100 Kick-Ass Female Characters: #69
69. Kym, as seen in the film Rachel Getting Married, portrayed by Anne Hathaway
As I've mentioned, I enjoy messy characters. I especially enjoy characters who have done something so "evil" that it colors the way people look at them for the rest of their lives, no matter how far they get from the person they were when it happened. It makes for an interesting story and, more importantly, an interesting study in people.
Kym is a former model and a recently sober addict. As the movie starts, Kym is literally leaving rehab in order to attend her sister Rachel's wedding. She is just barely sober, just barely holding on by her fingertips, and the last thing she wants is to walk into a room full of people who are well aware of every mistake she's ever made. More importantly, she knows Rachel does not particularly want her there, but, as they are family, they are trying to put on a good front. What we don't learn until later in the film is the reason the family, Rachel, and especially Kym herself hate Kym: when Kym was high and in charge of her little brother, she crashed her car and her brother drowned. Just the invocation of his name during a speech at the rehearsal dinner brings the room to a stand still, and Kym knows she is never going to escape it, is never going to able to explain how deep her guilt and self-hatred run. She fights with Rachel and her mother, a fight which ends in Kym and her mother striking each other, and that fight is never resolved. At the end of the film, Kym must return to rehab to finish her stay, but Rachel rushes to hug her goodbye, the beginning of repairing their relationship.
What I love about Kym is she well-aware of how badly she has fucked up, but she doesn't know how to make it better. How can you make it better? And though she has avoided responsibility for her addictions in the past, Kym is finally read to accept responsibility but also wants her mother to admit that she should never have left her brother with Kym, knowing Kym was already abusing drugs. Kym is trying, flawed though it may be, and, while it can be extremely uncomfortable to watch, it's necessary. Kym is a character who has sinned in the worst way a person can, but she is trying to crawl back from it, trying to make her way back to her family and the support she so desperately needs. It would be easy to quit, to overdose and end her life, but Kym wants to make amends, wants a family again.
And that is heartbreakingly kick-ass.
As I've mentioned, I enjoy messy characters. I especially enjoy characters who have done something so "evil" that it colors the way people look at them for the rest of their lives, no matter how far they get from the person they were when it happened. It makes for an interesting story and, more importantly, an interesting study in people.
Kym is a former model and a recently sober addict. As the movie starts, Kym is literally leaving rehab in order to attend her sister Rachel's wedding. She is just barely sober, just barely holding on by her fingertips, and the last thing she wants is to walk into a room full of people who are well aware of every mistake she's ever made. More importantly, she knows Rachel does not particularly want her there, but, as they are family, they are trying to put on a good front. What we don't learn until later in the film is the reason the family, Rachel, and especially Kym herself hate Kym: when Kym was high and in charge of her little brother, she crashed her car and her brother drowned. Just the invocation of his name during a speech at the rehearsal dinner brings the room to a stand still, and Kym knows she is never going to escape it, is never going to able to explain how deep her guilt and self-hatred run. She fights with Rachel and her mother, a fight which ends in Kym and her mother striking each other, and that fight is never resolved. At the end of the film, Kym must return to rehab to finish her stay, but Rachel rushes to hug her goodbye, the beginning of repairing their relationship.
What I love about Kym is she well-aware of how badly she has fucked up, but she doesn't know how to make it better. How can you make it better? And though she has avoided responsibility for her addictions in the past, Kym is finally read to accept responsibility but also wants her mother to admit that she should never have left her brother with Kym, knowing Kym was already abusing drugs. Kym is trying, flawed though it may be, and, while it can be extremely uncomfortable to watch, it's necessary. Kym is a character who has sinned in the worst way a person can, but she is trying to crawl back from it, trying to make her way back to her family and the support she so desperately needs. It would be easy to quit, to overdose and end her life, but Kym wants to make amends, wants a family again.
And that is heartbreakingly kick-ass.