Elizabeth Tate (The Other Sister)

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Elizabeth Tate is a fictional character in the 1999 film The Other Sister, portrayed by Diane Keaton.

A loving but overprotective mother, Elizabeth tries to control her mentally challenged daughter, Carla (Juliette Lewis) by preventing her from reaching her potential in life. She pressuring Carla into conforming to the same suburban homemaker lifestyle she lives, with her playing the role as her "husband." Elizabeth also smothers her other daughter, a lesbian, by trying to prevent her from marrying her partner. She also has a normal straight daughter who is engaged and later married, thus setting the stage for the two other sisters to take advantage of marrying their respective partners to leave her tyrannical ways for good.

Elizabeth's household is not religious as they do not attend church other than for weddings. Elizabeth fancies herself the "perfect lady", and tries to impose her interests in tennis and high culture onto her three daughters. Her country club membership makes her family a part of the upper class society. According to the film, she was born circa 1945, and probably married her husband circa 1960. The film implies that she tries to run her daughters' lives because she is afraid to let them grow up, and because it distracts her from her own problems with her husband, Radley, a reformed alcoholic. She is similar to the high class version of Mrs. Helen Boucher (who is Bobby Boucher's mother) on the movie The Waterboy.

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Review: The Other Sister (1999)