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Martha May Whovier is a major character of the 2000 live-action adaptation of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
She was the love interest of The Grinch and Mayor Augustus Maywho. Unlike the majority of the Whos, she was one of the only Whos who never treated him like an outcast, along with Cindy Lou Who.
She was played by Christine Baranski as an adult, who play Tanya Chesham-Leigh from Mamma Mia! and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again! while Landry Allbright played as an 8 year old Martha May.
Her Story[]
The Past[]
In her childhood, Martha was the only one who was ever nice to the Grinch as he had a beard despite being only 8. She flirted with him by saying that she loved the colors of red and green, then caressed his face with her hand.
This surprised the Grinch who decided to make a gift for her in reciprocation for her feelings to which he shared.
The next day, when the Grinch presented his gift to Martha, the other classmates, led by Augustus May Who, laughed and bullied him for shaving in an attempt to impress Martha.
Before Martha could defend him from being humiliated, the Grinch angrily destroyed the class Christmas decorations in a fit of rage, terrifying their classmates as they realized they pushed him too far, and then left, and has lived on Mount Crumpit north of Whoville ever since, and was never seen again. Martha was devastated by what happened, feeling heartbroken and saddened by it. She continued to live in Whoville and grew into a beautiful young woman, despite carrying those same feelings for him for many years from when she was 8 years old.
The Present[]
As the years passed by, Martha grew up to become a sultry and beautiful woman. She's also became a rival with Cindy Lou Who's mom, Betty Lou Who, who’s challenged to win the light decorating contest each year which Martha wins each year (mostly due to Martha's wealth standing and Mayor Augustus May Who's feelings for her, as he too had a crush on her and was jealous of her having affections for the Grinch, leading to his bullying that caused the Grinch to flee Whoville when they were kids).
Later she's seen telling Cindy what she knew about the Grinch whom she's known since childhood, and inadvertently confesses to having had a "crush" on him, though Cindy never asks her.
At the Whobilation One-Thousand Celebration, Martha is seen unimpressed by Mayor Augustus May Who's behavior as he would take out a razor to make people laugh at him and bully him like he did at school to the Grinch. As Grinch arrives, she is seen watching him from the distance and cheering him, but hiding her feelings without being noticed.
At the Gift Pass On, Augustus takes the opportunity to propose to Martha, knowing it would bother the Grinch, after giving him a gift that would purposefully remind him of his tormented childhood. Martha is speechless that Augustus has asked her to marry him as it makes her feel uneasy since she's clearly still in love with the Grinch, despite her attempts to hide it.
Before she can answer the proposal, she’s interrupted by the Grinch who starts ranting about the commercial and frivolous side of Christmas, and proceeds to disrupt and destroy the celebration. Martha faints when the Grinch starts his rampage, but is still semi-conscious enough to watch him burn down the Whoville Christmas Tree in the town square, an act that actually impresses her.
She decides to think about Augustus's proposal until the next day. She goes to bed with the trophy from winning the lighting contest again, but while she's asleep, the Grinch robs her of everything, including taking Augustus' engagement ring and making several faces at her, upset she apparently chose Augustus over him. A deleted scene shows her waking up to find her own home ransacked by the Grinch overnight, to her shock and devastation, even crying as the Grinch sadistically watches from his lair on his periscope, despite his own attraction to her. On Christmas morning, Martha watches Augustus publicly blame Cindy Lou for what happened, even though the blame was his for bullying him (and the Grinch's fault himself for choosing to steal the presents, decorations, food and lights).
When Lou defends his daughter from the Mayor's accusations and tells him off, she listens to Lou's speech about the true meaning of Christmas, is touched by it, and realizes that Christmas is also about spending time with your loved ones, and realizes who it is she loves and desires to be with.
In the end, Martha, who sees Augustus May Who's true nature, decides to call off the engagement, give Augustus his ring back, and reveal her true feelings after the Grinch reforms, which in turn makes the Grinch happy since he clearly feels the same way.
She’s then seen during the song "Welcome Christmas" at the Grinch's side and later at the Grinch's home on Mount Crumpit where he's cutting the roast beast, where Martha and the Grinch can be seen flirting with each other. It would appear they have started a relationship as they are seen smiling at each other as the film ends.
Appearance[]
Martha has long brown hair, which was previously straight with two pigtails as a child but is curled as an adult and has similar facial features as other adult Whos. She's shown to wear a black and white shirt and skirt, with white gloves in her childhood.
Later on, she is shown to have matured into a curvy and arousing woman, with a robust chest, and an alluring behind.
She’s first seen as an adult wearing a Santa Claus inspired dress, that reveals a large amount of cleavage, and a very short skirt that doesn't cover much. She’s later at the Whobilation in a tight red dress with a floor-length green skirt, exposing her slim, curvy figure and wears a mistletoe pin in her hair.
She’s later seen in her sleeping gown or robe, which is white and light blue, with large sleeves and is floor length.
Much like Cindy Lou Who and the rest of the children, she is the only adult Who with no snout, and kept her nose that way through plastic surgery to stay youthful.
Trivia[]
- Helen Hunt, Nicole Kidman, Cameron Diaz, Famke Janssen, Joely Fisher, Rene Russo, Michelle Pfeiffer, Drew Barrymore, Sandra Bullock and Catherine O'Hara were briefly considered for the role of Martha May Whovier before Christine Baranski was cast.
- Even though she denies that she has feelings for The Grinch, she has harbored a secret crush since childhood. She is unafraid of The Grinch, just like Cindy Lou Who, due to caring about him and shows some kindness to The Grinch in turn, though she doesn't see him until years later.
- As children, Martha May returns The Grinch's feelings after saying to him that red and green are her favorite colors on Christmas which surprises The Grinch and he decides to give her a gift, until the next day when he is made fun of for both his homemade gift, and his bad shaving job by Augustus and the other children. This causes him to lose him temper, destroy the classroom and run away even though it hurts Martha May's feelings, and she has since felt bad since their childhoods.
- In a deleted scene it is revealed that Martha May wins the light contest every year due to the Mayor's unreciprocated feelings for her, and therefore does not want her to lose the contest. In another deleted scene, Augustus asks Martha May on a date, but she politely turns him down.
- When the Mayor proposes to her, she is stunned, because she still loves The Grinch and she hopes that The Grinch loves her to. In the end, she calls off the would-be engagement and reveals to everyone including The Mayor that her heart belongs to The Grinch.
- Martha is the first girlfriend of The Grinch and the only love interest in this movie.
- Martha May Whovier from How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) was completely written off from the 2018 movie as the writers felt that a voluptuous love interest is not the kind of message they wanted to acquire this time which is connected to the controversy from The Cat in the Hat (2003). Like many other versions of the classic Christmas story, the Grinch was never given a love interest.
- It’s unknown exactly when, or even why Martha May started having feelings for the Grinch, though it’s sometime before we see them in grade school, where we can see that she’s infatuated with the Grinch. It’s implied that she hated the Mayor since they were in school due to his treatment of Grinch, which is further cemented when he publicly ridicule's Cindy Lou on Christmas. It’s assumed she falls in love with Grinch due to him being misunderstood and seeing that underneath his exterior he’s very sweet.
- The jewels in Martha May's hair when she’s explaining the Grinch's backstory is from the tree topper that the young Grinch made for Martha when they were kids.
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