avice (and I think she'd like to hurt T-O-M and her husband too. Perhaps she does hurt the 2 men by informing them about Avice's double-romance).

1) Avice is her lover's girlfriend. Tom wants to marry Avice, but she wants to focus on her career (notice Julia's double-take on the word 'career.' Is she already planning to destroy it?)
2) Avice is her husband's mistress (need we say more?).
3) Julia feels potentially threatened by a young and pretty actress because she is getting older and feels tired (that could reason enough in some films) so she's not going to let the new-comer upstage her in the scene.

At first I felt sorry for Avice because it seemed like Julia had planned so much of her revenge. It would be difficult to defend yourself against something so premeditated. But then I watched the final act again. Much of it seems unplanned. At first Julia sits on the bench with her back to the audience, but then grabs the swing as an after thought. Yet she has the costume-cloak already in a box waiting for her. When her husband says "We must do the final act like this every time" Julia says "I'm not sure I can remember it all." Some of it seems spontaneous, some of it seems planned.

Perhaps she planned to upstage Avice a little, but upon learning (just before the show) that Avice is her husband's mistress, Julia decides to destroy her.

But I dont' find Julia a sympathetic character. She's unfaithful and a diva. She uses people too (by turning on the waterworks at will). Perhaps, rather than a film about revenge it's a story of a woman who comes into her own. She dismisses her mentor's advice about reality, she drinks beer when she wants to, she uses her lover for sex rather than 'love,' she dines out alone and skips the party. She's independent. But do we like her more for it?

Avice was threatening to upstage Julia and that's all the motivation Julia needed.