She raised 3 children that all turned on her and hated her guts. That alone is horrible for any woman. Then add on that her husband of 20 years raped children and admitted to cheating on her with 2 boys (and who knows how many others there were). And because the mother couldn't except that or deal with it the sons turned on her when she needed their love and support the most. All the Friedman men are disgusting people. What a horrible situation for this poor women.
shareI feel all the boys are victims of their father's disturbed character. But indeed, the mother does deserve so much support and love and respect, yet this is how they treated her. It's quite sickening, but I still don't see any of the boys as villains. Just their dad.
It's great that she found love and happiness with a good man finally. She seems like a wonderful lady, actually she was the one in this movie that kept me from just turning it off because it was so hard to watch. Without her sensible persona it would have been impossible to finish. She's a superwoman.
I personally feel sorry for all the men and the mother.
I feel they are all victims.
The film doesnt bring it up but I think something more happened to Arnold prob at the hands of one of moms boyfriends. I dont get that he is a monster at all. I think he was a very lonely and sexually confused man. If he was a monster those boys wouldnt have loved him as much as they did.
Its just a huge, unfortunate situation that should all teach us a lesson about taking care of our families and to never just let things go. To trust your instincts and to always communicate, with love, as much as possible with our children and spouses. Even when its painful.
Living a lie is not a pleasant way to live. Arnold should have never married her, he knew he was gay thus her saying she had to beg him to marry her. She obviously didnt have a clue about homosexuality or pedophilia or she prob would have caught on. Im sure her parents didnt discuss stuff with her either.
it's a matter of opinion, it all depends on what you believe. but whether or not Jesse or Arnold were guilty, the family should have stood by the mother and tried to understand her shock
share[deleted]
That was Jesse hugging her in the last scene. :)
shareshe's gonna need more than a hug. she's a lunatic. she needs thorazine.
http://myspace.com/adipocere
The mother clearly had her issues. I do not see her as a good mother. It was a different time and women often felt compelled to stay in dysfunctional situations even at the expense of their kids and their own well-being. While I can understand it, it doesn't merit her praise.
shareElaine having issues doesn't make her any less of a victim to the circumstances. She was obviously emotionally detached which may have accelerated and grown from years of a passionless marriage with Arnold. She wasn't a perfect mother, but she wasn't a bad one either. She didn't deserve the humiliation or torment that Arnold and her sons brought on her for not standing behind a man that she knew was a pedophile and had raped boys before.
shareShe is not a pedophile and doesn't deserve to die in prison, but she appeared to be a terrible, selfish mother as well.
She admitted that even before all the crimes, she was jealous of the relationship between the boys and their father.
She fully complains the entire movie about Arnold, and then announces how great she felt to have the house all to herself once everyone was dead, in jail, or alienated. If Arnold was so terrible (and he was), does she not think that it could have messed up her boys so bad it might take years to undue and probably wouldn't happen during a heated period when they were on trial? Instead she snots around the house moping like a teen because no one likes her and everyone still digs the pedophile. Who raised these kids, anyway? Oh right...
Her "what about me" attitude was sickening. One of the yelling contests on audio was her yelling at one of the boys, "he's mine, not yours" about Arnold. And this was after all the CHILD PORN MAGAZINES.
Because of that, her ignorant housewife schtick was tiring as well. It was 1986, not 1966. She had a totally dismissive attitude of the CHILD PORN MAGAZINES even in this movie. "He just liked to meditate on them". Holy cow.
I can't know for sure, but I'd find is shocking if there is no way she hadn't run across those magazines if he'd been doing it his whole life. What housewife from some other era had no idea of what was in the house? Mail from the Netherlands? No prob! Instead she let's him have his work room that he tells her to "keep the cleaning people out of" and let's him run "boys only" classes in the basement, and lets him obviously mess up his own kids.
Thanks Mom! Glad you got a nice cabin and some old sugar daddy. Terrible person.
[deleted]
Give the mother a punch upside the head. She was clearly a moron.
-
Shuji Terayama forever.