I'm pretty new here and I am no where near as familiar with the Godfather things and Godfather-related things as anyone else here. I guess my comments on this come strickly from an observer's point of view.

Back in the days when Kay and Michael lived, there was an intense taboo on abortion--not just in the Catholic Church, but in society in general. It seems to me that Kay was afraid of how their marriage and lifestyle was going. Remember when Connie came running into their house as they were preparing to move and accused Michael of killing Carlo. And at the end when the bodyguards took Connie away hysterical, Kay asks Michael about his "business". At first he gets extremely angry and refuses to answer her. Then, probably realizing that there were serious questions in Kay's mind, he relents and allows her one question--to which he replies with a lie. Her face was covered with relief and peace because had his answer been the truth, she knew she would be faced with the unthinkable: divorce in an Italian (mob, nonetheless!)Catholic family--unthinkable--at least in my family. An abortion is a total "anathema" in an Italian family--especially an old-fashioned Catholic one.

So, after this relieving response from Michael, and then she leaves his office and observes these men showing homage to him as the Don, the look on her face tells us that she then realizes what a farce not just her marriage is, but the whole lifestyle of this family. She knew that her marriage and lifestyle with Michael was a lie and said as much during her fight with Michael when she admitted that she had had an abortion. She said something to him like: "I knew that you could never forgive me for an abortion...not with this Sicilian thing!" That is when he slapped her. And, I think slapped her into reality--that he could very well kill her if angered enough--AND if she managed to step over the right lines in the sand. When he yelled at her that she would never take his children from her, she realized then, the gravity of the situation she caused. There was no way Kay would ever get custody of her children and there was no way Michael could ever forgive her.

The other scene which shows us that Kay hadn't really realized how Michael's reaction would be so completely far-reaching was when she had to sneak into the house to visit with her children. The look on Michael's face when he saw her--a cold, unmoving, emotionless, a stare that went right through her like an icicle thrust through her heart...and then the door shuts very quietly in her face as she lets out a little cry behind the door. Now that is one heck of an emotional scene. And all the while with her children within earshot of what was going on.

I think she wanted to get out of the marriage, but never dreamed that she would be so completely outside the family. I think she thought Michael's love for her was greater than her interpretation of his loyalty to his familglia was. In reality, no Italian husband would have allowed her back into the family--especially while the children were young. At least, none of the uncles, grandfather, friends, etc., in my family would have ever done.

~~ Lolly

P.S. I hope this didn't sound like I was rambling--it sounds like that to me....

Of course there was no chance that he'd forgive her, that's why I can't agree with GF3 plot. And he'd never give children to her.
But I have to disagree with one point, that she realized smth. seeing homage, except that he lied her that he didn't kill Carlo. She knew pretty well whom she is marrying, she chose him and that style of living with her eyes open. She just didn't know that Carlo helped to get Sonny killed, so she was shocked realizing that he could kill his sister's husband. In the book Tom later explains her why Mike was obliged to kill him.

Well said Lollie

Like you mentioned, abortion back then, Are you kidding me? Unthinkable.

Nice job by Pacino conveying that anger into one long stare...with his eyes bulging out.

Well, I believe what she did is unthinkable in itself and time has nothing to do with it. Just consider - nowadays your wife comes to you and says: "Honey, I happen to hate you since the other evening when you forgot about one promise you gave me, that's why I made abortion secretly. I killed your son deliberately to give you pain, so eat it." And what will you - thank her?

Can anyone tell me how you copy part of the previous post so that you can put it into your reply post? That seems like a really good thing to know how to do as none of the posts have numbers on them to indicate which one is which.

As far as "JustMe" said, I agree wholeheartedly. I just didn't want to get into any kind of heated discussion on abortion--you know, it is one of those subjects that can fire up a nice conversation in a nanosecond!

Putting our own personal view aside, the times in which we are encountering the story is a very conservative social setting. I can tell you from my own experience in my family that nothing is more important to the father of the family than his children. His children are more important than his wife--not that he doesn't love her and that he's not devoted to her--he is, but children are on a whole other level. Part of that attitude comes from most Italians being Catholic back then (and even now to some degree), and the Italian culture itself. To go to Rome today is a very different experience than what you would expect. It is very frowned upon for women to wear skimpy clothing--especially around the Vatican. In the Island country of Malta, just off the Italian coast, (another very Catholic country) women aren't allowed to wear sleeveless blouses! I have a friend who is Maltan and has visited family there on many occasions. She told me some things that were just outrageous--that is, from an American perspective! Police would arrest a woman if she were to wear those short-shorts or if she showed any kind of cleavage. Again, this is coming to you second-hand.

Anyway, to announce to your Mafioso husband who happens to also be the main Don, who thnks he is a very devout Catholic (very clever scenes in the Church when Michael is standing Godfather for Connie's baby boy and the shots of the Don's men killing the enemies of Don Michael! Just shows how utterly contradictory the two images are! And, believe it or not, those gangsters really believed that they were not sinning when they killed other people! You know, you can convince yourself of anything if you want something badly enough.

~~ Lolly

Lollie,

Do you see the quotation marks at the top right? Well just click on that and a reply message box will come up with the quote from the post you are quoting.


Don Cardi