Line #58 Film/Karla


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/11376498_ori.jpg]]
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3	''Karla'' is a 2006 Canadian motion picture drama and thriller. The film is based on the true story of two of Canada's most notorious serial killers, Paul Bernardo (Creator/MishaCollins) and Karla Homolka (Creator/LauraPrepon).
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6	!!This film provides examples of the following tropes:
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8	* EightiesHair: The "small town" hair with a ball of hair-sprayed bangs didn't really go "out" in Southern Ontario until the mid-1990s. Karla sported a good set of them in all her pictures, and the film delights in this.
9	* AdaptationNameChange: The murder victims' names have been changed from Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French to Tina [=McCarthy=] and Kaitlyn Ross, respectively. For obvious reasons.
10	* AnimalLover: Karla loved animals, particularly her dog Buddy, and worked as a veterinary technician.
11	* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Kaitlyn to Karla.
12	--> Why do you stay?
13	* BerserkButton: Calling Paul a "bastard."
14	-->'''Kaitlyn:''' Some things are worth dying for.\
15	'''Paul:''' Who am I?\
16	'''Kaitlyn:''' You're a bastard!
17	* BlatantLies: Paul and Karla each accused the other of killing the victims, and claimed no responsibility for the murders.
18	* CatholicSchoolGirlsRule: The second murder victim was picked up in the vicinity of her Catholic school, still wearing her uniform.
19	* CharacterTitle
20	* ClingyJealousGirl: It's been hypothesized that one of the reasons Karla went along with Paul's plan was that she was jealous of the attention he paid towards her sister Tammy. This is downplayed in the film.
21	* DepravedBisexual: Karla is bi and the film portrays it in a painfully creepy way.
22	* DomesticAbuse: Paul to Karla.
23	* GenericCopBadges: A variety of badges are seen on law enforcement officers that tend to look rather prop-like and may not necessarily reflect what was worn by the relevant Canadian agencies at the time the true events on which the film was based occurred. For that matter, the courtroom in the trial scene at the end of the film looks rather American and features an extremely generic-looking seal logo bearing a scale of justice. A Canadian courtroom should have a coat of arms on the wall above the judge.
24	* GirlsLoveStuffedAnimals: Karla sleeps with a teddy bear. In real life, its name was Bunky The Bear, and [[PetTheDog she gave it to Kristen French]] to hold.
25	* GodivaHair: Kaitlyn's hair covers her bare chest.
26	* FairyTaleWeddingDress: Karla wears one during her wedding to Paul. It even has GiantPoofySleeves, yet is somewhat less elaborate than the real life Homolka wedding dress (which had lace).
27	* FramingDevice: The film is framed as an interview between Karla and her psychiatrist.
28	* HawaiianShirtedTourist: As they're getting ready to go on their honeymoon to Hawaii, Paul wears a loud Hawaiian shirt.
29	* HeroicBSOD: Karla shuts down while Paul rapes her sister. It doesn't last long.
30	* HistoricalVillainDowngrade: The film is based mainly on Homolka's version of events, and thus portrays her as a battered (which, admittedly, does have some basis in reality) and reluctant accessory to Paul's crimes, rather than as the almost entirely complicit partner that she was in real life.
31	* IcyBlueEyes: The film's poster showcases Karla's own lifeless ThousandYardStare.
32	* IHaveAFamily: A variant: Tina begs the couple not to kill her, citing her little brother and how much she loves him. [[LackOfEmpathy To this, Paul mockingly says "Aww."]]
33	* InelegantBlubbering: After Karla leaves, Paul drunkenly breaks down. In an apparent fictionalization, he seems to be DrivenToSuicide by pointing a knife at his chest. One of the ways you can tell this is set in Canada.
34	* KinkyCuffs: The first time Karla brings Paul home, she shows him her handcuffs.
35	* LosingAShoeInTheStruggle: The second kidnap victim loses a shoe.
36	* LoveMakesYouEvil: Apparently the reason Karla went along with Bernardo.
37	* MakingLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces: Karla picks up a guy in a bar and they have sex in the washroom.
38	* ModelCouple: Particularly in their wedding photos, Paul and Karla were unusually good-looking, and seemed to "fit" together.
39	* NatureAdoresAVirgin: Paul's impetus for raping teenage girls is he wants a virgin. Including Karla's own sister.
40	* NeverMyFault: Karla. She refuses to take the blame for anything that has occurred, even telling the prison therapist that she didn't kill anyone. When he brings up Tammy (arguably the death she is most responsible for, morally at least if not legally), her response is a loud "Fuck you!"
41	* PetTheDog: Karla brushes Kaitlyn's hair out of her face.
42	* PleaBargain : Karla testified against Paul, in exchange for lenience. She was sentenced to twelve years in prison, with the possibility of parole in four. In real life, Karla Homolka served her full sentence and was released in 2005.
43	* PoliceAreUseless: Bernardo was questioned at least twice in both the Scarborough Rapist case and the murders. (To be fair, in 1992 the technology was not as good as it is now, and even now it's a complex process.)
44	* PsychopathicManchild: Paul Bernardo:
45	-->'''Paul:''' Hey, babe.\
46	'''Karla:''' Where have you been?\
47	'''Paul:''' I just raped a girl.
48	* RapeDiscretionShot: Several shots of Paul Bernardo grabbing a girl from behind, then stops before the rape. Also used when he rapes Karla and her sister in separate scenes.
49	* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Bernardo, in addition to the murders he (or the couple) committed, was also The Scarborough Rapist.
50	* RewindReplayRepeat: Paul insists on watching the video they shot the night Tammy died, including showing it to their friends.
51	* RippedFromTheHeadlines: The Bernardo-Homolka case is one of the most notorious in Canadian crime history.
52	* ScrapbookStory: A mild example. The couple videotaped everything, and reproductions of the tapes are used to tell some of the story. The voice over also includes letters to Paul.
53	* SerialKiller: Paul Bernardo
54	* SerialRapist: Paul Bernardo
55	* SmallNameBigEgo: Karla believes Paul to be a "musician and filmmaker." His music was terrible, Music/VanillaIce-style rap.
56	* TheSociopath: Paul Bernardo. Karla herself, to some extent, given her apparent lack of concern for the victims. A blurb during the end credits quotes the parole board describing Karla as manipulative and egocentric.
57	-->Despite her ability to present herself well, there is a moral vacuity and absence of empathy for her victims...
58	* StalkerWithACrush: Paul's obsession with Tammy.
59	* StockholmSyndrome: Karla to Paul, although it's questionable.
60	* TomboyishPonytail: In the scene where Karla meets Paul, she wears her hair in a ponytail, to indicate her youth and freshness. In real life, Homolka was 17 when she met Paul at a veterinary convention. (Note: The age of consent in Canada is 16 - and was 14 at the time when Karla and Paul met -, so there was no JailBaitWait).
61	* UrineTrouble: When the puppy pees on the floor and Karla waits a minute to clean it up, it earns her a backhand.
62	* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: The story itself is (sadly) quite true to reality, but mistakenly portrayed Homolka as yet another victim of Bernardo's sociopathic antics - despite the fact that it's long-since been established that she was just as culpable as Bernardo. The Canadian media and public were understandably appalled. This is arguable, however, as Karla's "victimization" at the hands of Bernardo was her main line of defense during the court case.
63	* VomitIndiscretionShot: Poor Tammy chokes on her own vomit due to being suffocated by the sedative by Paul and Karla and spits it up during their drugged-up rape of her.
64	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Buddy the rottweiler. We see him for two scenes, then he disappears.
65	* {{Yandere}}: Karla and Paul's relationship is intense, co-dependent, violent, and dangerous.

Context Film / Karla