Well, we all got here somehow

1. Natalie's sexuality doesn't matter, and I really hope the movie doesn't try to affirm her as a lesbian. Honestly, it's better and less problematic - in the literal sense of the word, as in it would cause less problems - if she's straight. Lord knows we don't need people justifying her abusive behavior with "she's a lesbian!" or associating her abusive behavior with being a lesbian. In the end, her sexual abuse of Shannon is about power and control, not sexual desire.

2. You shouldn't believe Natalie!!! I can't understand why so many people buy her story that Reena wasn't a victim of sexual assault just because Natalie says she wasn't, and why people demonize Shannon and call her a liar and a homewrecker and saying she's jealous of Natalie and wanted to ruin her life like she's not the victim here. Shannon was honestly part of the problem with Natalie up until their confrontation, for enabling Natalie to keep doing the fucked up shit she did and making her more money and giving her more fame through her producer job. If Shannon was *really* against the things Natalie did and represented, she would've at worst quit sooner and at best never taken the job in the first place. I think the novel represents this when she is presented as a perfect tradwife in her interview with Erin. None of this of course, negates the fact that she is a victim and didn't deserve what Natalie did to her.

3. It's a story about the cycle of abuse! Natalie is abused by Caleb but she also abuses her children and others!! She is NOT some helpless victim and partakes in the abuse of children way before Caleb gets violent with her.