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| Ellar Coltrane in Boyhood |
“American
Millennial”
A Review of Boyhood by Nick Olszyk
MPAA Rating, R
USCCB Rating, L
Reel Rating, Three Reels
Boyhood is a bold experiment in the
medium of film, shot in 39 days but over 12 years allowing the young boy
protagonist Mason (Ellar Coltrane) to age naturally along with his mother,
father, sister, and everyone else. The effect is truly wonderful, creating an
unprecedented sense of realism. Director Richard Linklater wanders in and out
of Mason’s life at an unhurried pace for nearly three hours allowing the
audience to see the hallmark moments of an entire childhood. Mason becomes an
adult but is really a man?
This
story is not only about Mason but 21st century America in its
infancy, hitting important cultural landmarks like Forrest Gump without the chocolates. There’s Saturday morning
cartoons, Halo, war in Iraq ,
and Mason’s father instructing him to steal McCain-Palin signs from
unsuspecting conservative lawns. The boy passively observes these events as a
stand-in for the audience, rarely engaging the world in any meaningful way or
even speaking full sentences until the latter part of the film. He is spitting
image of the Millennial generation, a child of divorced parents living with his
single mother and one opposite-sex sibling. His mom complains about money
problems but always seems to have a nice houses full of needless knick-knacks.
Right from the first scene, Mason is introduced to things beyond his maturity
level. His eight year older sister (Lorelei Linklater) wakes him up by dancing
suggestively to “Oops I did it Again.” He contemplates a dead bird, moves
around constantly, is bullied in school, discovers pornography, and sits
through an extremely awkward conversation about contraception with his sister.
His only relaxing moments come from bi-weekly visits with his real father Mason
Sr. (Linklater regular Ethan Hawke). They go on camping trips, frequent music
venues, and talk about life. “What kind of man do you want to be?” his father
asks. Mason isn’t sure, and, while he gets plenty of advice, life doesn’t seem
to be giving him any answers.
The
primary reason Mason is so rudderless is the poor example of his parents. They
are both basically good people who love their children yet are divorced
because…well, they just don’t “fit.” Growing up primarily with his mother, he
has to endure two alcoholic stepfathers, one of which is violently abusive. His
mother is attracted to men who seem worldly and smart but gives little thought
to their parenting skills, even cooperating with their poor actions. If Mason
has no positive models, at least he has plenty of negative ones. Yet his own relationships
unfortunately mirror these issues. Mason falls in love way too quickly and just
as quickly breaks up when things get troublesome rather than working out
problems.
Early
on, Mason shows an intense interest in fantasy, primarily through the Harry Potter series. Late one night, he
asks his father if magic exists. “Well, I don’t know about magic, but what
about the blue whale? What if I told you there was a giant sea creature that
had a heart the size of a car? You would think that was magical,” he father
grins. Mason isn’t convinced. “So there are no elves and stuff.” “No,” his
father replies. “There are no elves.” This is about as close Boyhood comes to a genuine conversation
about religion; the disappointment Mason feels resounds through his generation.
As theologian Peter Kreeft observes, “we have traded the wine of the gospel for
the water of psychobabble.” It’s difficult for Catholics to imagine a childhood
devoid of religion, but this is reality for many kids. After several years,
Mason Sr. marries a wonderful woman from the deep South. On his sixteenth
birthday, Mason’s new stepgrandparents give him a red-letter Bible, a Sunday
suit, and the family shotgun. Mason’s father and the director treat them
respectfully but with typical leftist amusement. Despite this, they are the
only normal and happy couple in the whole film, having found the meaning of
life that eludes everyone else. The great tragedy of Boyhood will not be noticed by most – Mason has a religious
vocation. In high school, he finds his passion in photography. He is deeply
emphatic and sensitive, observing life with awe and admiration, and loves
spiritual matters, wanting to find the deepest answers of life. Yet no one has
given him a language or path to pursue this need. Hopefully, Mason will one day
open that dusty Bible and find his true calling.
Many
times throughout the film, important questions are raised but few are ever really
explored. Mason is a smart kid but not driven to really do anything. He finally
concludes that life simply happens; a person just deals with it as best he can.
But what do the events in a childhood mean? How do they shape him? Is he now
the man he is meant to be? He isn’t sure and neither is the film. Despite the
general murkiness, Boyhood is an
incredibly compelling story told in an amazing manner. This is, after all, just
one snippet in Mason’s life. His journey continues and maybe one day it will
all make sense.
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