MovieChat Forums > What a Girl Wants (2003) Discussion > Questions/Observations.

Questions/Observations.

posted 9 years ago by IMDB_Vits
1 reply | jump to latest

1) Why doesn't DAPHNE say any of the things GLYNNIS and ARMISTEAD did to her? I know there would be no evidence and ARMISTEAD has enough power not to be arrested for sexual assault. However, the point of the movie is that these people are concerned about their reputation. DAPHNE could destroy it by talking to the press.

2) Why do the magazines show photos of DAPHNE while she's sad? The purpose would be to gossip, but the articles talk about her and HENRY in a positive light. It makes no sense.

3) While IAN has a right to be upset for being stood up, it's not like DAPHNE was going to a meaningless socialite event. She was going to meet the freaking Queen! Who would go to a concert instead? Even if that's not true, I still think he overreacts later at her ball: "I don't want to hear it!". WTF?! She's trying to apologize! Also, in these 2 scenes, he talks about her not being who she really is anymore. How would he know?! He barely knew her at the time!

4) It's one thing for DAPHNE to "behave", but why doesn't she pet the dog? Wouldn't the owner (I forgot her title) think she was being rude?

5) Why does ALISTAIR confess the truth to HENRY?

6) DAPHNE has always been upset about the father-daughter dances at weddings. Why doesn't she look for a waitress job in another place?

7) Did I miss something? How did DAPHNE's experience in London made her decide what she wanted to study? Actually, she initially gave me the impression that she didn't want to go to college at all.

8) HENRY arrives at the wedding on a boat... so where did IAN come from? Didn't they go together?

9) DAPHNE & LIBBY are surprised to see HENRY. Why? Doesn't a flight from London to the New York last like 10 hours? They should've read/seen the news of his resignation and figured out his intentions.

[–] tani_banani 9 years ago

1. Firstly, I think it is to show that Daphne is above all the manipulative and cutthroat behaviour displayed by those in Henry's life. She does not want to drag others down or destroy their reputations, and doing so would not help her situation anyway as it is the expectations of society in general that cause her to return to New York. It would purely be a revenge move to publicly shame her wrongdoers and I don't think she was that kind of person.

2. I think the articles shown, where Daphne appears sad, are really just the "society pages" showing prominent people at various outings. I suppose her somber expressions are really for the benefit of the audience, so we can see that she is suppressing her true personality and sacrificing her happiness to fit into Henry's world.

3. I don't think forgetting the concert was the 'first strike' for Daphne - we can tell from the aforementioned article montage that some time has passed. We can probably assume that Daphne has put Ian on the backburner since she started trying to change her image.

4. I've never been to a Queen's garden party, maybe it's just not appropriate behaviour but I felt sorry for the dog! :-P

5. I think this might just be to help the plot along, he really has no reason to divulge just how deceptive he's been and it's certainly not going to help his cause!

6. I guess she gets her waitress jobs because her mother is a wedding singer - so it's a convenience thing.

7. I don't recall her saying she didn't want to go to college - she does say early on that she's going to the 'University of Undecided' but that just means she hasn't decided WHERE she wants to go to college. She also says in her message to her mother that she thought maybe she needed a year or two off before college, so it is implied that she ultimately intended to go.

8. Ha ha, maybe he was up front paddling ?

9. I suppose if he flew to New York straight away, you're only talking half a day -- I think it's feasible that they might not have heard about a political development in another country within that time. Also, it probably wasn't even big news in their area as he was just running for parliament, not Prime Minister or anything.

Hope my random thoughts have helped! :-)