The Founder - The Women in Kroc's life

[Polidano]

Discuss Ray's relationship with his wife, Ethel and his future wife, Joan.  How were each of these relationships depicted in the film?

Did you notice any similarities between the way Ray handled his divorce settlement with Ethel, and the manner in which he dealt with the McDonald brothers?  Why do you think Ray dealt with each of these characters in such a vindictive and punitive manner?

 

[Isabella_Smith]

Ray seemed to ignore Ethel for the most part. All he really cared about was how successful he was becoming. Ethel could tell that their relationship was not going in a good direction so you could see she was more sad and kind of distant. For Jan though, Kroc saw her as a smart, beautiful woman who can be a strong asset to the company because of her ideas and how she thinks. To Ray, he is not interested in associating himself with anyone who will not be useful to him (hence he gets new friends when his friends at the golf course were not preforming). Ray was not willing to give the Macdonald brothers anything useful in their contract and found loopholes in order to give them the least amount possible, and the same happened with his wife when he said that he would rather die then give her a slim part of the company. He dealt with these people in a rough way because he wants total control of the company and does not want anyone to get in his way. Even if it is not morally right, he just sees it as business, and that your business partners are not your friends.

[danny_76]

Ray's relationship with Ethel is filled with anger and a lack of care. Ethel and Ray always argue and feel seperated throughout the movie like when Ethel lays in bed and faces away from Ray. Ray is interested in Joan and does whatever she thinks of like the powdered milkshakes. He is fixated on her like when they eat dinner and he stares at her. Ray treated Ethel like he treated the brothers because he didn't care for either and thought they were not tough enough for him. In the end, he parts ways with both of them and uses lawyers in both to split up. He handled the settlements like that just because he only cares for money and what's best for him.

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[Julia S]

Kroc was very distant to his wofe throught the entire film. He was never home and he basically ignored her. When Ethel had and idea of two two who would be good running a macdonalds, he shot her down. However, Joan came up with the idea of the powdered milkshake. Kroc only wanted to associate himself with people that share the same views and values that he has. This is also how he deals with the brothers. He impliments his ideas without their permission. When Kroc and Ethel get divorced, he doesnt give her any part of the business and trys to give her the least amount of things as possible. The same thing happened when he was making the contract with the macdonald brothers. He did not give them the 1% of profits that were promised to them.

[Christine Sim]

Ray and Ethel had two very different needs and wants that couldn't be met on both sides. Ray Kroc was much more interested in his work instead of spending time with his wife. Ethel always wanted to go the club with him, but Ray was never home to do so. On the other hand, with Joan, he seemed much more relaxed with her. He saw Joan as someone who can not only fully support him, but also help him with his business endeavors which is what Ray needed.

[Laura_B]

Ray Kroc treated his marriages like business deals. With Ethel, he ignored her feelings and ideas. He was only focused on becoming successful. Ethel seemed distant and upset throughout the film. When he met Joan, her beauty entranced him, as she was younger then Ethel, and he listened to her ideas. Kroc saw Joan as an asset to the company. In Kroc’s contract with Dick and Mac he cheated them out of their royalties. The same happened with his previous wife Ethel, he gave her no shares in MacDonalds. He said that he would rather die then give her any part of his company. He dealt with these people in such a vindictive and punitive because he wanted total control. In conclusion, Kroc’s judgment seemed to be clouded by the idea of success and power so much so that he would not let anyone get in his way.

[jacob kennedy]

Ray just did want he wanted for himself and did what was best for him. He kind of handled his divorce like a business deal and straight up said what he wanted without really thinking of his wife feelings. It is similar with the McDonald brothers because he ignored their opinion and just did what he wanted anyways when they handled business.

[Bradsimonn]

Ray Kroc's relationship with his wife Ethel was very distant as he was never away from work. Even when he was home or around that area Kroc always had work on his mind as he is all about the money. With this gap also came a sense of hiding/regret. It seemed as if Ethel reminded Ray of when times were worse and when he was fighting for scraps rather than when he created them. However, Joan acted as a trophy wife for Ray, someone who has a business mind who is pretty, and can keep up with Ray's frantic pace and distance. She also is something that he can show off to people as a trophy. She also represents the new life that has ignited itself in Ray rather than the Old.

Ray handled the divorce similar to the brothers for at the end of the day it all came down to money and "his" franchise.

[mattiodapattio]

Ray is very rude and controlling with his business partners( the mcdonalds brothers) and with his old wife (Ethel) at this point his only concern is for the company. His goal is to make McDonald a very well known restaurant and he wants to lead it. So what he does is, he cuts anyone who would get in his way about it. The McDonalds brothers said no to many ideas Ray suggested so he cut them out and gave them as little as possible and he did the same to his wife because he simply cared about the company more than her. So he married someone who would benifit the company and support him to become successful like Joan.

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[Monahan]

In my opinion, Ray and Ethel Kroc wanted two completely different things out of their marriage, which would have never worked out in the first place. Ray wanted to involve his spouse in his work and always work. On the contrary, Ethel wanted a solid home life relationship, which is difficult to accomplish when Ray is never home in the first place due to his heavy work schedule. This fact is exactly why Ray and Joan's relationship worked extremely well, while Ray and Ethel's quickly declined. Furthermore, Ray and Joan's relationship worked well due to them both being interested as well as invested in the McDonald's business, where they prospered, and found even more ways to acquire money. Therefore, in my opinion, Ray and Ethel's relationship did not work out due to one simple aspect: their non-existent home life.

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