Okay, we know that Catholics view abortions as a sin, but can you really blame Kay?? She didn't want her unborn son to be brought up in world full of turmoil, and especially didn't want her next little Andy or Antonio to be the next Mob Boss. Could you still Forgive her??

No, I don't blame Kay, never did.

And although it's really not my place or anyone else's except for Michael to 'forgive' her (which is a silly concept anyway since they're both fictional characters), I do understand her motives and feel that under the circumstances in which she found herself and her children...she made the right decision in aborting that baby.

Apple

Hmmmm. I also understand her motives, but let's not forget two things here : 1) She married this man fully knowing what him and his family were all about. Yes he promised that he would "legitimize" the family business, but deep down she still knew what kind of people that they were. 2) Let's not forget that this took place in a different day then we are living in. We are thinking about this with a minset of todays world, but in reality, this took place in different times, a time when it was not an accepted practice to abort a child, especially in an Italian family.

As for Michaels' mindset, he was what we would now call old fashioned in his thinking because of the Italian upbringing and the times that he and Kay were living in. That is why he totally shut her off when he learned bout the abortion. Now jump to GFIII, a more modern time than Michael was brought up in. His thinking changed as he was now living in a different time, he was also looking for forgiveness, and he eventually found it in his heart to forgive Kay. Two different eras, two different mindsets.


Don Cardi

Hmmmm. I also understand her motives, but let's not forget two things here : 1) She married this man fully knowing what him and his family were all about. Yes he promised that he would "legitimize" the family business, but deep down she still knew what kind of people that they were. 2) Let's not forget that this took place in a different day then we are living in. We are thinking about this with a minset of todays world, but in reality, this took place in different times, a time when it was not an accepted practice to abort a child, especially in an Italian family.

As for Michaels' mindset, he was what we would now call old fashioned in his thinking because of the Italian upbringing and the times that he and Kay were living in. That is why he totally shut her off when he learned bout the abortion. Now jump to GFIII, a more modern time than Michael was brought up in. His thinking changed as he was now living in a different time, he was also looking for forgiveness, and he eventually found it in his heart to forgive Kay. Two different eras, two different mindsets.


Don Cardi

All true. But I think through her love and faith in Michael, Kay really did believe he was NOT like the rest of the family and would succeed in changing the course of things. Of course several years and two children later she came to the realization that this would go on and on and therefore made the decision to NOT bring another innocent baby into that kind of life. It was the right decision for Kay. Maybe not for Michael, but it was for Kay.\

I'm not thinking about it with 'today's mindset', and never did. I am fully aware of the mindset of the times in which Kay and Michael lived. Which emphasizes that this would probably have been an extremely difficult decision for her to make...and one that she had to feel was the best one for her to follow through with it.

Speaking of 'mindsets', though...does anyone think, that had abortion not been a legal, commonplace and accepted form of birth control by the time this film was made, would this have even been written into GFII????

Best,
Apple

Excellent question Apple! I would have to think that had abortion been illegal when the movie was made, they would have never written that scene in. But now the question is, what do you write in place of that situation that would still cause Michael to despise her?


Don Cardi

Okay, so let's say that abortion was legal back then like today, I still think that Michael would have reacted the same way. Catholics have and always will frown upon a woman getting an abortion. So I still believe that Michael would have acted the same way. I still don't blame Kay for doing what she did, but I still would have kept on the "down low" and not tell anyone -- unless she told him because she thought that it was the only way to get out of the family -- interesting.

She killed his (their) son, you guys. How is that justifiable in any way? It doesn't matter what kind of life he would have ended up in, or what she thought she was "protecting" him from by killing him. She took it upon herself to go behind Michael's back and decide the fate of their child on her own. I find that disgusting and unacceptable. In answer to your question, then, MAH, yes, I can blame her.

Interesting question, Apple. Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973 and GFII was made in 1974, so it's impossible that the abortion issue didn't occlude on FFC's and others' consciousness at that time. BUT:
Well before Roe v. Wade, it was fairly easy for any American woman with enough money to obtain a reasonably competent medical abortion, either from a local doctor who was willing to take the money, or outside the US (like Mexico, Europe or the Caribbean) where abortion was legal or tolerated. I think FFC's point in that scene was to show an assertive, fed-up-to-the-teeth side of Kay that surprised us, and especially, Michael, and to set the stage for their estrangement.

You're certaintly entitled to your own opinion, but let's just say that she DID give birth to the baby and died just like Mary Corleone did. Would you save it and let it become part of the Corleone Borgata and "make it bones" knowing that it will go hell, or ironically save him from all of that??

This Thread is getting good.

My last post was directed to Letizia B.

On the other hand...

...by GFIII, when Kay and Michael are once again companions, do you think she regretted her abortion after seeing their two surviving children grow into successful young adults...

...even if the son's a finook opera dilettante and the daughter's bangin' her bastardo cugino?

Unlikely couple...Anthony Corleone and Vito Spatafore. I'm sorry...this is a good thread, but I couldn't help being a little bit sarcastic!

tony b.

LOL

I do blame her, not becuase of any moral questions in my head or anything, but because by Part 2, Kay had become an evil bitch.She went behind Michaels back and then kept it from him, only telling him at a time when it could hurt him most. You could argue that Mike lied to Kay all the time, but he lied about business, which had nothing to do with her. She lied to him about thier family.She had the aboution to hold something abouve him, sort of like "I can and will do this, and you cant stop me" sort of thing.

I've always felt that, had he allowed her to leave without a fight (which of course he would NEVER do)...Kay never intended to tell Michael about the abortion at all. It was only his prodding and finally patronizing mention of 'the miscarriage' that compelled Kay to admit the truth.

I don't think she had it for simply that reason...but true, it was pretty much the one thing she could do that he had no power over.

Apple

Sorry to say she is lucky Michael didnt kill her for that she got what she deserved and it wasnt much