MovieChat Forums > Obvious Child (2014) Discussion > Wish they had written Donna's character ...

Wish they had written Donna's character to be more sympathetic

posted 11 years ago by PacificHeights
12 replies | jump to latest

Donna Stern was rude, crude, childish, and obnoxious. I wish they had written her part to be a little more human and not so dysfunctional. She was supposed to be twenty-eight years old, but she acted like a spoiled thirteen year old.

Her “comedy” routines were crude and not funny in the least. Vaginal fluids, poops, farts, what could be funnier than that? She was pathetic. She didn’t have any integrity either. What sort of person goes on stage and shares intimate details of her romantic life with perfect strangers. She had no moral compass and no respect for her partner’s boundaries.

The scenes with Donna and Max were unrealistic. No one of Max' stature would want to be involved with an immature, narcissistic, woman-child like Donna.

[–] drew_atreides 11 years ago

Eh, i think Max actually had some social issues of his own. He was well-read, but i got the sense he was a bookworm, teacher's pet type.

Like it or not I think Donna's character was actually a very real representation of this current generation.

The dysfunctionality, i felt, was very real. I mean, she obviously had issues, she knew she wasn't mature enough or ready to be having a kid and actually did the right thing when it comes to having the aborition, know what i mean?

As for advertising your personal issues up on stage: Welcome to the Facebook generation! And as you saw it definitely did rub that first boyfriend the wrong way. He left!

"King of the Monsters: Savior of our City?"

[–] glasspix85 11 years ago

Well, I don't think being a bookworm and a teacher's pet is necessarily a bad personality trait unless you are using that against others, which the character wasn't. I would agree that Donna seems to be a good representation of the current generation as far as the media is concerned, in reality I don't know if it is or isn't, but is that satisfying? is that why we go to the movies? While I agree she's a perfect candidate for an abortion, she's not a perfect candidate for a lead protagonist.

[–] PacificHeights 11 years ago

I agree that being a bookworm and a teacher's pet is not a bad trait. Also agree that she made the right decision about the abortion. Still think she was crude, immature, and lacked personal integrity.

[–] moonlight100 11 years ago

You obviously don't understand comedians, OP.

Louis CK always gets up on stage and talks about masturbation, failed sexual encounters, his ex-wife. Same with Amy Schumer (except she doesn't have an ex-wife).

It's what comedians do. They make jokes about their lives and are often depreciating.

[–] PacificHeights 11 years ago

Did you think she was funny?

[–] MarieofRomania 11 years ago

I didn't think Donna was especially funny, but I did find her to be sympathetic. She was an insecure person who used humor as a defense mechanism. But she also had a good heart and wanted to do the right thing, even though she kept getting in her own way.

[–] moonlight100 10 years ago

I think it had more to do with her be honest in her stand-up than the jokes-a-minute she got. It's a prolific moment in a stand-up's career when they finally find their voice and stop doing derivative jokes. She found her voice, more jokes can be added in later. That was more of the point.

[–] wylierichardson-966-922691 9 years ago

True, her stand-up comedy wasn't the greatest, but I have been to enough live comedy shows to know that it's a hard art form to master. It's also more common than you think for comedians to 'spill their guts' about their personal lives - consider Richard Pryor, whose act was basically one long bout of soul-baring.

If she was in fact 'immature', that would explain the title, wouldn't it? The point is that she was too immature and scared to face the prospect of motherhood.

And you seem to suggest that no man would want to be with her, even as a one-night stand. But if she was 'anathema' to men, how could she have gotten knocked up? This movie clearly wasn't meant to be 'a portrait of a female stand-up who can't even get to first base with men'. Her youth and good looks are clearly assets. Didn't the best-looking girls you went to school with frequently do well in the romance department? What do you suppose the connection was?

[–] red_red_robyn 10 years ago

An interesting response. I'm a 29 year old woman in London and I found her to be astonishingly relevant. I thought her character was SO well-written, totally relatable, completely believable - and I thought her comedy routines were funny too. In fact so did my boyfriend (mid-30s).

People are so used to women being portrayed as perfect ladies - or at least what society seems "perfect" - that a normal woman on screen is considered childish, awful, unsympathetic etc. She's actually just a very good representation of this generation, as another comment said. No she's not perfect, but who is? Besides which, flawed protagonists are the most interesting (cf. Hamlet!). And nobody would pretend Max is flawless either. As they say in Good Will Hunting, "you don have to be perfect, just perfect for each other".

[–] tzogas 9 years ago

I know I'm a little late (see what I did there?), but I wanted to like your post.

As for being "perfect ladies", creative people are obliged to expose their inner selves and lives in order to create work that is an honest representation of the things many of us keep hidden. Knowing that some people misunderstand and look down on artists for doing this, and having to deal with that scorn at least on some level, is part of the price an artist pays.

**Have an A1 day**

[–] doggie_rodriguez 10 years ago

Donna Stern was rude, crude, childish, and obnoxious.

You might say she was an......Obvious Child?

What sort of person goes on stage and shares intimate details of her romantic life with perfect strangers.

Every stand up comedian ever.....maybe?

[–] letitiadionne 10 years ago

I didn't mind her as a character; she was right to have an abortion because she was immature and had no way of paying for a child or even the pregnancy.

However, I thought her comedy was awful. I don't mind gross out stuff, I just thought her stuff was boring. I thought the 'witty' conversations they all had were really boring as well.

Just not my type of humour, it seemed to try too hard.

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