MovieChat Forums > All Good Things (2010) Discussion > What Katie did wrong.

What Katie did wrong.

posted 12 years ago by bpollen
5 replies | jump to latest

First off, it's likely that mealy mouth sob killed poor Katie. And she certainly didn't deserve that. But I was surprised at a couple of things she did that, had she chosen a different course, it may not have led to the awful result that happened.

First..she stayed after he beat her up. And that wasn't the first time he'd attacked her. She even knew by then he wasn't a nice guy who had just flown off the handle. She definitely knew he had a dark violent side. Yet, she stayed.

Second...she stayed to try to get money out of him. There was a point when she could have left w/o any money. Staying with an abuser out of fear is bad enough, but to stay to try to get money instead of walking away, isn't the smartest thing in the world. I know it'd be hard to do, and she'd have a problem paying for school. But staying to endure being beaten up so you can finish with school? Like he was going to pay for her school then let her walk free to have a wonderful life as a doctor and make a lot of money on her own? No way. He'd confirmed that she married him for money, and now was staying just so he'd pay for her school, after which she'd leave him, after using him.

Third...she tried to get revenge by mailing in the books. And then she mailed them to the wrong person. Naive for a smart woman going to med. school. Her situation was dire enough that what difference did the illegal activities matter, in teh scheme of things? It was just for revenge, and they were too powerful a family for her to get revenge. Bad move. It's possible he killed her to show his family he was not weak and that he'd handled the situation. (remember that when his brother is telling David they're moving his office, after the book mailing incident with the wife, etc., and the father remarks to David that he's weak.)

[–] Cinderling 11 years ago

blame the victim not the sociopathic murderer.

[–] raceface 11 years ago

The biggest mistake was marrying david marks!

[–] BelleCBelle 11 years ago

I agree!

Human Rights: Know Them, Demand Them, Defend Them

[–] SheHawGol84 11 years ago

I sort of agree. She isn't responsible for what he did the first time but if she's going to stick around because of money??!! You wouldn't stay in a house that was on fire would you? Same thing people!!

[–] bite_me_loser_86 9 years ago

I am surprised that in this day and age people still don't understand the psychology of the battered woman. It's been studied pretty thoroughly.
She stayed after he beat her up because by then she was depended on him, emotionally as well as financially (she had a coke addiction and his money paid for it) As you might remember, she did try to leave a few times, but he pulled her back in. This is extremely common in domestic violence. The violence doesn't start right away in the relationship, I it often starts with more subtle emotional abuse which undermines the victim's self esteem and self-worth to the point where she is too weak and insecure to actually leave when the first slap/punch comes. A lot of times they have been driven to isolate themselves from family and friends (remember how David dragged her away from the family gathering, he couldn't stand to see her happy and smiling and laughing with her family) and a lot of times the only person left who is close to hem is the abuser.
After the first beating the abuser is typically very remorseful, apologizes, promises it will never happen again and that he will make up for it. But then it almost always happens again and again. It tends to escalate more and more with more physical injuries and in some cases even death. This is a common pattern and few abuse victims walk away after the first time and even fewer actually stay away.
You have to understand that this is a process and that abuse victims often times have been brainwashed to not see themselves, the abuser and the abuse the way we see it from the outside. The victim will oftentimes blame herself and convince herself that if only she becomes a better wife and doesn't make him mad he will stop hitting her.
It's not that abuse victims who stay are 'stupid'. It's that they have been brainwashed and emotionally manipulated to the point where they make excuses for their abuser and blame themselves.