4

In Knives Out (2019), why did Harlan leave his fortune to

Marta?

I get it might have something to do with wanting them to be responsible for themselves, not be dependent on Harlan, but it seems this only applies to Walt, Joni, and Ransom.

Linda had her own business (in something I forgot), so it seemed she had made something of herself. Sure, she had a million-dollar loan from Harlan, but she still had to build the business herself. So it seemed like she was worthy to receive something from Harlan. At the very least, the house.

Improve this question
1

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
21

Harlan's children, their spouses, and his grandchildren are all horrible, self-serving leeches. They show up for Harlan's birthday and expect to be rewarded for it.

Marta, on the other hand, seems to be the only person who has a genuine and caring relationship with Harlan and expects nothing in return (except a game of Go every now and then).

Improve this answer
6
  • 5
    Linda and Meg didn’t seem like that to me. I mean, one big indication is that Linda seemed like she was genuinely heartbroken after Harlan died. Harlan also had a secret way of communicating with Linda showing that they had a special something going on. Meg was just this spoiled teenager studying a useless sjw degree. They only time she was manipulative was when she felt desperate because Joni might not have enough money to pay for her college.
    – ArcticMeltdown
    Commented 2 days ago
  • 15
    @ArcticMeltdown Keep in mind that Harlan doesn't need to be a perfectly rational agent to be an reasonable movie character. While Linda & Meg might not be as self-serving as the others, it's not like they stand out as angels. It's entirely possible Harlan was disappointed with his family as a whole, threw up his hands, said "leaches, the lot of them", and then decided to give the money to the person who actually cared about him, rather than figuring out the family members who were least-worse.
    – R.M.
    Commented 2 days ago
  • 4
    how miserable to be a parent who has a half dozen kids, and hates them all
    – Shiz Z.
    Commented 2 days ago
  • 5
    @ShizZ. It's commonly very difficult for rich people to be good people. Especially second generation rich kids who have no concept of money or hard work. This is ancient knowledge, the Bible already has various passages on this phenomenon. Harlan was a bad person who spent his time making money instead of with his family, thus his children don't develop necessary skills to be good humans
    – Jacques
    Commented yesterday
  • 2
    @Jacques I don't think Harlan is shown to be a bad person in the film - he is generous and forgiving. He behaves a little selfishly in the evening of his birthday party, insisting that Marta play Go with him when she says she doesn't want to, but to me they seem like friends who enjoy teasing each other a bit within mutually understood boundaries. He isn't portrayed as having neglected his family, only having spoiled them, and regretting it in hindsight. He's also shown not to be motivated by money, as he refuses to sell the TV/film rights to his works.
    – kaya3
    Commented yesterday
2

Harlan never states his reason for choosing Marta. Blanc speculates on the reason, being that she is a genuine and kind person who was there for him when he was sick. From the shown scenes of them together, she wasn't just there as a hired professional, she was his friend.

Harlan does state plenty of reasons for everyone else, mostly that he had the opportunity to build his life and fortune and his kids and grandkids were deprived of that. Remember that he was already cutting everyone off before he died, he could have given it all to a charity instead and their outcome would have been the same (except for Ransom).

Linda is different from the rest, the big secret Harlan knew about her was that her husband was cheating and she wouldn't like it. While he couldn't have known his death was as imminent as it turned out to be, Linda inheriting a bunch of additional wealth would complicate her divorce and besides, she doesn't need it.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Start asking to get answers

Find the answer to your question by asking.

Ask question

Explore related questions

See similar questions with these tags.