I hate Bernice
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Olivine — 20 years ago(September 09, 2005 02:02 AM)
I agree with you freefall79, I considered the part where the father drives off one of the highlights. Bernice was just so selfish, she really must have taken after her father genetically. I didn't find her a loveable little girl.
"It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail." Gore Vidal -
smiley692 — 20 years ago(September 10, 2005 04:32 PM)
I can tell you have never had to comfort a child after their parents are going through a divorce. I think you must be pretty cold hearted not to feel sympathy for the character Bernice. When my nephews were going through the trauma of their parents divorce they acted out a lot. If you notice in the end Bernice is happy. You know she has learned to trust again with her love.
" This is my happy face " -
Olivine — 20 years ago(September 12, 2005 12:41 AM)
I watched this movie last night again and I watched Bernice intently. Yes she is a fantastic actor and I like her for most of the movie, but I just don't understand the animosity that she feels for her mother before the 'father driving away and leaving her screaming' scene. It was interesting that Birdie just let it happen so that Bernice could see what a scoundrel her father was. I thought that was really good.
I know that she is mostly a nice little girl and slightly mistrustful, and protective of her mother (regarding Justin) but I just didn't like those scenes where she hurt Birdie and tried to make out as if it was Birdie's fault. Surely Bernice would know, young as she is, that her father ran off and betrayed her mother with some tart.
"It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail." Gore Vidal -
anuck_su_namoon — 20 years ago(September 26, 2005 02:36 AM)
I doubt a young child would understand why her dad was gone. The only thing Bernise would have understood was that her father wasn't there, and that it was her mother who moved them away. Naturally she would have lashed out at her mother.
I don't see how anyone could say that Mae Whitman is a horrible actress. Any girl that could pull of the character Bernise as well as Mae should be praised.
~ Tina x0
http://mae-whitman.tk- Simply Mae
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texasturkey — 17 years ago(July 12, 2008 10:09 PM)
Bernice was a brat and so disrespectful to Justin. I felt bad for her when she got picked on at school for wearing glasses. Maybe that is one of the reasons she acted out. She was unhappy abou the divorce and moving to Texas.
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selphee57 — 20 years ago(January 07, 2006 05:31 PM)
It's really pretty simple if you ask me. She has the animosity towards her mother b/c her mother is still there obviously. She's really angry with her father but he leaves and she can't let him know so her mother is the one stuck with the animosity and cleaning up the father's mess. It happens to families all the time. The one parent that is still around gets all of the blame and yet is the one that cleans up the other's mess. You can't take it out on the parent you're truly mad at if they're not around to hear itso you vent on the person that is.
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susana1027 — 15 years ago(September 05, 2010 08:09 PM)
Selphee57, you have a lot of understanding. Children of divorced parents typically show anger toward the parent they know will love them no matter what. The one they're the most secure with. We're talking about children. They only know their life is out of their control, and they hate it. They're confused and unhappy and angry. They just want the problem fixed. They often try to get their parents back together. And they need to be shown a lot of patience. Divorce is cruel. But some people are selfish and only think about their own happiness. Remember when Birdie's husband said that this was his chance for happiness and he was going to take it. He obviously didn't care who got hurt in the process. How do you explain that to a child? This film did an excellent job of showing, among other things, the child's side of divorce.
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JoanTheVampireSlayer — 11 years ago(December 23, 2014 12:11 AM)
Yes she is a fantastic actor and I like her for most of the movie, but I just don't understand the animosity that she feels for her mother before the 'father driving away and leaving her screaming' scene.
Her hatred towards her mother came down to misplaced animosity and denial. She wanted to believe her mother was to blame for her dad leaving because that was easier to accept than the truth that her dad
chose
to remove himself from her life because he didn't love her enough. Bernice had her fantasies that her dad would come "rescue" her from her "evil" mother and then that dream was crushed when her dad abandoned her while she was begging to take him with her. Bernice had expectations for her father that she desperately wanted him to meet because she didn't want to lose him. Until that moment when he drove away while she was crying, Bernice hadn't experienced her father blatantly disregarding her feelings. She needed to have that experience in order to put into perspective who was really being the bad parent.
I know I'm a vampire, Snookie. -
g-parsons3 — 19 years ago(May 30, 2006 09:31 AM)
I don't hate Bernice, it's only natural for a child to blame someone, anyone - even if its the closest person to you in your life. They need someone to lash out at, even if it was the parent who did nothing wrong. And Mae Whitman did a fantastic job! How a 10year old actress can do the scene where her dad is driving away from her for the last time is beyond me. She did that scene perfectly, and it even made me weep a little. And I rarely cry in films.
10/10 this film wasSANDRA BULLOCK was amazing! As was Harry Connick Jr. -
lillyth_1 — 18 years ago(September 09, 2007 03:35 PM)
Divorce or no divorce had my child acted like that she would have been slapped upside the head. I wasn't saddened by the final scene, I wanted to smack her because they had made her SO very unappealing.
There is also this sentiment we have that somehow all children are precious little wonders. Hitler was a child once
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contact3-1 — 19 years ago(July 20, 2006 11:44 AM)
That scene where she is screaming out for her dad gave me chills because she was trembling which made it so believable. And yes, while the character of Bernice was a bit of a brat with an attitude, I just wanted to hug her and calm her down when her father drove away. Very few moments where I am moved by a child's acting, and this was one of them.
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cheluzal — 19 years ago(July 22, 2006 08:02 PM)
She annoys me.
I know she's grieving and needs an outlet, but she was completely disrespectful to her mom. So much that she needed some discipline at times.
Cursing is a crutch for the communicationally-challenged.