Michael And Kay - Tumblr Posts
Just a Disclaimer: I have only seen the first 2 Godfather movies and read the book a long time ago (I don't clearly remember the details in the book). So whatever I have written is based on that.
Kay Adams aborting the baby was a brilliant creative choice. In the movie, there aren't many women who are important to the story. Even Kay is just a mafia wife for most of it. She essentially is a tool to show Michael how crazy he's gotten. How he's lived long enough to be the villain.
He does all that he does in the name of protecting his family. A family that is broken and dying - Carmela is dying, Michael intends to kill Fredo, Sonny is killed, Vito is dead, Connie lives a rather unsatisfying life (but then again idk, is moving from lover to lover satisfying or a coping mechanism) and that remained, a meaningful home for Michael was Kay and the children.
So once his family that remains (Kay and the children) is broken, all the violence he does is pointless. It's business for business' sake, a seeking out of power itself.
Michael can be made to realize this in any way - Kay can kill herself after writing a note on how meaningless all this is, Kay and the children die as collateral damage, maybe one of the children can ask some question and bam! Michael gets realization, etc etc - it could be some act of self-destruction and victimization or something very passive like the chance question.
But no, Kay does not stand by and turn a blind eye. She doesn't lie down and let shit happen to her. She says enough is enough! She plays an active role, she makes a conscious decision. She exercises her liberty in whatever way she can against The Godfather. She decides she is no longer going to be complicit in his madness and won't let another human being into this terrible fate. She'd seen the man she loved, who tried to renounce his family's *heritage* and live differently, inevitably pulled back and forced into the violence, which he finally embraced. Kay doesn't wish this upon her children or any more she could bring into earth. Sure, it's an ugly choice, but it also shows that the violence Michael takes upon himself - the silent look and scary demeanor, doesn't stay only with him. It seeps into those around him, who he so dearly loves, and causes them to carry out horrific acts of violence themselves.
It's all so beautiful (not the violence, but the underlying themes, ig).
Kay is the only character in The Godfather who managed to impose her decisions on Michael.
Yesss! I never thought of it like this! Damn.
Have been feeling for the godfather since morning.