MovieChat Forums > Little Children (2007) Discussion > Her choice of swimsuit

Her choice of swimsuit

posted 11 years ago by Rpdsf
19 replies | jump to latest

It told a lot about why her husband probably turned to "Slutty Kay" for sexual fulfillment. When she flipped through a catalog to a page dog-eared, there were two pictures of women in swimsuits. One was of a woman in a one piece and the other a bikini. She ordered the one piece. That apparently is what she thought of as sexy and ordered to wear to the pool for the guy she was interested in. No wonder her husband seemed to lose interest. He probably thought she was boring sexually; always seemed to dress kind of dumpy, never did anything with her hair or make-up and probably didn't think of herself as pretty so didn't bother to do anything about it. If she was just a tiny bit like "slutty Kay" and tried to spice things up a little, he probably would have paid much more attention to her which is what she wanted in the first place. She should have gotten the clue when she saw him with the panties he ordered from "Slutty Kay". I'll bet if she wore something like that for him every once in awhile there wouldn't have been a problem.

If you recall when she caught her husband, she told him that they needed to talk. When she returned later, he asked her if she wanted to talk and all she did was shun him. She should have realized that if he was looking elsewhere for fulfillment, then there was something he needed that was lacking in their relationship. He was willing to talk about it but she just shut him down.

[–] deem_bastille 11 years ago

you are equating spice with slut and that is where you are wrong.

and speaking as a woman with an imperfect body... bathing suits suck!!

so she dogeared a one piece and a two piece, so what?? perhaps she wanted the one that was more form fitting/ more appropriate for the NEIGHBORHOOD POOL.

and her husband is the biggest tool in the universe! he got into that slutty kay site at work. anyone else would have been fired if not arrested for having that smut on their work computer.

he started with kay which prompted her to seek comfort elsewhere.

OH THANK YOU GOD! THANK YOU SO BLOODY MUCH!!! Basil Fawlty

[–] orignlsinz 10 years ago

I think you're projecting your own insecurities onto the character. Most Western women would kill to have a body half as good as Kate Winslet's, so the observation about her being boring sexually is perfectly valid. Of course, she was willing to explore her sexuality when a super attractive new man comes into her life. In the meantime, we don't see her put any effort into her marriage, or her relationship with her daughter for that matter. She's just your classic, self-absorbed suburban housewife.

[–] IcySpoon 9 years ago

Wow, you make a lot of generalizations - I highly doubt you are at all qualified to comment on the, "Classic self-absorbed suburban housewife". You sound bitter and not at all objective. I think you're projecting your own negative experiences onto the character. You're equating her choice of wearing a one piece bathing suit with her, "Being boring sexually"? That's rather facile and quite a stretch-in fact it's a giant leap. What's more important is her choice of color-red-and her equating that color with sexuality.
Many American suburban mother's wear one piece bathing suits-especially those who feel a certain degree of modesty after childbirth and the subsequent changes to their body.

Your second point, although quite obvious, is much more valid; she is self centered and fails to put any effort into either her marriage and more devastatingly into her relationship with her child. There are obvious parallels between her choices and those of "Madam Bovary". Fortunately, Kate's character comes to her senses before running off with her lover and continuing on a path of destruction.

"Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it." Norman Maclean

[–] AndJustLikeThatItCame 10 years ago

I thought the one piece was appropriate for a woman and mother her age. Shes not 20 a bikini is for a younger single woman.

[–] archer6749 10 years ago

I thought the one piece was appropriate for a woman and mother her age. Shes not 20 a bikini is for a younger single woman.

I'm in my 20's and single and I've always worn one piece bathingsuits. It just woulnd't feel right no matter what my size to walk out of a changing room wearing barely anything like these string bikini's that you see most girl's wear nowadays.

[–] Jane_Doe01 10 years ago

Celebrities in their 40s still wear bikinis and she was a young mother, barely 30. Is she supposed to chop her hair really short and wear mom jeans, too?

Bikinis are not always meant for sexiness, they're also just a style alternative.

[–] dp021904 10 years ago

Kate was disgusted by her husband and didn't want him to be attracted to her. She barely flinched at the sight of him with another woman's underwear in his mouth.

Many men find one piece swimsuits sexier than bikinis. More to the imagination and such. And the right cut can really emphasize the curves of a woman's figure.

Also, many women with large (natural) breasts can't wear bikinis without unflattering jiggle in the chest.

 "Two little mice fell in a bucket of cream..."

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[–] Rpdsf 10 years ago

Most of these responses seem to miss the point I was trying to make. It's not about the swimsuit and I don't give a rats behind what women think about them. I mentioned it as only one of several clues about her general appearance that seemed to indicate her state of mind.

She seemed comfortable always looking kind of dumpy. Her husband needed some spice in their relationship and she either failed to see it or it wasn't interested in making herself look more appealing to him (not slutty). So he turned to porn and she cheated. He wanted to discuss the problem in their relationship and she didn't; instead using his interest in porn as a reason not to. Thereby, in her mind, either justifying or placing the blame for what she did on her husband.

In other words, he wanted to talk and she didn't. She had no interests in making herself prettier or alluring for him but rather used his perceived disinterest in her as an excuse to spice things up for herself.

[–] dp021904 10 years ago

She didn't want to talk to her husband. She didn't care about making herself prettier for him. She was disgusted by him and had no respect for him. The character was an extremely selfish one who could only focus on her own needs and wants.

[purple] Two little mice fell in a bucket of cream...

[–] thirdseasun 10 years ago

The fetishizing of sex and the human body is a modern travesty. We are so wound up in figuring out what our partner needs to do in order to make them more attractive to us that we never even consider that our attraction to them is our own business to manage and nourish.

[–] kalilah-a 10 years ago

Truth!

There is sorcery at play!

[–] BunnyCake 10 years ago

She ordered the "hide your tummy" version of a one-piece suit, so she was self-conscious about her figure. Many women are like that, especially once they reach their upper 30s and have had children.

BUT, you could tell as soon as she opened it she loved it. She knew she would look and feel alluring in the red swimsuit.