Mrs. Gaines (Michele Scarabelli) is a villainess from the 2003 Lifetime film, Student Seduction (alternately titled, Inappropriate Behavior; airdate May 5, 2003). She is the mother of Josh Gaines (the film's main antagonist).
The film quickly revealed Josh as a sexual abuser, as he was shown committing his act towards his then-girlfriend, Monica Carelli. A backstory revealed that a year prior, Josh raped fellow student Jenna Hobson, but once his parents found out, they approached Jenna and bribed her with a scholarship to Dartmouth in exchange for her silence, Jenna reluctantly accepted, mainly due to her mother not wanting to deal with a trial.
In the film, Josh was being tutored by his chemistry teacher Christie Dawson (the film's main protagonist), only for Josh to become more personal and flirtatious towards Christie to the point where he joined her in the school's swimming pool and attempted to kiss her. Christie slapped Josh and ended their tutoring sessions, with Josh later invading Christie's home (while her husband, Drew, was at work) and sexually assault her. Charges were filed, but afterwards, both of Josh's parents took their son's side and participated in defaming Christie and portraying her as a seductive villainess who came on to Josh.
Christie learned about Jenna and Monica's past with Josh, and attempted to coerce the former into testifying, with Jenna refusing out of fear. With no other option, Christie took a plea deal to a lesser charge, which put an end to her teaching career. The waning scenes of the film had Jenna expressing her sorrow over what happened and providing Mrs. Gaines villainous reveal, as it was uncovered that Jenna's Dartmouth scholarship was payment from the Gaines family for her silence over Josh's assault. This was after Jenna stated that she would testify, with her fears now gone, and in the final scenes, Jenna (with Christie) gave Mr. Gaines the scholarship back and told him that she would go to the police regarding Josh, leaving the evil Mrs. Gaines stunned and looking at her husband in a concerned manner. The film ended with Christie back teaching and Josh (most likely) facing charges, though Mrs. Gaines' fate remained unknown.
Trivia[]
- Mrs. Gaines is similar to Candice Davick, the villainess from Double Mommy, as both are mothers of serial rapists who were willing to cover for their son's actions. In addition, neither really received a karmic fate, though the difference in that regard is that Candice was (apparently) set on continuing her evil methods on her newborn grandson, while Mrs. Gaines exact fate remained unknown.