Supplemental Post 3: Presley Wilson

I agree with LaPlace's reading of Now, Voyager as an assertion of female independence, yet I wish she had asserted that independence more in the final scene. For me, certain dialogue diminished her own and Tina's journey and positioned her as still dependent on, and striving for, male affection.  I'm happy the love between them won't die, and that she still loves him. And I respect the fact that she may never marry for that reason alone. But to diminish her and Tina's bond as a pathetic attempt to stay close to the father almost ruins the movie for me. Instead of explaining to Jerry that, (1) although she still loves him, her relationship with Tina is now independent of that love, which it is, and (2) that she is content with being single, which she is, she asserts,  it's "like having your child, a part of you. And I even let myself indulge in the fantasy that after a while, if I could get her to love me, that it would be like having your child- a part of you". This, for me, detracts from the bond set up between Charlotte and Tina, as if Charlotte only loved Tina as a means to get to Jerry. I love the scene in general and think some amazing dialogue is exchanged between the two. The ending lines, of course, are iconic. A few lines later, you think this is redeemed when Jerry holds her and she asks "Please let me go. Please let me go". I read this as having a double meaning, especially because immediately after she explains that the doctor knows about their previous romance and will take Tina away if anything is to continue. But then she states "I'll loose Tina... and we'll loose each other". Again, prefacing it in this way diminishes her and Tina's relationship, as if Jerry is still the most important thing to her. I respect their mutual decision to "keep this little strip of territory between us", yet I wish she strongly asserted her ability to be independent and her independent love of Tina.