My impression was that she had called her nobel person before Blair told her not to interfere more, and that the extent of her crimes after Blair told her to back off is that when Lars called back and told her that, apparently, he DID have the clout to get Blair's paper considered for the science prize (for some reason), she was not strong enough to tell him "Never mind."
To be fair to Naomi, she knew not what she did. She thought that Blair was being reticent about his paper because of low self-esteem; she didn't know it was a privacy issue with Jim. Even when he told her not to get involved anymore, and he mentioned that Jim wouldn't be happy, he didn't explain it clearly enough to convince that Jim would really be hurt. My feeling is that Naomi became honestly regretful when she witnessed Blair and Jim's fight and Jim's speech about how his life is ruined. She likes Jim, and she never meant for any of that to happen. Sure, she should have trusted Blair and listened to him; he's an adult and it's his work, not hers. But she certainly doesn't bear the guilt for what actually ended up happening. She had no way of knowing what was at stake.
Interesting points about Blair's record. I don't think Blair would want Jim risking his career for him after he had gone to all this trouble to save it. It's not clear how the whole academy thing would have ended up playing out.
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ninetydegrees
no subject
on 2007-10-16 05:43 pm (UTC)To be fair to Naomi, she knew not what she did. She thought that Blair was being reticent about his paper because of low self-esteem; she didn't know it was a privacy issue with Jim. Even when he told her not to get involved anymore, and he mentioned that Jim wouldn't be happy, he didn't explain it clearly enough to convince that Jim would really be hurt. My feeling is that Naomi became honestly regretful when she witnessed Blair and Jim's fight and Jim's speech about how his life is ruined. She likes Jim, and she never meant for any of that to happen. Sure, she should have trusted Blair and listened to him; he's an adult and it's his work, not hers. But she certainly doesn't bear the guilt for what actually ended up happening. She had no way of knowing what was at stake.
Interesting points about Blair's record. I don't think Blair would want Jim risking his career for him after he had gone to all this trouble to save it. It's not clear how the whole academy thing would have ended up playing out.