It seems that everyone in Hollywood is immune to infidelity or at the very least they expect it to happen at one time or another. They put crap out about infidelity like it is a given that it will happen, like it has become part of the air that we breath.
Our one sister in law, who still belongs to the world of happy go lucky, dumb, and innocent, brings this movie over called “The Sentinel” telling us what a great movie it is etc. It stars Michael Douglas who is one of my favorite actors. The story is about a Secret Service man that took a bullet for Ragan back when he was president. He’s been in the SS all this time and is having an affair with the current first lady. The story unwinds as there is mole within the agency and an assignation plot to kill the president. Everyone in the agency is ordered to take a lie detector test and the agent played by Michael Douglas can’t pass a lie detector test because of his affair with the first lady. Seems the question was, “have you done anything to break protocol?” Mike gets blamed and becomes a target of his own agency. Long story short, Mike figures it all out and saves the president and gets all these high fives going out the door as a well respected hero. Never mind that he put other officer’s lives and the reputation of the agency in jeopardy by having an affair with the first lady. Never mind that some agents were killed and injured because of this nonsense. Never mind the scandal that it would cause the president. Never mind the pain.
This is a great suspense movie for the dumb and innocent. But the problem is that the dumb and innocent are being directed by Hollywood and TV to accept infidelity as a part of everyday life, that everyone is doing it, that it is ok to have an affair. They never show you the consequences.
Infidelity is drama, and Hollywood and TV take "real-life" drama and blow it up huge. When I watched "The Sentinel", I was thinking about consequences. At least they showed consequences...that lying gets you in even deeper, that maybe some people die as a result. The only problem I see is that "happy endings" seem to be required in movies and shows, so in that way the consequences of bad choices always seem to be minimized.
I still think art imitates life...that the storytellers take real-life stuff and make it into a good story. I'm fairly sure that more than one man has had an affair with the boss' wife. It becomes "a good story" when the boss is the President, I guess.
For what it's worth, almost 8 years removed from d-day.
I used to get upset about A's in the movies, but I am calming down a bit. I think it is better that they show there are consequences instead of the "happily ever-after" bull they dish out most of teh time. At least that is more like real life. And like I said before "didnt any of these guys ever see Fatal Attraction"?
More than the movies script, it seems the actors are the ones who are carrying over from the movies into real life! They are the ones caught up in the drama. They are away from home filming intimate scenes and getting close to their costars...along with the isolation of the set, the intensity of their scenes, and the fact that the spouse is out of sight and out of mind only pushes these people even closer together. Of course they could stop themsleves, but then there would be nothing dramatic about that then would there?
Most recent Hollywood split...Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillipe. I thought for sure those two had something special...and maybe they did...but he threw it all away for a costar 10 years his junior because he cant handle the fact that his wife makes more money than he does. Now that is drama isnt it? <tisk, tisk>
Read the book, never saw the movie. The book seems to count the wife as "noble" for having stayed with the good, solid husband after the affair died off. The dramatic device there was that the whole family discovered the affair long afterward. That's just sad; the wife made the right choice keeping it to herself when she decided to stay.
Keeping it to herself was the right answer. She corrected her mistake; she put OM out of her life and lived out her marriage until she died.
She lived a lie for a while, then she got her bearings and straightened out. Divorce or separation never ensued. The family lived on, and she dealt with her own feelings without dumping them out on her H.
If we assume that she became "the good wife" again, who's hurt by her non-disclosure?
When I first found out back in july 02 I had to know everything.
This time I don't want to know a thing at all.....it just hurts too much and I have to carry the lie along with her to the children.
Ignorance is bliss
I cannot agree that there should not be disclosure of an A. The BS has a right to know and make a decision based on truth as to whether or not they want to continue with a marriage in which they have been betrayed. It is keeping a secret and that is never good in a marriage. Yes, disclosure would have stirred the pot, but is it fair she not suffer any consequences for her actions? Although this appears to be a "noble" act, it is actually a purely selfish one. She didnt want her husbands feelings to change for her nor did she want the loss of the marriage. She was preserving her marriage and preserving the fantasy of the OM at the same time (cake woman). Even though the A does not continue in the physical sense, it does continues in her heart for many years after he is gone because it was not disclosed. She took on the same type of thinking as many, many WS's do "What they don't know won't hurt them". We all know that way of thinking is not accurate and somewhat askew.
Take Care...Carol~
EDITED TO ADD:
I only saw the movie and did not read the book. But my views about disclosure are not based on the movie, but based on being a BS. Some BS's may feel different and of course that is their right.
This message has been edited by pizzalady on Nov 9, 2006 4:25 PM This message has been edited by pizzalady on Nov 9, 2006 10:36 AM
