{"id":278637,"date":"2025-06-19T09:25:43","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T09:25:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/19\/life-liberty-and-all-the-rest-of-it-reading\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T17:08:01","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T17:08:01","slug":"life-liberty-and-all-the-rest-of-it-reading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/19\/life-liberty-and-all-the-rest-of-it-reading\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cLife, Liberty, and All the Rest of It\u201d: Reading\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Where Kaye, her \u200b\u201c<\/span>prop\u00ader\u201d WASP-wife ana\u00adlogue, is a\u00a0blonde, col\u00adlege-edu\u00adcat\u00aded school teacher who (at least at the out\u00adset) loves Michael uncon\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adly, embody\u00ading both famil\u00adial inno\u00adcence and a \u200b\u201c<\/span>New World\u201d kind of fem\u00adi\u00adnine con\u00adsumeris\u00adtic con\u00adtent\u00adment (she\u2019s shown buy\u00ading Christ\u00admas presents, orga\u00adniz\u00ading trips, going to the the\u00adater, get\u00adting ready to set\u00adtle down with Michael),\u00a0<\/span>To Die For\u00a0<\/i>goes out of its way to stress that Suzanne is only par\u00adtial\u00adly edu\u00adcat\u00aded (\u201cjunior col\u00adlege\u201d her father reluc\u00adtant\u00adly admits), and anti-mater\u00adnal, a\u00a0seduc\u00ader of school chil\u00addren, a\u00a0would-be work\u00ading woman des\u00adtined to fail\u00adure by her own van\u00adi\u00adty and shal\u00adlow\u00adness. As the pre\u00advi\u00adous quote sug\u00adgests, many reviews con\u00adtin\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly empha\u00adsized Suzanne\u2019s lack of intel\u00adli\u00adgence \u2013 or, per\u00a0<\/span>Nation\u00adal Review<\/i>, \u200b\u201c<\/span>just the right amount of dumb\u00adness\u201d \u2013 and it\u2019s this dimwit\u00adted\u00adness, paired with an overde\u00advel\u00adoped sense of elit\u00adist enti\u00adtle\u00adment, that leads to Suzanne\u2019s ulti\u00admate demise. \u200b\u201c<\/span>Vague\u00adly fem\u00adi\u00adnist emo\u00adtions stir in my breast,\u201d David Den\u00adby wrote of this aspect of Suzanne\u2019s char\u00adac\u00adter (some\u00adwhat iron\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly giv\u00aden his own misog\u00ady\u00adnis\u00adtic descrip\u00adtion of the char\u00adac\u00adter),<\/span>\u00a0<\/i>\u200b\u201c<\/span>Hen\u00adry and Van Sant have hal\u00adlowed [her] out, as if an ambi\u00adtious dri\u00adven woman need\u00aded to be exposed as a\u00a0jerk. What would hap\u00adpen if \u200b\u201c<\/span>Matt Dil\u00adlon were the ambi\u00adtious one?\u201d he asks. Well, he might have been Michael Corleone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the same time, Suzanne is no Kaye either. While Kaye\u2019s WASPy puri\u00adty and inno\u00adcence frame her as a\u00a0poten\u00adtial oasis of all-Amer\u00adi\u00adcan\u00adness for Michael, Suzanne\u2019s sur\u00adface-lev\u00adel sim\u00adi\u00adlar\u00adi\u00adties to Kaye are framed as a\u00a0ster\u00adile trap for Lar\u00adry. \u200b\u201c<\/span>She\u2019s so pure and del\u00adi\u00adcate\u201d Lar\u00adry ini\u00adtial\u00adly mar\u00advels, com\u00adpar\u00ading her looks to a\u00a0frag\u00adile chi\u00adna doll, \u200b\u201c<\/span>You just have to look at her and you wan\u00adna take care of her the rest of your life.\u201d But Suzanne doesn\u2019t\u00a0<\/span>want<\/i> Larry\u2019s care, she wants inde\u00adpen\u00addence and suc\u00adcess, and she will kill to get it, despi\u00adca\u00adble in part because the movie posits she was nev\u00ader smart enough to make it. When Lar\u00adry asks whether she wants kids, Suzanne spits, \u200b\u201c<\/span>If you want\u00aded a\u00a0babysit\u00adter you should\u2019ve mar\u00adried Mary Pop\u00adpins.\u201d She\u2019s bewitch\u00ading, but dead\u00adly, a\u00a0fem\u00adi\u00adnine mon\u00adster who\u2019s repeat\u00aded\u00adly asso\u00adci\u00adat\u00aded with witch\u00ades through cuts to\u00a0<\/span>Bell, Book and Can\u00addle<\/i> on TV<\/span> in the back\u00adground and the use of Donovan\u2019s \u200b\u2018<\/span>Sea\u00adson of the Witch\u2019 at the film\u2019s con\u00adclu\u00adsion. Like a\u00a0witch who enchants men for her own pur\u00adpos\u00ades, Suzanne is hyper-per\u00adfor\u00adma\u00adtive and \u00fcber-prag\u00admat\u00adic, using the racist, clas\u00adsist, elit\u00adist log\u00adics of tele\u00advi\u00adsion as her yard\u00adstick for\u00a0life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Suzanne views her doll-like \u200b\u201c<\/span>ice queen\u201d beau\u00adty as a\u00a0means to an end, weaponiz\u00ading her sta\u00adtus as an avatar for the tele\u00advi\u00adsu\u00adal benef\u00adi\u00adcence Kaye types typ\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly rep\u00adre\u00adsent. She reli\u00adgious\u00adly pre\u00adserves her pal\u00adlor (or her \u200b\u201c<\/span>pure\u201d white\u00adness in con\u00adtrast to what she calls the \u200b\u201c<\/span>eth\u00adnic\u201d dis\u00adad\u00advan\u00adtages of anchors like Con\u00adnie Chung), con\u00adstant\u00adly tries to lose the five pounds the cam\u00adera adds, and wears her pas\u00adtel miniskirts and kit\u00adten heels like an army uni\u00adform, no mat\u00adter how schlub\u00adbi\u00adly her cowork\u00aders may dress for the office. She tells every\u00adone around her to \u200b\u201c<\/span>opti\u00admize\u201d them\u00adselves to \u200b\u201c<\/span>suc\u00adceed,\u201d and final\u00adly uses \u200b\u201c<\/span>trail\u00ader trash\u201d teens to kill Lar\u00adry. Lack\u00ading the excus\u00ades Michael has for his actions, she weaponizes the famil\u00adiar nar\u00adra\u00adtive true crime tropes her Kaye-like exte\u00adri\u00ador offers \u2013 inno\u00adcence and vic\u00adtim\u00adiza\u00adtion \u2013 turn\u00ading them on her hus\u00adband and draw\u00ading the cam\u00aderas she so des\u00adper\u00adate\u00adly craves in the process. \u200b\u201c<\/span>Who are they gonna believe?\u201d she asks prim\u00adly, \u200b\u201c<\/span>I come from a\u00a0good fam\u00adi\u00adly.\u201d One review put it this way:\u00a0\u200b\u201c<\/span>What jury would con\u00advict such an attrac\u00adtive and pop\u00adu\u00adlar TV<\/span> weath\u00ader girl? (ask O.J., he\u2019ll tell\u00a0you).\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Only Larry\u2019s sis\u00adter, Jan\u00adice (Illeana Dou\u00adglas), sees through this del\u00adi\u00adcate fa\u00e7ade, call\u00ading Suzanne \u200b\u201c<\/span>an ice queen\u201d and \u200b\u201c<\/span>a four let\u00adter word: C\u2011O-L\u2011D, cold.\u201d Where Michael Corleone\u2019s sig\u00adna\u00adture cold\u00adness is pre\u00adsent\u00aded as an exten\u00adsion of the Amer\u00adi\u00adcan cap\u00adi\u00adtal\u00adist imper\u00ada\u00adtive, Suzanne\u2019s sta\u00adtus as an \u200b\u201c<\/span>ice queen\u201d is pre\u00adsent\u00aded as a\u00a0mon\u00adstrous exten\u00adsion of that all-Amer\u00adi\u00adcan medi\u00adum of \u200b\u201c<\/span>New World\u201d moder\u00adni\u00adty, tele\u00advi\u00adsion. In this sense, Suzanne\u2019s rel\u00ada\u00adtive \u200b\u201c<\/span>cold\u00adness\u201d is her defin\u00ading char\u00adac\u00adter\u00adis\u00adtic and the prin\u00adci\u00adple that uni\u00adfies the film\u2019s themes \u2013 as Mar\u00adshall McLuhan sug\u00adgests, tele\u00advi\u00adsion is a\u00a0<\/span>cool<\/i> medi\u00adum, mes\u00admer\u00adic and pas\u00adsi\u00adfy\u00ading, and, icy though she may be, it\u2019s her \u200b\u201c<\/span>avid\u00adi\u00adty,\u201d her pas\u00adsion\u00adate desire to make it (her fail\u00adure to tru\u00adly embody Michael\u2019s busi\u00adnesslike \u200b\u201c<\/span>New World\u201d men\u00adtal\u00adi\u00adty) that fails her. \u200b\u201c<\/span>She looks very frag\u00adile and del\u00adi\u00adcate right?\u201d Lar\u00adry tells Jan\u00adice when they start dat\u00ading, \u200b\u201c<\/span>But when we\u2019re\u2013 when I\u2019m\u2026 the details are too graph\u00adic, but she\u2019s like a\u00a0volcano.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n