why was she crying at the end? - Pretty Persuasion (2006) Discussion

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] maeaculpa 19 years ago

She had a pretty horrible life. Her father (brilliantly played by James Woods) was a drug addicted, oversexed, uncaring xenophobic nutcase. Her mother couldn't even spell her name. Her step mother was an airhead. Her brother, who she obviously cared about, had been killed in a pointless war. Her boyfriend dumped her and ran off with her best friend. She was bulemic. She was responsible for another girl's suicide. do I need to go on?

The satisfaction she gets at the end comes from being cleverer than everybody else. She has an IQ off the charts, and she got what she superficially wanted, a pointless celebrity career.

It's a pyrric victory, as she realises watching herself on television. What exactly does she have to smile about? A part in a sexist piece of tv crap? Hardly replaces a functional, loving family and friends who cared about her.

I think her performance was fantastic, and despite everything she did to everybody else I still felt sympathy for her at the end when she cries. What a sad life.

And the teacher was a nasty business. She had the intelligence to see that he was lusting after young girls. It's made very clear. The way he treats her friend onstage is borderline pornographic and could be deemed harrasment. I had no sympathy for him.

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[–] SeanMannn 19 years ago

yeah I like your answer and completly agree. thanks

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] starlitegirl890 18 years ago

ya that was a great analogy! I think the teacher should have gotten more then just a bad rep. and his wife leaving him. He obviosly was a pervert! Making his wife dress up just like the girls at his school and making her read the essay that kimberly wrote. Gross!!! And then what he made brittany do in front of the class and you could tell he was totally aroused by it. It made me so made when Troy was like "He was just trying to help you!" I had absolutely no remorse for the pedile teacher!

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[–] PimpSmackersGOM 13 years ago

What made you made about it? And what the heck is a "pedile"?? Anyways, I gather that you hated Mr. Anderson, who never once touched any of his students, more than the female reporter who actually had sex with an underage girl?

PS: He also didn't make his wife do anything. She was just playing along willingly.

A superhero never reveals their true identity

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[–] PimpSmackersGOM 17 years ago

Did she actually get the part on that tv show? I didn't understand that part. You see the two guys saying they want to call Kimberly and offer her the part but then you are already watching it on tv with someone else. At first I thought that what she was seeing on the tv was coming from her imagination because like I said before we hear the two guys saying that they want to get Kimberly to play the part but then we see she is already watching it on tv. But not only that but, to me, it looked like the two people on the tv looked exactly like Brittany and Troy, her best friend and her exboyfriend. I don't know what it means, or if it meant anything but I thought that was a pretty weird coincidence.

clear emotions guide / to the gates of open mind / leave the shame behind / peace is by your side

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[–] Furry_Lover 14 years ago

woman?

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[–] subase 14 years ago

I interpreted her crying because that dancing scene reminded her of when she dirty danced for Troy, who called her a dirty whore. (cause she allowed some guy to have anal sex with her while he was dating her, which I think was a lie considering how strong willed she is. She didn't allow him to do cause he said please three times.)

And her actions in the film only reinforce this opinion of Troy, not only is she a dirty whore but also a manipulative sociopath.

If you think about it I think Troy stood for her brother, the only person who cared and understood her it seems. (He actually DID send her a copy of Anne Franks diary, cause he understood how alone she felt)

So when she was rejected by Troy it was akin to a rejection of her brother, a pain she wants to share, since she couldn't live up to what her brother or Troy wanted from her.

At the end of the film she throws Anne Franks diary the one her brother gave her away. Thus losing her only connection to the good in her.

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Actually it seems the film hints about her true inner self throughout the film. Her brother was obviously a naive not too smart person if he decided to go to war and leave his sister alone in such a family. So it seems that she is rejecting his naivety and gullibility (Anne Frank's diary) and instead wanting to make everyone around her suffer. the difference is that unlike the shooter who went to jail, she instead wants to become an actress, so her rage is directed at herself as much as it is outwards towards the world. She destroyed what little friends and social supports she had. And when she looked in that tv screen she realizes she is everything she hates.

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[–] funkypoet_40 13 years ago

a great, concise response summing up many of my thoughts/feelings about the film and expanding very eloquently!

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] jsdunn 18 years ago

I didn't like that she cries at the end because it just left me with a bad-taste in my mouth. I don't think it was out of character. I just wish they would have worked in one joke at the end to leave me smiling and not feeling terrible. If she was smiling instead of crying at the end, or if she did something to redeem herself (ala Raskolnikov, I can't stop with the Dostoevsky can I?) atleast it would have given the Overcoming Man existentialist theme to the story. Instead she got what she wanted and now she's really upset about her situation as a whore, which she knew she was all along, almost as if she is a Knight of Infinite Resignation, which is a pity.

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[–] newjerseydelineator 18 years ago

>>I just wish they would have worked in one joke at the end <<

My thoughts exactly.

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'It's a tusk! On a *beep* human!'

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[–] julzrob 18 years ago

Der..... the fact that she is crying at the end is the whole point! The film is a satire. Didn't you see the writing on the board in the teachers classroom. Did you miss the tv surfing episode just before she cries.It is satirising youth, beauty, the media, consumerism and is trying to point up the dysfunctional nature of growing up in the USA. This movie has its antecedents in Bowling for Columbine, Elephant and even Heathers.

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] moviedude-72 18 years ago

You forgot Election. But yeah, the ending worked just fine. Anymore more jokes would've ruined the satarical tone, and made it more of a laugh-fest.

R.I.P. River Phoenix

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[–] AgPie 18 years ago

I think if they had made the ending light then that would have changed the whole tone of the movie. i think that her crying at the end showed that even though she was so much more clever than everyone and everything fell into place exactly how she planned it, she was still a kid. Her world still sucked, and her victories were empty when compared to her terrible family/school/friend situation.

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[–] alice_in_punderland 16 years ago

Her crying at the end is exactly what negates the satire. The beauty of satire is that nobody "in the movie" knows what the audience knows - that the film is heightening the deceit, materialism, and dysfunction consuming America's youth today. By giving Kimberly a repentant moment, the satire becomes a morality tale.

Having your book made into a movie is like seeing your oxen made into bouillon cubes. -John LeCarre

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[–] oxidevotchkas 18 years ago

She was morning her brother, who died in the war. And maybe she blamed Radha for him dying in the war. And possibly about her messed up family who is cold, and doesn't seem to love her.
It wasn't just over a guy. It was a whole screw you world.

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] rockin_rissa 18 years ago

I disagree with all of you. I don't think she's remorseful at all. To be that cold and that manipulative with no more motive than an ex boyfriend and best friend being together, she'd have to be a sociopath...and they don't feel guilty for their actions, no matter how hurtful. I think having her cry at the end is simply a release for the character and to provoke the audience into feeling something.

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] xylemicarious 17 years ago

I can see what they wanted to do with having her cry at the end, and I don't dislike that decision, per se. But I do think it would've been a bit better for her to not regret her actions at the end. Her crying wasn't necessary for the audience to relate to her, and I think that in the end, having her laugh or something would've been a bit more true to her character.
Either way, this movie is still awesome.

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[–] Dollhouse_89 17 years ago

i agree with maeaculpa.

when i saw the end and watched her crying, i actually was waiting for her to crack a slight smile.

i dont think her character is a sociopath. i don't think crying was out of character for her and i don't think kimberly's character lacked emotion throughout the film, either. she shows plenty of emotion, but seems to "shake it off" or snap out of it so that she's able to move on. but when she actually cried it made her seem to break a little. everything worked for her in a way, but life for her was much worse than it had been in the beginning of the film. why would she be happy in the end?

she felt remorse for randa's death [briefly]. when she was playing her violin or cello and her dad came up and told her to shut up, she says something along the lines of "she shouldnt have done that". of course later she dismisses or "shakes off" feelings of remorse and says to brittany that "every war has its casualties". she was effected by the last conversation we see between her and her father. when he, in so many words, tells her she's ruined him and his buisiness, she pathetically implies that he will now have more free time to spend with her, and he blatantly tells her that that is the last thing he watns to do. she is obviously effected by her neglectful mother, too.

she doesn't have anything but looks and brains with which she uses to constantly remind herself of how much more clever she is than everyone else. i think everything she did was basically for fame which she thought would fill a hole. of course she wanted to get back at her bestfriend in the process. maybe ruining her dad's buisiness was also part of the agenda so that he, like she suggested, could be more attentive. but that's debatable.

NOPE!

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[–] thisstrangeeffectonme 17 years ago

Jesus Christ, people...if she had cracked a joke or smiled a wicked little smile, she would have been nothing more than a one-dimensional, cartoonish character. She is a human being. Her actions are motivated by feelings, she doesn't put the whole thing into action just because she gets a kick out of it. It feels as if you're talking about a machine devoid of any emotion, any feeling. Sociopaths are people too.

"It's hard to find the moral high ground when we're all standing in the mud."

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[–] Dollhouse_89 17 years ago

"Her actions are motivated by feelings, she doesn't put the whole thing into action just because she gets a kick out of it."

Do people really pay any attention to signitures?

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[–] w8n4frodo 17 years ago

Interestingly, I had wanted to say this before but forgot to. Please don't take this as an attack at you personally, but I find it interesting that you say you were waiting for her to "crack a smile". Like the other person who said she should have smiled at the end. Someone else said that that would have made her cartoonish. Exactly. I think that you were expecting that smile because that is the kind of low quality, brain numbing "entertainment" that Hollywood has been pumping out. The fact that you were expecting it is EXACTLY WHY it is better to not have been there. Besides the fact that the evil, maniacal smile would have taken away from the rest of the story. As is, with the crying, we see a super troubled, deeply depressed and inwardly emotional girl just like any other girl that you or I know. If you had a joke or smile at the end, she would have become a one in a million sociopath, the type of person that she was watching on the news coverage at the end. The boy that gave them all chills because he really WAS a sociopath. In him, she saw herself and maybe that scared her too, but she is not evil. I think it is important to have a movie that shows the repercussions of how this girl was raised without making her "just another movie character" like in a Scream movie. This girl was full of potential and was surprised when another girl would want to be a doctor. Why? Because she has been dismissed so many times in her life. Her mother and father have crushed her self worth. The one person who cares about her it seems is her step mother, she seems to see these warning signs but is dismissed just as much. When she is playing the violin, we see how much talent she has and instead of encouragement, she is told she is selfish. This is what we are producing in our country. Selfish, spoiled rich girls without one ounce of self worth who crave love and attention and can only find it by having internet sex and flaunting themselves because THAT is when they get the attention they seek. I am rambling... sorry.

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[–] funkypoet_40 13 years ago

responding to this so i can keep this response in my imdb history and therefore my internet pocket. i love it.

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[–] dan-1202 18 years ago

I think the crying scene at the end kinda ruined the movie. I didn't Kimberley to show any emotion, as she did'nt show any leading up to that scene.

Maybe if she smiled wickedly, or started laughing.

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[–] w8n4frodo 17 years ago

OK, I want to say that I loved this movie. It showed so much of the hypocritical world we are living in wrapped up in a rich little town. I believe that, in the end, Kimberley is crying because she got everything she wanted and she still does not feel whole. She wanted to get back at her best friend for the Troy thing... it worked. She maybe, or maybe not, projected her hurt for the loss of her brother onto Randa and so she may feel justification for that death. She got the part she wanted as an actress and that should be fulfilling because it allows her to escape her own life and be someone else. But as she is watching the television, she sees that even when she is acting, she is still herself, she has noone who loves her, she has lost her best friend, caused a death, been manipulative, and knows herself to be a whore. Why does she allow Warren to give her anal sex? Because she is desperate for love. This is especially common in teenage girls who are lacking a parental figure and this girl is lacking both. especially when it is a father figure.
OK.. to wrap this up, I will simply say, she thought she would be happy when all of this ended... but she doesn't and that feels worse than she did before, so she cries.

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[–] aimless-46 17 years ago

The whole point of the film is that she is disillusioned and extremely disappointed with the world. She is not remorseful over what she has done or what has happened. She crys over the fact that being able to manipulate a bunch of idiotic people is not an adequate substitute for a world of people she admires and respects.

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[–] honeypeach 17 years ago

I do think she was a LITTLE remorseful, but not going to become one of those "reformed popular girl" characters. She was crying because, although she has sociopathic tendencies, I don't think she was a TRUE sociopath, and despite everything, she really did want some sort of loving relationship with SOMEONE. I don't know, and at the end when she cried, I think she only cried b/c after everything was said and done, she realized it hadn't been worth it.

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[–] xlowerthebar 16 years ago

I think Kimberly was mostly upset that it went so out of control. I really don't think she was as evil as people thought, I also think it's because Randa's death and the fact it's her fault.
Thats what I got from it anyway, I think she also regrets doing what she did to Britney because despite wanting to get back at her... I think she does love her deep down (as a friend of course)

--
Previously pezzer4eva & pezz_ah :)

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[–] izitintermission 16 years ago

i think she was crying because while she was flipping channels she saw herself as Martin Stivers (school shooter) as well as everything else she saw on tv.

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[–] Meansnow 16 years ago

Thanks for pointing that out. Yes, she was the female version of the school shooter { who was played by EvanRachelWood's real brother, Ira Wood }.
She cried because of all the evil things she did, made her the actress that she wanted, and the revenge on the ex and Brittany. She's smart and beautiful but she was NOT loved by anyone, not even her own family. She only had good friends, one died, one despised her, as a result to her manipulation.
She became an actress but in a silly tv show. And she had to move in with her own mother who couldn't spell her name correctly. What so great about her success?
Besides, she cried only in her private while no one is watching.
Remember Mr.A, the English/drama teacher gave brittany a scenerio in the acting class>>> what would you do when you're alone in your own room with door closed, curtains drawn?

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[–] pcqgod 16 years ago

The key to the final scene is the inteview of the school shooter (briefly referred to earlier in the movie), one of the things Evan Rachel Woods' character focuses on while flipping through channels along with the footage from the "ooh la la, I dropped my baguette" show.

HOLLY DON'T

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[–] intimidating-sheep 15 years ago

I might be the only one, but I was not sure if she was crying out of remorse, or out of joy. It was her first time seeing her acting career take off. I was not sure if she felt accomplished or if she finally grew a concience.

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