Talk:Charles Foster Kane

In the movie, it is only revealed that G.W. Gettys has evidence that implicates Kane as having an affair with Susan Alexander, not that he has any conclusive proof that Kane actually did have an affair. Susan herself denies that there was any affair when confronted by Emily Norton, and seems desperately honest when doing so. Kane, meanwhile, seems indignant that Gettys is willing to destroy Susan's reputation for his own political gain and refuses to allow himself to be blackmailed: clearly, he feels like he has nothing to hide. Kane, in the middle of a political campaign, was very image-conscious and fully aware that his campaign for governor hinged on his percieved moral standing in the community. It seems unlikely that he would throw all that away with a casual adulterous affair, though he may not have realized that his actions--going to visit Susan in her apartment (more than once, the movie would seem to suggest) would have created the opportunity for Gettys to turn the same yellow journalist tactics Kane had employed against others against him himself.

It is, of course, entirely possible that Susan Alexander was lying, that Kane DID have a serious lapse in judgement, and that they did indeed have an affair. However the point is that the movie never makes it clear one way or the other. I edited the article to add that element of ambiguity to it. Antodav 18:15, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Kane's "prose poems" line in the film was misquoted. I changed it to match exactly what Kane said in the movie. Antodav 18:15, 19 May 2006 (UTC)