Mommy Reflection

MOMMY THOUGHTS-

☹ Overall though, it is an interesting movie cinematography wise. I have seen artists mess around with on and off screen visual space before (both in movies and in my favorite webcomic, Homestuck) and it makes for a nice bit of resonating symbolism. Spaces that once were constrained open for a brief moment and then the film teases us with everything a person can hope for these characters before ripping it away as painfully as possible and closing in the world around them. Very well done. At the same time, I would never watch this film again. Because while it is no surprise to me that ‘love is not enough’ the film didn’t really address what would have been.

I guess on the off chance someone is reading this who is not my professor (Hi there Dr. Eric!) I should explain something of what I am talking about here. There are three principal characters in this movie. Diana ‘Die’ who is the mother of Steve, who has a bucket of issues, and Kyla their neighbor from across the street who appears to have an intense stutter or other speech disorder. Steve, as a result of his issues including violent outbursts, trust issues, ADHD, abusive tendencies, crimes, and other characters actions and traits has put his mother in a tough position. On the one hand, she wants her son close to her because she loves him and wants him to go out into the world and succeed. On the other hand, she is not equipped to deal with Steve’s outbursts and maintain any kind of stability in her life. Eventually, she decides that Steve is better off in an asylum while she hopes for a good outcome and Kyla leaves. The end.

The woman who worked in Steve’s first asylum was right, just loving Steve and allowing him to make his own choices was not enough to help him overcome some pretty severe issues. Kyla, I will note, was making some pretty excellent progress with him though for the record, but between his unwillingness to take his medication and his continued self-sabotage of himself and others they did need better mental health support than what was available to them. If Die could not make him take the actions he needed to in order to live a comfortable healthy life than what is the answer that they needed. The film treats the asylum at the end as a betrayal and giving up, which perhaps it was. Asylums previously in the film have been flooded and terrible looking, and I have no way of knowing how hyperbolic this films treatment of the Canadian system is. Die’s choice seems to be between doing too little and entirely too much and what is the actual right answer in this situation. The film does not say, and that bothers me to no end because this shouldn’t be the reality anyone faces and it is tragic. Pointlessly tragic. Perhaps this film is, therefore, an interesting rhetoric to someone who has not thought about these issues before. As someone who has seen these choices being made in real life though and has to deal watch far less poetic versions of this story play out I just wound up leaving the film mildly irritated. Darn. I don’t mean to be so harsh on these movies. At the same time, however, I am not going to lie about my thoughts on them. Here is hoping Amy manages to change the trend later this week!