something that makes me really sad about catherine is that throughout the whole game - in every mention in writing or audio or memory - of the human catherine, we are told that she is a quiet, shy woman who goes far out of her way to avoid conflict. she’s a scared mouse, a doormat, a pushover - at least according to a majority of things we find describing her. yet she’s told that if she would just speak up, if she’d just put herself out there a bit more - stood UP for herself instead of withdrawing in - things would go so much better for her. she’d be more confident and more respected, more approachable.
and then in the one memory we witness where she does exactly that it ends with her bludgeoned to death by a colleague. the one time we see human cath stand up for herself and for the ARK ends in her murder, and that just breaks my heart 🥲🥲
It’s also interesting to note how confident she seems while talking to Simon. It might be because he’s a stranger, he has no expectations of her, unlike her colleagues. They put a lot of pressure on her with the Ark project, something that started as a simple hobby she pursued in her spare time.
I’d argue she’s more in her element when talking to Simon; she doesn’t have to worry about the expectations of her peers and is solely focused on the success of her personal project.
I think when Catherine first meets Simon she sees him simply as a tool she can use; he’s just another confused robot bumbling around and is desperate for a ticket out of his current situation. She bosses him around at first (though, it’s worth noting that going and retrieving the Ark is initially Simon’s idea, I feel like Catherine’s lack of self confidence is what made her doubt it at first, and Simon gives her the push to become more confident). However the two eventually build up a rapport, and Simon helps her get out of her shell a little. By the end of the game they’re even willing to call each other friends.
(I also think there’s an interesting parallel between Catherine and Ross; they both see Simon as a tool they can use to an extent, but Ross ultimately is much more willing to sacrifice Simon to achieve his own goals.)
I think what I’m trying to say here is that all Catherine needed was a friend. Very few of her colleagues were willing to respect her because they either saw her as a shy, naive child (despite the fact that she was older than many of them), or a genius who would lead them to salvation. I’d argue that Sarah was one of the only people who respected Catherine as a fellow human being, and she was so dedicated to her friend that she was willing to literally defend Catherine’s project, the Ark, with her life.
@delta-orionis I definitely do not mind the addition lol Catherine is a fascinating character to get into the mind of.
I definitely agree that Simon being someone with no prior knowledge of who Catherine is helps her open up to him a bit more and explain some of the difference between her human and copy selves. In one of the audio logs with her and Sarah she even says that she feels like she can’t just suddenly start acting more confident because everyone would know she was faking, or something along those lines. But Simon allows for almost a clean slate lol.
I think part of it is also that Catherine feels more comfortable as a copied mind without a body than she ever did as a human. Without all the extra stuff to worry about that having a body entails she seems more free to just focus on the tasks she has at hand. The ease with which she transitions from terminal to terminal and giving Simon instructions on how to proceed very matter of factly is very different to how she stutters out the questions to people when getting the initial ARK opinion interviews or when awkwardly informing Strasky someone just killed themself in front of her.
I def agree that Simon encouraging her that they should make the trip to launch the ARK was the catalyst Cath needed to set that as her now number one goal no matter what. I think the parallel between her and Ross is very interesting because both circumstances end in similar ways too, with a betrayal or perceived betrayal with the final scan and the death of the person who had been using Simon rip. I think Catherine and Ross also have different reasons for how they go about using Simon other than overall willingness to sacrifice him too as I think Cath’s main goal a lot of the time is to just get the job done while causing as little tension between her and this person she’s just met as possible. I don’t see any of the moments where I see a lot of people say she tricked Simon as real tricks, she just doesn’t know how to cope with some things and doesn’t want to upset Simon since she deals so poorly with outright conflict; while Ross ultimately also just wants a job done but doesn’t care for Simon at ALL beyond that and is very willing to lead him on, Simon is the venemous snake he made to strike the WAU, no rapport being made as you said with Cath and Simon.
And yes, absolutely all Cath really needed at the end of the day was a friend. 😭 Her and Sarah’s friendship is such a wholesome part of the game, how protective Sarah is of Catherine/the ARK even once she’s gone truly is something to see. I hope once in the ARK Cath and Simon were able to continue their friendship because goodness knows poor Cath needs more people in her corner that understand and respect her for her. 🤧
Oh yeah, Cath being more comfortable in the omnitool is also a good point to bring up. She’s literally in her element; she knows exactly what she is and understands the circumstances that got her there (unlike many of the the other mockingbirds who don’t fully understand how the brain scans work and are disoriented and confused). It makes sense that she’s able to carry herself more confidently.
Also yeah I agree, one sentiment I’ve seen is people accusing Cath of manipulating Simon and being selfish, and while I don’t think that’s entirely untrue, I don’t think she deserves the demonization some fans give her. She definitely could have handled herself better; her laser-focus on the ark did get in the way of her compassion at times. However she does genuinely care about Simon; she eventually opens up to him about her feelings and allows herself to be vulnerable.
She definitely does fuck up, like in the transfer scene at Omicron, she fails to clarify to Simon how transferring his scan into the power suit would work. I guess you can argue she was being manipulative by withholding information from him in order to make sure he was compliant, but I feel like she also just didn’t want to tell him because she genuinely didn’t want to hurt his feelings. Like you said, she doesn’t react well to conflict, which can be seen in the way she shrinks back in response to Simon yelling at her.
In my opinion, she genuinely cares about other people, but isn’t the best at expressing it and often messes up. It explains why she was an outcast among her colleagues, they likely perceived her as standoffish and rude. Only the people who are patient with her realize that she acts that way because she’s trying to be compassionate, but not in a way that most people understand. I don’t think Simon got quite that far, but maybe he eventually can on the Ark. Who knows.
OK WAIT SO IF POC GET STRICTER SENTENCES IN COURT… AND IF WOC ARE MORE AT RISK OF MISCARRIAGE AND GENERAL MALPRACTICE… AND IF SEX EDUCATION IS WORSE IN INNER CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS… AND IF RACIAL HOUSING DISCRIMINATION IS PRACTICED BY 85% OF REAL ESTATE AGENTS… AND IF SCHOOL DISTRICTS ARE FUNDED VIA PROPERTY TAXES WITHIN EACH DISTRICT… HOLD ON………. WAIT A MINUTE
VINCENT?!
