Little Rhoda Penmark is the epitome of class. She is overly ladylike, always impeccably dressed, will curtsy on any and all occasions, and is, to say the least, a very weird ass child. She's also prone to extremely violent outbursts and is most definitely a little girl that gets what she wants. She may have the body of an 8-year-old but has the malicious nature of a serial killer.
At a school picnic, a little boy is mysteriously drowned. Her mother prepares to give her that dreaded talk about death, but Rhoda is just fine with it and asks for a peanut butter sandwich and permission to go outside and roller skate. In front of most adults, Rhoda is the ideal perfectionist... blonde pigtails, frilly skirts, not a speck of dirt in sight, and suspiciously polite. Among a few certain other people though, she is the worst little bitch in the world and anyone watching is gonna feel the need to strangle her if it wasn't a movie.
We learn that Rhoda and the drowned kid were in an essay competition at school and the other kid won. Well, it's a bit of an understatement to say that Rhoda didn't take it well. She was seen picking on the winner and trying to steal his award medal at a school picnic. She's subsequently implicated in the drowning/murder of the little boy by a lot of people and for good reason.... she really is a cold and calculated killer.
She suspects that the handyman knows too much (they are mortal enemies) so she traps him in a toolshed and burns him alive. Rhoda's mother, who looks, acts, and dresses like Donna Reed, slowly starts learning more and more about her killer daughter. She finds the essay medal in Rhoda's room and like a protective mother she throws it over the pier close to where the boy drowned to cover for her. Mom also learns that she herself is adopted and that her real mother was a serial killer as cold as Rhoda.
Earlier in the movie, there is a discussion about violence and murder as being hereditary, hence the planting of the bad seed, evil from the very start. Mom isn't taking this new information well and decides to kill Rhoda with some pills and then shoots herself in the head. Both survive, Rhoda recuperates much quicker than her Mom and goes back to the pier in the middle of a rainstorm to look for the medal. She is struck by lightning, which thankfully kills her... the end. Apparently, this strange and abrupt ending was due to a cinematic rule that existed at the time that said that the "bad guy" could not be shown as winning out in the end. The original ending, which was previously part of a successful book and equally successful play, had Rhoda killing her mother.
John Waters has a funny story about this movie and its rather talented little actress, named Patty McCormack. Evidently, he was a huge fan of the film and many years later went to see the play. He kept remarking to the woman sitting next to him in the theater how much of a fan he was and praising the original little girl who had so effectively played the part of Rhoda Penmark. After the play ended, the woman said "Thank you for your kind words, I'm Patty McCormack.
No comments:
Post a Comment