MovieChat Forums > Mystic Pizza (1988) Discussion > How sympathetic is Kat really?

How sympathetic is Kat really?

posted 19 years ago by roghache
12 replies | jump to latest

Like everyone else, I kind of fell for the 'Poor Kat!' mentality when she realizes she's been dumb & used by having sex with her married employer, only to quickly discover he is staying with his wife, who has just returned home. There's been no indication all along that this couple is separated, only that the wife's abroad. Nevertheless, Kat sets her cap for this married man and pretty much premeditates a sexual relationship with him. Not too much concern over what effect this affair might have on the little girl she's baby sitting, whom she claims to have much affection for, or the little girl's Mommy. Kat pays her price by feeling humiliated and true, she's not the first naive young girl to make the same mistake nor will she be the last. However, she absolutely did NOT do a nice deed here so please let's not make a poor innocent victim out of her. Frankly, pretty young girls should leave other women's husbands alone! Perhaps the wife was abroad for too long, neglecting her husband & child, but she's not the villain of the piece. (Of course the husband's a total creep, that absolutely goes without saying.)

[–] lucey1113 19 years ago

When I first watched this movie when it came out, I was only about 18 and felt bad for Kat. I still love this movie, but I understand what you mean. I think Kat let herself believe that the marriage was breaking down when Phoebe tells her that "we're not getting a d'vorce" and when Tim tells her "Aw Kat, stuff happens..." Kat is also longing for romance, as she watches JoJo and Daisy with their men. Despite her brains, she is still young and naive. Yes Tim turned out to be a creep, but he certainly was handsome and charming and who could blame Kat for falling hard?
I like how at the end Kat tears up the check Tim gave her, you know she learned from her experience and isn't bound to repeat it. Also at the end, when you see her standing on the balcony at JoJo's wedding, gazing at the stars...she already seems at peace and ready to face her future.

[–] roghache 19 years ago

I agree with everything you said. She's basically young, naive, & foolish, looking for romance and infatuated with a charming older man. It just bothers me that most viewers probably think Kat didn't do anything in the least wrong. Tim is the worst villain of the piece, and giving Kat the cheque only makes him worse. I'm glad she tore it up and I agree she won't make the same mistake twice.

[–] jrails 19 years ago

I naturally was drawn to Kat and still am, probably because like many teenage girls had crushes on older men (my English teacher for one) and fantasized about a romantic future. Now at age 38, I can see that Kat was in a fantasy land, and didn't consider at all the consequences of her actions, not only with sleeping with a married man, but what it would mean for her future. She had dreams to get away from Mystic and go to Yale, but she is flirting with taking a different path by getting mixed up with a married man. The fantasy as someone else pointed out was important because she saw her friends with lovers and even though she made fun of her sister, she really wanted that too. When I first saw this movie, I had never heard of Julia Roberts and was not as interested in her story as Kat's story. I think that the script has her facing up to reality pretty quick and she realizes how stupid she was and can finally move on with her life.

[–] roghache 19 years ago

I'm the ripe old age of 55 and sometimes forget I didn't always know at age 18 everything I know now! I had a crush on a teacher as well during high school. That's why it's so villainous of the older Tim to take advantage of Kat. I felt like SHOOTING Tim and I felt like SHAKING Kat and telling her to beware, she probably isn't going to have a rosy future with this married guy. The point was well taken that Kat sees Jojo and Daisy with their romances and wants one of her own. I also agree that it's Kat's movie. Her story is more interesting than Daisy's. As for Jojo, I just wanted her to be quiet, found her silly and uninteresting.

[–] Ines-Stephan 19 years ago

I think, the 3 storys of the girls are so different, that one feels for the girl, the more one has in common with this character. As you said, you lived something similar to Kat, so its normal, that it touches you the most.

[–] rkelleher 12 years ago

I think Kat believes he and his wife are separated (and he seems to give that impression as well) She is very naive and has probably never had a boyfriend ( from the comments of the women earlier in the film when they ask if she has a boyfriend yet).
She may not be blameless but her mistake comes from innocence and naïveté.

[–] MrAleisterCrowley 11 years ago

Yes, she is very young emotionally, not street-smart like Daisy who even warns her that this will likely turn out badly, and I do think that Kat feels very, very, very guilty when the wife/mother shows up. I think it hits her all at once -- that older Tim was using her and is never going to leave his wife and child for a college freshman, that his wife is a real woman (rather than just kind of a vague fantasy figure in Kat's head --safely across the pond in England), and that poor Phoebe is tangled up in the whole disaster. I honestly think she realizes her terrible mistake and also suffers mightily for it. As another poster wisely pointed out, Kat has never had a boyfriend, and she longs for a romance like the relationships her sister and best friend are having. Tim SEEMS marvelous at first to Kat -- he is a Yalie, sophisticated (wine, architecture, classical music, appreciates Kat's "brains"), and has an adorable daughter (Kat loves kids). Kat, a young 18, does not think through the reality of the situation. And of course Tim plays her like a fiddle.

I also thought it was VERY sleazy for Tim to bring in Phoebe when he went into the restaurant. We knew Tim was a cowardly sleaze but that little stunt made things worse (ensuring that Kat would not confront Tim with Phoebe there) and made the money seem even more like a payoff ("I feel sort of bad, here is some money for school and also please keep quiet about all of this"). Ugh. He sank to even lower depths in that scene.

As a forty year old dude (me -- so I am a decade older than the character of Tim was in this film) I will add that everything Tim did -- all of his sleazy little seductive moves, just made me cringe. It looks so creepy and predatory (which also means that the actor did a good job).

"It's too bad she won't live. But then again, who does?" Blade Runner (1982)

[–] Jockey1 11 years ago

I think this film is very well done, that rather than focussing on one relationship like a lot of these films do, it takes three very different ones, and gives each of them a pretty much equal share, with some very human characters and reactions. The long term relationship worried about commitment, the sensible one chasing the impossible relationship, and a relationship between two people who connect well, but are ultimately from different worlds.

Like said earlier, I always identified more with Kat, just because I was her. Smart, but generally very naive and not very educated about the world. Early on, Tim does come across as a really nice guy and can be a friend to Kat like nobody else she knows, who has all the experience of what she is about to go through, and as odd a relationship as it is, we believe it, and its a good one for both of them. But the closer they get, the more unsettling it is. You're already worried for Kat because you can see she is starting to think something might happen, and you start disliking Tim for quite clearly egging her on and keeping on giving her these hints that make her believe she's in there! I dont know, I think all three stories are done very well. It is three very different relationships with realistic feelings and actions behind them.

For the record, I think Kat's line to Daisy, 'why does it hurt so much?' is one of the most real and heartfelt lines on any film. We know she's been stupid, but you just cant help but feel for her when she says that line. We've all been there, we know we've been stupid, and may even have seen it coming...but a rejection like that is still an absolute dagger in the heart.

[–] drxcreatures 9 years ago

I bet everyone has felt like Kat at one point.

http://www.cgonzales.net & http://www.drxcreatures.com

[–] BrianT999999 9 years ago

Great call. Tim was a total scumbag in this movie. Bringing Phoebe with him to avoid a scene with Kat was just the worst.

[–] cheluzal 11 years ago

I think all the excuses above for Kat are disgusting.
I knew at 18 that hooking up with married men was wrong.

Real LOSERS spell 'loser' looser!

[–] Rajesh_pimp06 9 years ago

Kat was young, but not sexy or attractive to me anyway. The wife was prettier even though older. I think people tend to excuse homely plain looking girls like Kat. If she had of been slim and attractive she would get more hate over this. Would people feel bad if it was Daisy having the affair? No she would just get slut-shamed. But because Kat is frumpy and plain people feel sorry for her. When in actual fact she is just as much to blame as he is, and she used the child to try and win this guy over. Poor kid, what if she had woke up and seen them together. Kat was very selfish. But we are supposed to have sympathy for the dowdy plump youngster?

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