| “ | It's so hot, Sam, but I feel so cold. | „ |
| ~ Kate Barlow speaking to a hallucination of Sam. |
| “ | Get up and out of there! What've you got down there? Give me your loot, now! | „ |
| ~ Kate Barlow to Stanley Yelnats. |
| “ | Start digging, Trout. | „ |
| ~ Kate Barlow's last words. |
Katherine "Kissin' Kate" Barlow is one of the two overarching antagonists (alongside Trout Walker) of the 1998 novel Holes as well as its 2003 film adaptation. She was a schoolteacher who fell in love with an African-American onion farmer named Sam. After Charles "Trout" Walker burned her schoolhouse to the ground and gunned down her boyfriend in a jealous rage, she became an outlaw who kissed every man she killed, starting with the racist and perverted Sheriff who had condoned Sam's murder. Much later, she hid Stanley Yelnats' loot so Charles wouldn't be able to find it, committing suicide to ensure its secret whereabouts died with her until the present day, where Stanley Yelnats IV did find it successfully.
She was portrayed by Patricia Arquette.
Her Evil Ranking[]
What Makes Her Heinous?[]
In General[]
- As a top outlaw who murders lots of innocents, she makes a huge impact since all other villains in the movie are bog-standard.
- She becomes infamous for kissing anyone of the opposite sex once she has murdered them, which is how she got her nickname.
Holes[]
- She massacres several men who she deems as responsible for the cruel murder of her lover, Sam, and lines their corpses in coffins against a wall with a shady man overseeing them.
- Deciding she is judge, jury, and executioner, she shoots the Sheriff in his chair.
- She becomes one of the most prolific outlaws of her era, robbing most, if not all major banks, including the Chicago Pacific.
- She also stoops to Trout's level by assembling a lynch mob of her own to enforce her own will on people she dislikes. Her crimes include destroying an occupied stagecoach, shooting another stagecoach's driver, and blowing up innocent people with demolitions.
- She steals all of Stanley Yelnats' treasure procured in the stock market, causing three generations of his family to endure poverty.
- She leaves Stanley Yelnats to die in the desert, although he survives because of a miracle known as "God's Thumb".
- Before dying, she pridefully taunts Charles "Trout" Walker that he and his descendants will never find the treasures (though he deserved it for his own cruelty).
What Makes Her Inconsistent?[]
- She is too tragic and sympathetic to be Near Pure Evil:
- She fell in love with Sam because he was willing to fix her roof in return for her signature canned peaches that everyone loved. She dedicated her life to educating children, and worked extra hours to educate middle-aged men whose childhoods lacked academic resources, only for Trout Walker to burn down her school and gun down Sam out of jealousy and spite.
- In addition, the Sheriff refused to punish Trout and confirmed he would've done the same actions Trout did, meaning Sam would be killed either way.
- She has a sympathetic death, as she refuses to stoop any lower to Trout's level by throwing down her pistol, and allows a yellow-spotted lizard kill her before Trout can harm her further.
- Generally, a primary aspect of Holes's story is to garner sympathy for Kate.
- She fell in love with Sam because he was willing to fix her roof in return for her signature canned peaches that everyone loved. She dedicated her life to educating children, and worked extra hours to educate middle-aged men whose childhoods lacked academic resources, only for Trout Walker to burn down her school and gun down Sam out of jealousy and spite.
- She has some honor, as she took little pleasure from hurting people, allowed Stanley Yelnats to live, refused to shoot at Charles Walker, and is genuinely affable even after her fall to villainay
- Since she hallucinates seeing Sam, calls a venomous yellow-spotted lizard (who would later kill her) a romantic pet name and has the aforementioned lack of sadism, she may have moral agency issues.
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 Inconsistently Heinous
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Animated Features Live-Action Features Animated Television See Also | ||
 Inconsistently Heinous
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Animated Features Live-Action Features See Also | ||