Regardless of how you feel about her, she was a victim. She was betrayed by her husband and his reckless behavior.
That being said there were two things the show did that I thought put her in a more sympathetic light than she actually deserved. First her crying in front of Bill, or anybody for that matter is not something I could ever see her doing in this spot. Maybe a little angry cry as she was screaming at him, but not the actual wailing she did. After he left the room and she was alone maybe, but she wouldn't let Bill she her so vulnerable. And second she wasn't mad enough about what it did to her political future. She did talk about them being a team, which did suggest their marriage was as much about political gain as it was love. And how he just sank both of their futures. But really she was only talking about her own. She had the dream of being the first female president, but she was smart enough to know that she needed him with her to achieve that. But now he was toxic to everyone around him. Both of her presidential campaigns and Al Gores were negatively affected by their associations with Bill Clinton.
Something the show did well was make it uncertain how much she truly knew about her husbands past infidelities. Most likely she knew that some of them were true, but ultimately they were harmless to her or their future, and no matter how much their enemies tried to use them, nothing would ever stick.
Monica was different though. I think she truly 100% believed it was completely untrue. Maybe it was the fact that Bill was willing to give a deposition and deny it. Or that Monica herself signed the affidavit. But then it could have been that she wanted to believe that no matter how much of a philanderer her husband may have been, even he had limits. And an intern who was barely older than his own daughter would have been over the line for him.
reply
share