What is at the heart of Artie and Maria's relationship? How do they balance each other out?

What is at the heart of Artie and Maria's relationship? How do you feel they balance each other out?

Artie is a dreamer, a salesman, and big-picture guy who depends a great deal on his charm. Maria is practical, street smart, big picture thinking and cunning. She makes it possible for Artie to see his dreams come to fruition. She protects him, sometimes from himself! I think Maria is crucial to Artie's success, it just takes him a long time to come to that realization. For Maria, Artie is a little bit father figure and mostly her best opportunity to succeed. I think she likes him despite knowing all his failings.

Although opposites, they complimented and balanced each other. Artie was a man with big ideas, but not always practical or seeing the obstacles. Maria new how to carryout Artie's big plans and play the game to bring his pictures to fruition. They respected each other and even had a friendship. However, he tended to take advantage of Maria for his benefit.

Artie and Maria were in my opinion diametric opposites but in that respect this worked to their advantage and which is why they were successful. Artie wanted to do it big, Marie tried to rein in his enthusiasm and sometimes grandiose ideas. I loved the scenes where they played against each other.

From the moment they met during her job interview, Maria and Artie have a mutual respect and admiration for each other. Initially he was unsure of her ability to meet his unusual standards, but she surpasses his expectations when she offers an innovative solution to handle his dilemma with the new production code censor. Then he hires her immediately. Artie's gruff, head in the clouds, unconventional personality is perfectly complimented by Maria's organized, realistic and clever approaches to obstacles and problems.

Artie and Maria approach the work that needed to be done differently but together the film business thrived. Artie was the dreamer and did not think of the details that needed to be incorporated to accomplish the end while Maria was the practical one and thought of the details. With these two approaches they accomplished their goals. Maria thrived and learned from Artie and they both learned from each other but Maria especially surpassed Artie’s expectations he first saw in her when they met for interview for her job at his film production offices.

I think at the beginning of their relationship Artie was the mentor but as time passed, she became his mentor because his dreamer side needed to be balanced by her practicality. By the end of the book, he recognized her true worth and their relationship was more of a partnership which was a major achievement for a woman at that time.

Artie and Maria are like husband and wife. They depend of each other to get the truth in the middle of Hollywood's fantasy world. They have mutual respect for the other. Artie was smart enough to recognize her talent at a time when women weren't invited to the "boy's table." She was loyal to him and even passed up a job doubling her salary because she was committed to their mission in the "shark tank" - which was and still is, Hollywood.

The relationship of Artie and Marie is fascinating -- multi-layered, nuanced, sometimes hilarious and, in some ways, the foundation upon which much of the story rests.

They respect each other. That's the bottom line. Maria doesn't take any crap from Artie. He admires her "spunk" (as Lou Grant would say; and yes, he reminded me of Lou Grant in some respects), her intellect, her inate business sense, and her ambition, even though he is as misogynistic in his outlook as most businessmen were in those days. He also looks out for her in a rather fatherly way.

Even though Artie gets on Maria's nerves, she has a reluctant affection for him because she understands him. She accepts his self-aggrandizement, and desperate need to be seen and acknowledged. She appreciates his vision, even though his dreams are too big at times. And she recognizes a rebel spirit in him that reminds her of her father. That is apparent at the beginning of the story when Artie has been called to testify with the other studio heads. He has no intention of backing down -- like her father -- and Maria knows it could end badly so she wants to accompany him so that she can oversee his preparation and try to save him from himself . . . because she failed to save her father.

Ultimately, Artie betrayed her by paying her less than male employees, including her subordinates, but she leverages Artie's new business venture to her advantage, getting a fair share of the new studio and the recognition she has worked so hard for. It's payback for having been cheated and, as the old saying goes, the enemy you know . . . Working with Artie at the new studio won't require her to get to know a new partner or prove herself again. Their relationship is comfortable and works for both of them, even though it is far from perfect.