A Hint About Beth


She was probably suffering from some kind of distrustful personality disorder. The line that she said to her son about how it was important to keep an eye on one's neighbors was the key.

Her motto seemed to be to keep an eye on your neighbors, don't trust them. This showed why she tended to push people in her life away, people who could have helped her in times of need. She taught that motto to her son, and fortunately he mentioned it to his father after she died. That showed that Benji now had an opportunity to have his mother's troubles washed off of him. It was one bright spot for him, a chance at redemption.

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Well what I think...it's the single parent syndrome....NOBODY respects a hard working single parent...we are (yes I am one of them) looked down upon as low lifes....not by everyone but a majority of people look down their noses at us. I have been turned down for jobs as the result of being a single parent. I have had people back away from me like I have a fatal disease when I have told them I am a single parent. So there ARE indeed some trust issues. I am the same way. I have a very hard time trusting people.

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At least it seemed to be made clear that her ex husband cared about no one but himself for years; now, he had the power to take Benji away from her. He kicked her while she was down. And the woman he was about to take as his trophy wife looked like an icy Euronanny who could never be bothered to smile.


Are you trying to win some sort of award for reading things into the movie that weren't there?

How do you arrive at these conclusions? David had, as he pointed out, worked to make something of his life, starting out by his going off to college and "partying," as Beth put it. Then he arrogantly had the nerve to use some of his earned credentials by going out and getting a job as a school principal, what a jerk! And then he had the gall to always be there for his son, arrggh! It wasn't clear that he was ever married to Beth but I believe that we were supposed to reach that determination due to the agreement that they had about Benji's living with her. You know that David never kicked her out, she had just pushed him and everybody else away, that was a given. Certainly, after finding that she had just been axed from her job, as well as having no money in the bank and seeing what a careless driver she was he wasn't going to tolerate Benji's living with her and not him. David was absolutely right in giving her the business at that point and somewhat tricking her into giving Benji over to him.

Melissa was already David's new wife and she was very kind to Beth in their brief encounter when they met earlier on. Beth even had enough kindness back to her to ask if she would join them for pizza later. Melissa was a gem and was even there visiting in the hospital, hoping, along with Benji and David, that Beth would pull through.

Geez!

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