MovieChat Forums > Election (1999) Discussion > How does Tracey View Her Affair with Dav...

How does Tracey View Her Affair with David Today?

posted 6 years ago by Sandman81 (1509)
38 replies | jump to latest

At the end of the movie, I always took it that Tracey never saw herself as a victim. Sure he understood that it was morally and possibly legally wrong for a married teacher to have a sexual relationship with a student, but she also probably thought she was different because she was so much smarter and more mature than her peers, and her and Dave had a special connection.

But as she got older and more experienced in life, do you think she eventually realized that she was the victim of a predator, who was taking advantage of a lonely, naïve girl? And that the connection they had was just him saying things he knew she would be impressed by (like working on a book).

No matter what her view on this relationship, its obvious she's learned about her ability to manipulate and seduce older men for her own gain, as we see her with the much older Senator.

[–] ExTechOp (2770) 5 years ago

Pretty much agreed on all points - in fact, she was already more mature about the relationship than Dave was. She thought everything would've been "OK" if only Dave hadn't acted like a "baby" and gotten all "mushy."

I took this to mean she thought the handmade card from Dave was the "mushy" thing that exposed their affair.

[–] Kowalski (76827) 5 years ago

#METOO

[–] BuckSwope (3511) 5 years ago

#METHREE

[–] Sandman81 (1509) 5 years ago

Assuming she is in some kind of political office in 2017 when the #METOO movement started, I bet she would tell the story in a tear filled interview. And despite how she may have really felt about it, she would present herself as a victim who was seduced by a much other man who had authority over her. And while she wouldn't say he raped her, she would make it seem as though he did force himself upon her, and that she couldn't stop him even if she tried too. And she obviously wouldn't say his name, and he would never come forward to give his side of the story (thus incriminating himself), so we would only have her version of the story. This would make her both a sympathetic figure, and inspiration to other girls who were victims, that they could overcome it to achieve their goals.

[–] Heisenberg (6730) 5 years ago

Look, ok, I hate that cunt, but even if she did what you describe here, she would have every right to do so, because, guess what, no matter what her feelings were during the affair, she WAS the victim and he WAS a predator.

[–] tom8 (3119) 5 years ago

victim how?

[–] Heisenberg (6730) 5 years ago

As in, HE is a criminal, SHE is the subject of such crime. That is a victim by definition.

[–] tom8 (3119) 5 years ago

which crime??

[–] legnadibrom (6332) 5 years ago

the crime of heterosexual sex

[–] Heisenberg (6730) 5 years ago

The crime of rape, I believe it is called in your language.
Let me double check that one....yes yes, when someone rapes somebody else, in English it is called rape, the perpetrator is called rapist and the receiving one is a victim of rape.

Get a clue, asshole.
Sorry, assholes.

[–] Redsfan001 (6180) 5 years ago

Agree completely...The teacher initiated the seduction.

But the empathy factor sure is with the men in this movie.

Pretty much the 4 females (3 teens and one adult) are highly successful in manipulating all the male characters. All women win in the end while the men lose, which is probably why you get some posters defending their actions.

[–] legnadibrom (6332) 5 years ago

i was answering Tom's question for you, Heis
you're welcome

[–] tom8 (3119) 5 years ago

is this heisenberg a "special" kind of person??
'
can you tell me where the rape is in this movie?

[–] legnadibrom (6332) 5 years ago

Heis is a regular on the movie boards but he's not an advocate for consensual heterosexual intercourse (or any other activity for that matter),

he's a strong believer in life-long abstinence & has determined that even a man hugging a woman could be categorized as sexual assault

[–] tom8 (3119) 5 years ago

so in other words: a complete fucking nutjob !

thank you my friend for telling me 👍

🥰

[–] tom8 (3119) 5 years ago

rape?

i have seen this movie several times, where is the rape?

[–] Heisenberg (6730) 5 years ago

It's where the rapist has sex with an underage victim.

I can also indicate where the murder is in Psycho, in case you missed that one too.

[–] tom8 (3119) 5 years ago

movie timestamp please

PS, are you retarded?

[–] Kowalski (76827) 5 years ago

YOU ARENT ALLOWED TO HAVE SEX WITH CHILDREN...NOT TO MENTION YOUR STUDENTS.

[–] tom8 (3119) 5 years ago

children? how old was tracy when they did it?

[–] Kowalski (76827) 5 years ago

HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS ARE OFF LIMITS...I WAS 17 WHEN I GRADUATED.

[–] tom8 (3119) 5 years ago

"HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS ARE OFF LIMITS"

but listen here caps lock mf'er , age of consent wary.

and clearly she was willing and wet as a sponge(bob)

[–] Kowalski (76827) 5 years ago

LMAO....YOU HAVE SEX WITH A 17 YEAR OLD YOURE RESPONSIBLE FOR AS HER TEACHER...ILL VISIT YOU IN LOCKUP...DEAL?

[–] NGMI (1184) 3 years ago

Weren't they in Omaha? The age of consent is 16 in Nebraska. So you see, this arbitrary number decided by some politicians clears him of rape. Just lack of ethics, which he was fired for.

[–] Kowalski (76827) 3 years ago

I NEVER SAID RAPE....GOOD ON YOU...PROVING A POINT TO YOURSELF THOUGH...I SAID TEACHERS SHOULD NOT FUCK STUDENTS...WHICH IS CORRECT.

[–] Heisenberg (6730) 5 years ago

Sorry tom8, re-watch the whole movie yourself attentively, even you might be able to find it on your own, have some self confidence!

[–] tom8 (3119) 5 years ago

[–] filmschooldegree (350) 4 years ago

A more relevant statement than ever these days.

[–] Sandman81 (1509) 5 years ago

Don't get me wrong, I 100% agree that she was a victim, as I stated in the original thread. But the question is does she consider herself a victim now, or does she still have that naive view of the relationship? No matter what she thinks of it now, I can see her using it for her own gain.

[–] ExTechOp (2770) 5 years ago

Agreed with both Heisenberg and Sandman

She was a victim

Wouldn't stop her from exploiting her experience for her own gain - totally consistent with her character

And even though she was a victim, I still personally maintain that she was actually pretty mature about the relationship at the time - she seemed to know it wouldn't last and definitely looked down on Dave for being "mushy"

For what it's worth, this strikes close to home for me - my 15-year-old cousin "fell for" a 23-year-old college dropout who wow'ed her with his big dreams (like Novotny and his "novel"). In my cousin's case, the older lothario had a "burning ambition" to become our state governor, and she'd be his First Lady.

Luckily, the relationship barely lasted a full summer, although she did let him have his way same as Tracy Flick did.

Now, decades later, my cousin's a federal judge and the old boyfriend is a cellblock guard in her courthouse. I doubt very much she looks at him the same way now.

[–] tom8 (3119) 5 years ago

so she looks down upon him because his dreams never came true?.... well, that is fucking nice...... smh

[–] dratsab (57) 2 years ago

Dude wtf is wrong with being a cellblock guard? Get outta here with that elitist shit

[–] ExTechOp (2770) a year ago

It’s not that he’s a prison guard

It’s that he used his big dreams of being the state’s youngest governor to seduce a teenager

The fact that he’s nowhere close to his dream proves it was all big talk to impress young girls

[–] xanthas (3215) 2 years ago

I don't like Tracey either, but she would have every right to speak up about him later, especially if he were in line for a high-ranking government position.

Now if this cellblock guard guy were instead actually running to governor, your cousin would have a duty to speak up about the guy's past.

[–] Redsfan001 (6180) 5 years ago

Absolutely. A smart politically driven woman, would take advantage of the current #metoo climate.

It would be kind of cool to see a 20 years after movie made.

Don't know if the same script writters are still available to do this, they did such a fine job on this movie.

[–] Kowalski (76827) 4 years ago

WITH A VCR PROBABLY.

[–] ExTechOp (2770) 2 years ago

Just finished "Tracy Flick Can't Win," and it turns out Tracy never did view this as rape or anything other than an affair.

That was the novel version, though, much more human and toned down that Witherspoon's awesome version.

I still maintain that film Tracy would absolutely exploit the affair for sympathy, while still viewing it as a genuine affair in which she was the more "adult" of the two. Which she was.

[–] fc31 (5840) a year ago

The teacher was in love with her, and she could not care less about him.

Considering what happened who is really the victim?

The law is designed to protect minors, but not all minors are victims.