Richard Linklater 's Boyhood Was A Super Hit American Drama Film

We also learn that all boys present have varying degrees of difficult home life. Sula Wolff states that behaviour is shaped by the influences around us, including the influences of our own family (1989, 10), so while in the movie, we are told that one of the boys, Chris, has a family known for causing trouble, we are

1. One of my favorite movies of all time is “The Kids Are Alright”. It centers on a lesbian couple, Nic and Jules, and their two children, Laser and Joni. Laser and Joni are biologically half brother and sister, sharing the same sperm donor father. Laser is only fifteen, but interested in getting to know his biological father. He convinces his older sister to look him up, knowing he would have to be eighteen to do it himself. The movie follows the repercussions of the discovery of their biological dad, and also examines Nic and Jules’ relationship, and Laser’s development of independence, self, and identity.

Conversely, Kusserow, instead of using irony or literary images, she forms meaning in her poetry through the use of metaphors. As Tyson states, “ A metaphor is a comparison of two dissimilar objects in which the properties of one are ascribed to the other” (143). Kusserow uses several metaphors throughout her poem to help elucidate the effects of the Second Sudanese Civil Wars on the Lost Boys. Regarding the “Lost Boys”, the name given to the groups of over 20,000 boys of the Neur and Dinka ethnic groups who were displaced and orphaned during the Second Sudanese Civil War, Kusserow writes, “packs of bony Lost Boys / roving like hyenas towards Ethiopia, / tongues, big as toads, swelling in their mouths” (15-17). Here, Kusserow has used two zoomorphic metaphors, applying animal characteristics sot humans. She compares the Lost Boys to a hyena, a wild and chaotic animal, depicting the boys as a bunch of mad and violent scavengers, implying that they try to search for and collect anything that can be a source of food for them. Moreover, her comparison in which she describes the tongues of the Boys to be as big as toads, she is illustrating the extreme level of dehydration that the boy’s probable experienced, and how their tongues swell up since that is a symptom of dehydration. From Kusserow’s use of zoomorphic metaphors, we can see that she is trying to show how the Lost Boys have been dehumanized due to the dreadful condition they have had to face as a product of the Second

The parent’s decision to act freely and have no worries in life causes the family’s struggle, and leads them to poverty. The struggle for the family is shown in the quote, “Mom's salary created a whole new set of problems” (Walls.p.48). What this means is that money would solve all the family's problems, but it doesn't—mostly because the dad takes all the money. Later on in the memoir Jeannette says, “Mom decided Maureen

The author of the book, Wes Moore, describes the different opportunities and life style he had with another person who shared the same name. The similarities that those boys had when they were younger were significant. Both boys grew up without a paternal figure and their mothers had to work extremely hard to take care of the rest of the family; they were constantly moving from city to city to ensure education and safety. Their mothers had to work excessive number of hours to cover the most basic needs. Living in poverty changed the future of the boys.

Moody’s family was not always broken but after her parents split up, they began to struggle financially and emotionally. Moody’s mother, Toosweet, was the only one working so Moody made the observation that “…she had been killing herself for more than seven years working one job after another trying to feed [them] and keep [them] in school and all.” (45) Also, since Toosweet was pregnant again, Moody was afraid she was going to have to “quit school and work full time” (43) to help provide for her family. The family was struggling even when Toosweet was working and Moody knew they would lose everything if her mom quit her job. She was already mentally putting herself in the shoes of an adult as a child to prepare herself.

Over the course of 11 years, the life of Mason was showcased in the movie “Boyhood” (Linklater, 2014). Mason grew up with various life challenging issues. But throughout the Journey, Mason was always forging ahead.

The movie I’m going to focus on is Baby Boy. Baby Boy is a movie by John Singleton set in California and focusing on a young black man named Jody and the struggles he faces in everyday life. I chose this movie because I can kind of relate to the story being that I’m from California and I’ve seen a lot of the situations presented in the movie. Jody is in his early twenties and has two kids by two different women, Yvette and Peanut. He still lives with his mother and acts like he is still a kid, hence the name of the movie Baby Boy. Yvette considers Jody to be her man but he’s still messing around with his other baby mama Peanut, along with numerous other women. Jody and Yvette are constantly arguing about his infidelity and his

Richard Linklater’s Boyhood leaves the audience questioning, asking, and wanting more. The entirety of the film is a recollection of memories and experiences throughout the course of Mason’s childhood. Overall Boyhood is like an unsolved puzzle with missing pieces that aren’t enough to solve the puzzle. The entire movie is questionable and has so many gaps in-between each memory that there really is no plot. Since there isn’t a plot it makes you question if it is really about boyhood, about family, maybe Mason’s childhood, or girlhood. Certain questions begin to formulate like, why doesn’t Linklater use the typical format of storytelling during Mason’s childhood? How come we never know what happened between Oliva and Mason Sr? Why doesn’t

Mason Crazy, funny, energetic, strong. Son of Mother, brother of Sister, grandson of Nann and Granpa. Lover of Lacrosse, School, and Animals. Who feels confidence, responsibility and is muscular. Who needs hats, sunglasses, and an Under Armour shirt.

Whether it be due the malleable minds of children, or the turbulent world around them, dramatic changes in life are an absolute certainty. Young, naïve children are highly impressionable. Their parents teach them one thing, their friends another, and society, yet something else. Fickle, they morph in and out of the plethora of ideologies and mindsets laid out in front of them. This leads to a disorienting and rather confusing child-to-young-adult life, one without a clear sense of morality. The lack of focus upon what is right and wrong, inherently subjective terms, continues into our early adult hood and, for better or worse, seemingly defines the child for the rest of his or her life. This universal theme has been explored for many years through films aptly called “coming-of-age” stories, recently, and perhaps most effectively in Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom (2012). This film revolves around Sam and Suzy, two recently pubescent kids, their romantic affair, and their effects on the world around them. The film not only captures the youthful dynamic between the two protagonists, but explores the “coming-of-age” theme through Anderson’s signature flat perspective and through the actors’ portrayals of these characters.

This Boy’s Life is a 1993 film adapted from the memoir by Tobias Wolff, a popular contemporary writer, which was first published in 1989. The film is directed by Michael Caton-Jones and stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Tobias Wolff, Robert De Niro as his stepfather Dwight Hansen, and Ellen Barkin as Toby’s mother Caroline. The film starts with Caroline and Toby driving away from their past to Utah, where they plan to find uranium and hope to begin a new life. Their family broke 5 years ago, when Toby’s dad married a rich woman and took Toby’s older brother, Gregory, with him. Caroline’s new relationship doesn’t work out well either; her naïve hope to become richer can’t come true, and she again decides to change her and her son’s life by moving to Washington state. This is where Caroline meets Dwight Hansen, who wants to marry her and seems to be the best way of finally settling down. Although the film, This Boy’s Life, depicts all of its characters’ conflicts and personal issues to some extent, it has Toby’s character stand out of all of them in the film with all the struggles he faces with an absentee biological father, a non-supportive mother, an abusive stepfather, and the normal trials of a teenage boy constantly fighting for identity and fighting his inner and outer worlds.

Everyone has a coming of age story, it’s a necessary chapter in everyone’s book. For Danny Boyle, the coming-of-age stories are all very interesting and intricate. In Slumdog Millionaire he takes on the perspectives of orphaned children living in India who is merely trying to survive. Compared to his other works, Slumdog Millionaire evokes emotion from the audience. Taking more of a comedic route to the coming-of-age process, we turn our heads to Trainspotting.

The lie adults tell you, that these will be the best years of your life, is merely a cover-up for the real truth: high school is awkward, embarrassing, heartbreaking, and anything but easy. It’s a time where teenagers are exposed to an early mockup of the real world, both the good and bad, wrapped up into a not-so-neat four year package. Writer and Director Rian Johnson’s Brick (2005) is a tale that is both dark and dramatic, where Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is out for answers after the murder of his ex-girlfriend Emily (Emilie de Ravin). Johnson carefully chooses stylistic elements from the film noir movement and merges them into a modern neo-noire thriller taking place in a modern high school setting. Brick is a dark interpretation of high school life borrowing from film noir’s stylized interpretation of the world as a dark place filled with violence and despair. The film’s achronological structure works to underscore the theme exploring the hidden amoral side of people - where the line separating good intentions from tainted motives becomes fragmented in pursuit of the truth. As Brendan’s incessant desire to find the person responsible for Emily’s murder unfolds, we unravel the details about the murder in a way which reveals much more than Brendan ever expected to find out.

In the 1984 film, our young hero, Daniel LaRusso, moves to New Jersey with his mother. Likewise, our younger hero from the 2010 remake, Dre Parker, moves from Detroit to Beijing for his mother’s work. Both attend school and seek acceptance from their peers. Additionally, both boys live near their respective handyman, Mr. Miyagi in the original, and Mr. Han in the remake. These men act as the only father figures throughout the films.These unique settings created a mysterious surrounding for our underdog heroes which presenting new challenges and endeavors..