MovieChat Forums > Chloe (2010) Discussion > Catherine Stewart was a mean-hearted jea...

Catherine Stewart was a mean-hearted jealous rotten woman


I felt very badly for the way Chloe was being used then thrown away by a wealthy powerful older woman after she was done with her. It's obvious that Chloe was searching for a mother figure, & became infatuated with Catherine Stewart. But the way I see it, she only cared about herself, & Chloe was no
exception to the rule.

Too bad Catherine Stewart wasn't the one that fell out of the window to her
death in the end, instead of poor Chloe :(
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Well, to be fair, Chloe was a prostitute. She even says in the beginning, " I can become your living, breathing, unflinching dream. And then I can actually disappear." Catherine used her services and then wanted her to disappear, as would any other client of Chloe's. Also, Chloe was deceitful and didn't really preform the task she was paid to. So, while Catherine's behavior was guided by jealousy and suspicions, I don't blame her for expecting Chloe to leave her alone after their "transactions" were finished. In no way am I condoning Catherine's behavior, I think she did some despicable things in this story, but I think the worst was not confronting her husband outright when she felt something was amiss. Hiring someone to trap her husband into infidelity is quite disgusting.
I'm not saying that prostitutes don't deserve to be treated with respect, and I truly believe its unfortunate that prostitutes are regarded as disposable trash to use and throw away. I honestly feel they are people trying to make a living the best way they know how. All I'm saying is that Chloe, as a hooker, knew fully well that people were paying her TO use her. She considered it a business, so she can't be upset when people on the other end treat it as a business deal as well. I did feel bad for Chloe; she obviously just wanted to be loved, and she was looking for it the wrong way. Basically, I think that both Chloe and Catherine were going through some deep-seeded emotional issues and didn't know how to deal with them.

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I don't buy it, what about having compassion for your fellow human beings? It's not like caring about Chloe cost the "good" Dr. any money. It was ALL about her, from the beginning of the movie til the end.

Catherine was garbage for doing to Chloe what she did, at least IMO.

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http://www.myspace.com/loveunderlaw

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@ Loveunderlaw,

Yes.

Catherine didn't deserve to be loved.

And yet, Chloe loved her instantly when they met in the restroom.

Why?

The answer is in the movie's symbolism. Chloe was more than you realize....

http://www.archive.org/details/EgoyansChloeAnAllegoryOfTrueLoveAndDivi neLight

P. A. T. (Needy's Boy)

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I don't think she deserved to be loved either. I agree, Chloe had a much deeper meaning for Catherine too, if only she'd not been so rash, & selfish...

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http://www.myspace.com/loveunderlaw

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There's a spiritual element in the symbolism of Chloe. I think that Catherine was looking to be loved again, but doesn't deserve love is thematically important. That Catherine finds that love after Chloe falls, is significant. There is, I believe, a spiritual allegory in the film.

P. A. T. (Needy's Boy)

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As a woman of 65, I'd have to say I can find things worthy of empathy with both characters. Who are we to judge whether someone deserves love. We are born with innocence and willingness to love - we all suffer disappointments and hurts that shape us - sometimes in unattractive ways, sometimes we rise above. Unless you've walked in someone's shoes....

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yeah maybe..but damn she's hot

-“In life, It's difficult to succeed, but it's even harder to maintain this success.”- Naomi Watts.

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catherine's character was definitely a sympathetic one. especially when she's explaining things to david, although, i'm not sure how honest she was being and how much denial she might have been in.

but, i mostly agree with OP. i was devastated when chloe fell out of the window. she was so lonely and hurt and so excited when she thought catherine loved her then she just used her. ugh. the scene where she tries to pay her off... and the look on chloe's face... ugh. i was hoping from the moment chloe tried to give the comb to catherine that she would at least have some sort of happy ending. too sad.

just... too sad.

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I probably won't go so far as to say that Catherine was a mean-hearted jealous rotten woman, but she was certainly selfish and insensitive to the finer feelings of others. Chloe certainly had a few screws loose, but at least her feelings towards Catherine were genuine. On the other hand, Catherine looked upon Chloe as someone who was completely disposable. It was true she hired Chloe for a job, but at some point she was undoubtedly attracted to her. But as the OP said, Catherine didn't really care much about Chloe. When Chloe later appeared to be a threat to the family, Catherine pushed her away (literally and figuratively) and the scene in which she caused Chloe's death told it all. Chloe would still be alive had Catherine not come up with the ridiculous idea to use her to seduce her husband. But in the last scene, none of the three in the family seemed to feel any guilt or regret. They all looked as if they were happy that Chloe had at last gone out of their lives.

Another reason why I don't feel sympathy towards Catherine is that she was stupid. She suspected her husband was having an affair and asked Chloe to "test" him? What would it prove if the husband actually bedded Chloe? It would not in any way "prove" that he was having an affair - only that he could be seduced by a foregn language "student" that looked like (and in fact was) Amanda Seyfried! So stupid.

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She was a silly woman. Her initial reaction to things was totally normal. She felt suspicious and decided that she couldn't live with that in her life, she needed proof.

I don't think she used and threw Chloe away, Chloe was a prostitute and Catherine had at the time no reason to believe Chloe felt they had a romantic connection.

Chloe was mentally unstable, how is it Catherine's fault that she fell in love?


Feed me a stray cat.

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Most suspicious spouses would hire a private detective, not a prostitute.

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Indeed most would, but I guess she figured since she had already made a contact and she wanted just one thing that it would be very simple.


Feed me a stray cat.

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Absolutely, I agree 100%.
Having sex with a prostitute is not a love affair. The husband knew that Chloe was a hooker.


Some create happiness wherever they go - some whenever they go.

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Oh come on, 99% of wives would sic their divorce attorneys on their husbands if they found out they went to a prostitute. And the wife in this case a crush on the prostitute and a full-blown if mostly one-sided love affair before murdering her! She was nasty, even got pissed off when someone was nice to a waitress

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The way I see it after a couple of viewings: Catherine was interested in Chloe from the start, she observed her from her window and kept coming to the girl, got turned on and finally gave in, etc.
Ms Stewart seems to have repressed her sexuality for a while, and her hubby does not help her. He could have reached out to her, noticing she was feeling insecure and not so attractive (but she is beautiful and do not see it). I guess some projection occurs as well, she wanted to be like Chloe, and her conflicting same sex desires frighten her. She seems to fall for Chloe too (notice how she says throughout their encounters that Chloe is so beautiful, and the glances they exchange). Chloe senses what Catherine wants and plays along, but gets desperate after being rejected by who she, perhaps, was looking for all her life and it ends tragically, unfortunately.
I was hoping for a different conclusion... I'm one for a happy ending à la The Price of Salt by P. Highsmith.

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Obadiah Obadiah, Jah Jah sent us here to catch vampire

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Hear hear! I second that emotion completely. Chloe was a prostitute (just like Richard Gere's character said in the film Pretty Woman to Julia Roberts' character): 'look, I hate to state the obvious but you are in fact a hooker!' She hired Chloe to do a job and like she said SHE'S the client so she has to do whatever she wants, basically whatever she's paying her for. But then crazy Chloe decided to go off on a tangent, doing her own things with the hubby (even tho we now know that she made all that stuff up about meeting the hubby ect) but Catherine didn't know that at the time, so naturally she's going to get p'eed off with Chloe. I know she only wanted rid after she had used her by sleeping with her but she explained why she slept with her to her hubby - she wanted to feel close to him and sleeping with the woman whom he had slept with helps her to accomplish that. I can understand that. It's not her fault that Chloe became obssessed with her. All of this 'poor Chloe' business is wasted. Like the thread I've just read, Chloe was mentally unstable.

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