Did Gil really love Cecilia?
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suckerdwsp316 — 19 years ago(August 24, 2006 07:10 PM)
deep down, i think he did love her, thats why he was so down on the airplane. however, i think his producers convinced him to leave, plus he probably convinced himself that his career is worth more than some poor broad from jersey.
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JR541 — 19 years ago(August 26, 2006 09:46 PM)
I doubt that he loved her at all. He certainly may have felt bad about deceiving her but he was more interested in making sure his acting career wasn't ruined.
He's taking the knife out of the Cheese!
Do you think he wants some cheese? -
maveric07777 — 19 years ago(December 06, 2006 06:36 PM)
I agree, he did love her but he wouldn't ruin his career for it.
The ending is really quite sad, but also one of the reasons why I really like the movie. On a side note, Jeff Daniels was awesome in this. Despite what he did, I think he is one of the most likeable characters I have ever seen in a movie. -
leopoldstotch911 — 19 years ago(December 10, 2006 07:36 PM)
I agree, he did love her, but loved his career more. Too bad, cause now she may have to go back to her husband, again.
Everyone I implore you to check this film out http://www.imdb.com/board/10015532/ -
jure-8 — 19 years ago(January 28, 2007 03:06 PM)
You don't have to worry. I have seen a version that is few minutes longer. Gil changes decision on the plane and demands plane to return for Cecilia. Right
after the last scene where she is watching Fred Astaire dancing he comes into the theatre and sits near her. They kiss. This is the right ending. I don't know why this shorter version became distributed more. -
GunHillTrain — 18 years ago(April 08, 2007 04:26 AM)
I think the existing ending makes sense.
When Gil and Cecilia meet, it's an interaction between a celebrity and a fan, not a natural meeting between two people. Cecilia showers him with flattery, and he initially responds to that. But she really doesn't know
him
per se; she only knows his movie roles and probably the publicity allowed by the film studio.
Gil may be intrigued by her at first but, since he is a professional actor, he figures out the difference between fantasy and reality faster than she does.
As the recently deceased Betty Hutton once said: "All four of my husbands fell in love with Betty Hutton; they didn't fall in love with me." -
tmg-39 — 18 years ago(April 11, 2007 02:03 PM)
great story, great characters, and so beautifully done.
someone here said that Tom loved Cecilia because it was written into his character. i loved that.
here's the way i see it:
i believe he also loved her because of the "life" given to him by Gil.
and it was probably that same part of Gil jimself that made him love her as well.
but there is a huge difference between the real and the symbol.
there could be no other ending to complete this story.
in real life, Gil and Cecilia could never be together. she had to choose reality, and she will probably go back to watching movies. for her, the movies represent escape. i like to believe that she leaves Monk, but i'm not completely sure of that. real people dont always change.
and Gil- i believe he really does love her, but being a real person he is not a "courageous poetic and romantic" soul. he is a coward, and he has a career to take care of. he will never forget her, but he'll also never fight to be with her.
and at the end of the movie, we really have to accept reality along with Cecilia.
and that is so perfect. -
GunHillTrain — 18 years ago(April 11, 2007 04:34 PM)
Actually, when I mentioned "written into his character," that's a quote from Tom himself. I forgot the exact context, but he was saying that he was an admirable person - almost the ideal man in fact - because his role was written that way. In some odd way he is aware that he is fictional.
I'm not sure Gil is particulary admirable, but he is not quite a coward either. My take on him is that he becomes aware that Cecilia's interest in him is more fan flattery than love. He sees that she is already obessed with Tom, his on-screen persona, on that must give him some doubts. If his ego wasn't so big he would have recognized this when he met her and not led her on.
There's a reason celebrities often date and marry other celebrities - not because of snobbery, but because these are the only people they can trust to see them as they really are. -
tmg-39 — 18 years ago(April 12, 2007 04:30 AM)
i agree.
there is a specific moment at the end of the scene at the music store. he is helping her with her coat while she is talking about Tom, and his face drops.
the real person is here, and she is (at this point) talking about the fictional as the real (even if she calls him fictional), and making Gil appear unreal.
kind of a tragic flaw. and when she finally makes up her mind, its all gone -
CitizenLen — 18 years ago(February 10, 2008 10:34 PM)
I think Gil loved the idea of Cecilia loving him. He loved the attention and admiration, but true love they are not. At the same token, Cecilia also loved the idea of this big celebrity star wisking her away from her dire domestic life. You see, there is "love" and there is "true love". True love is giving up everything that is important to you for that person, loving them despite their celebrity status, their flaws. The other side of love is the conditional love. Gil was "loving" Cecilia on the condition she would persuade Baxter to return, and Cecilia was "loving" Gil on the condition of him taking her to Hollywood. The only person who truly loved someone was Baxter loving Cecilia, hence he unconditionally gave up the real world and return to the celluloid screen for her. So the question is who did Cecilia really loved? We get to see her in the end, sad and alone, thinking that she was blinded by reality and the only thing that was truly real was the character Baxter.
Sometimes I wonder of Cecilia's state of mind. She strikes me as someone who is willing to go with any man just to get away from her husband. She was willing to go with Baxter but when the next best thing came along, she was willing to go with Gil. Cecilia is always waiting for something to happen in her life and when the best (Baxter) has happened to her she lost him to the "fake" person. What Woody is trying to convey is- Is love real? Is the love of Baxter, a movie character came to life, real or is the love of Gil, made of flesh and bones, real love? As we see, real true love was Baxter. And Cecilia was too gullible, naive and a bit greedy to realize that her actions resulted in the love she lost. -
james_gb — 18 years ago(February 17, 2008 05:25 PM)
I wouldn't attend a class taken by your professor - I don't think anyone could be sure on the matter and the evidence she cites is just banal. The plane scene suggests that Gil has some regrets about the affair but this could be the regret that he has put his career over his love for Cecilia or it could be that he is just sorry for messing her around to get what he wanted.
I would argue the answer is likely to be that Gil doesn't love Cecilia because the film contrasts fiction and reality and Allen is a pessimist about reality. The fictional Tom Baxter loves Cecilia in (for Allen) an unreal way. Cecilia chooses reality and thus can never have that kind of idealised love. For me the film is similar to Sullivan's Travels: a defence of the limitations of cinema because, even if escapism is an unreality, it cheers people up and offers them what real life can't grant them. -
Gloede_The_Saint — 17 years ago(December 06, 2008 10:15 AM)
Well that could just be your teacher over analyzing the film and making a fool of herself or she could have a valid point. Clearly you are right about the ending with him looking back at her and I guess he could have liked her and felt sorry for her, feeling like a douche too probably but if he loved her he wouldn't have left.
Somebody here has been drinking and I'm sad to say it ain't me - Allan Francis Doyle
Yeah right!