MovieChat Forums > The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956) Discussion > Betsy Rath a Hateful Woman?

Betsy Rath a Hateful Woman?

posted 16 years ago by fiat0903
39 replies | jump to latest

Is there anyone who would like to be married to a Betsy Rath? She is portrayed as grasping, narrow minded, unforgiving, defining being a bitch. She showed no understanding for the trauma Tom went through in the war or in his job. She seldom showed warmth. Her explosion at his confession about the wartime affair seemed phony. It seemed to be just an excuse for her venting her feelings.

Is she a younger version of the frigid Helen Hopkins?

How about the self-centered Susan Hopkins (played by 15 yr old Gigi Perreau)? Is she a younger Betsy in-the-making?

How does she compare to the image of the Fifties housewife portrayed in such films as The Stepford Wives?

Did the authors/writers intend these women be living embodiments of the "Mom" of Philip Wylie's Generation of Vipers?

There is enough hatred of women to fill a half dozen films.

[–] Cinemaskype 10 years ago

I'm bringing this up only because everyone keeps mentioning the terrible house which wasn't good enough.

His "safe" low annual income was $7,000, the house sold at what his wife considered a good price of $14,000. So in 1956 two years' salary - what some men today spend on engagement rings - could buy a charming center hall colonial only in need of a good cleaning a stone's throw from Manhattan in Westport, Connecticut.

In 2015 dollars that's like buying a $700,000 plus Westport house:

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/179-Bayberry-Ln-Westport-CT-06880/57 417598_zpid/

with a $60,000 income.

As spoiled as they say younger people are today, what 2015 housewife with a $60K family income would complain that a $700K house wasn't good enough? Given the cost of living in 1956 it seems as if GI's didn't even need a subsidized government home loan or money from a rich grandma to get a nice house.

[–] Underdog_73 (770) 8 years ago

Cinemaskype 2 years ago
"...So in 1956 two years' salary - what some men today spend on engagement rings....

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You're confusing months and years. TWO MONTHS salary on an engagement ring is what many claim is the norm. Not 2 years. Unless they're loaded, no guy is going to spend 2 years salary on an engagement ring.

[–] baran_erik 10 years ago

Stepford Wives was from the 70s. A more accurate comparison would be the TV shows of the 50s, like Donna Reed, Ozzie and Harriet, Leave It To Beaver or Father Knows Best, in that they were the complete opposite of this vengeful, bitter, mentally unstable woman.

[–] mark-1589 9 years ago

Well, Tom Rath clearly does. As we learn in the very last line of the film, despite everything, he still "worships" her.

[–] biddle2 9 years ago

As to their original house, she says it haunts her as a reminder of the fun they had and high hopes as newly weds. That makes her more sympathetic than just saying she wants a bigger house. It was awful when she said early in the movie that she was ashamed of him. It was better later in the movie when she was encouraging him to be honest at work and about the speech.
In the end, she had to face up to the the "honesty" issue when he told her about his son. It hurt her deeply, but she came around. I think she she "grew" a lot during the course of the film.

[–] Underdog_73 (770) 8 years ago

She is extremely unlikable and disgustingly self-centered and judgmental. I can't imagine any intelligent man staying with such an unpleasant woman.