Mrs. Perry and Chris Noel are submissive to their emotionally abusive significant other. They are similar in the fact that they both listen to what their significant other tells them what to do. In both cases, Mrs. Perry and Chris Noel, will do whatever their partner says to do, even if they find it to be morally incorrect or explicitly against what they want for themselves. They also both have an impending fear of what their man might do if they are directly disobedient. They both have this fear because of the fact that their partner is overly aggressive and controlling. This fear of what could happen is what keeps them tethered to their man.
They may be both submissive and scared of their man, but Chris Noel is more willing to stand up against her man and his actions. In the movie, when Chris boyfriend, Chet, attacks Knox for sexually assaulting her while she was sleeping at a par
ty, Chris screams at Chet to stop hitting Knox and even gets on top of Knox, putting herself in between the two men. This shows that when he is doing something, she doesnt like, she has the courage to stand against it. Now, on the contrary, Mrs. Perry cannot find the courage to do so. In the scene where Mr. Perry is having an argument with Neil about what he wants for his future, and Neil says he doesnt want that for himself, and Mrs. Perry is present, she cannot find the courage to say something against Mr. Perry, and his harsh treatment of Neil. Even though she is visually upset about the encounter between father and son, she still says nothing, because she is scared. In both instances, they are both outwardly upset when things are taken to far by their significant other. This shows that they are at least not too scared to show how they feel emotionally with vocal tones or crying.