Forum Overview :: The Zionist Media Conspiracy :: Did I misinterpret the ending of Sunset Blvd.? (SPOILERS)

[quote name="Brody Wilder"]<img src="https://i.imgur.com/0aHGHPl.jpg" height=545> I always assumed Norma was acting the whole time. Her exaggerated emotions, her suicide attempts, even her very theatrical madness at the climax - all a put-on. Once she realizes she's lost Joe for good, before she confronts him with the gun, she literally stops to practice her crazy face in the mirror - the same crazy face she's wearing as she descends the staircase for the news cameras at the end. I got the impression she decided to kill Joe because she knew what a titanic scandal it would make, and in the absence of fame she was willing to settle for infamy. I figured Joe's narration accepted the madness at face value because he died without ever realizing what a sap he'd been the whole time. Maybe only Max knew, the way Rhett knew Scarlett? Or maybe he didn't, I don't know. There's nothing about any of this on the Wikipedia page, or in the IMDb FAQ. Was it all a product of my overactive imagination / innate suspicion of women? It's hard to tell how much artifice is intentional when you're watching an actress play an actress (play a madwoman?), especially if it turns out the actress wasn't as great at her job as I thought.[/quote]