Carla Tate

Carla Tate is a fictional character in the 1999 film "The Other Sister", portrayed by Juliette Lewis [cite web | url = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0123209/| title = Character/role information| publisher = Internet Movie Database| date = | accessdate = 2008-09-21] .

Carla is the youngest daughter of Radley (Tom Skerritt) and Elizabeth Tate (Diane Keaton), and is mentally handicapped. She is a naturally curious, independent young woman who longs to be a veterinarian. This dream is against the wishes of her overprotective mother who exposes her to a homemaker's lifestyle. Her father, meanwhile, encourages her to explore the outside world and acquire herself a career, thus liberating herself from Elizabeth's influence.

At first, her mother forces her into high culture, tennis, and traditional gender roles, all without success. Eventually, she goes to a polytechnic with her father's blessing and her mother's stern opposition in order to become a veterinarian's assistant. While in post-secondary school, she has an encounter with Daniel McMahon, a fellow student who is also mentally challenged. They fall in love and eventually get married (despite her mother trying to intervene in the wedding).

She is enthralled with a sexual education lesson from her teacher near the beginning of her film. This was her final lesson before graduating from the twelfth grade of high school. Being the overbearing mother that she is, Elizabeth refuses to listen and changes the subject so that Carla doesn't learn more about sex or reproduction from her. Daniel, meanwhile, refines her knowledge of sexual intercourse and reproduction while waiting to eat a Thanksgiving meal [cite web | url = http://www.angelfire.com/oh/quotations/movies/o/othersister.html| title = Movie quotations w/ Carla Tate | publisher = Angelfire| date = | accessdate = 2008-09-21] . Elizabeth dislikes Daniel, but Carla sneaks off whenever she can and eventually goes steady with him. At the end of the film, she is pronounced Carla Tate-McMahon.

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