Beth is grieving by withholding her love for Connie. Anger and rejection are how she is protecting herself. For her, it's easier to be cold and hateful than to break down in sobs.
[SPOILER!!!]
Later in the film, an event occurs where we see just how much she was putting on an act to save herself.
Its funny, how in so many movies and shows, you see a couple of people get together over a drink. One person has a couple of sips, and then all of a sudden has to leave. What a waste of time and of a beverage, lol.
What a lot of people don't seem to understand is that Beth is hurting just as much as Conrad. She just deals with it differently. She has shut herself off from caring about ANYTHING to numb the pain. Conrad has tried to commit suicide. Her way of coping with the potential loss of him too is to not allow herself to feel anything for him. In the process she's destroying herself. She is a character to be pitied not reviled.
@pdonster2 I don't think the movie shows that though. I think Beth actually felt proud through her first born's success because she is that superficial,because that is what she only cared for; appearance. It's also mentioned in the movie, I think her husband asked her if she loved her dead son,even him doubted it.
@mustwinder i think the mom is one of those annoying and ignorant people who look down upon mental disorders and thinks you can just 'snap out of depression'. She really wants to look good to other people.
@SuperBellaJade Oh come on, that's pretty harsh. I know she comes acorss a bit cold but she's a mother who lost a child and is probably terrified of losing another. It's denial. She's scared. That's grief. Everyone expresses it differently.
It's interesting that Mary Tyler Moore specifically said in interviews following this movie that she did not want people to dismiss the mom as a "bitch." And sadly, that is exactly what the majority of youtubers do. She is far more complex than that. This is her performance of a lifetime. Plenty of women have played "the bitch," but few have carried heartbreak that is so clearly eating this woman up.
I feel like if he had called her and kept in touch she would have stayed alive alittle longer. Not forever but she would have felt a connection and would not have felt she had to put on a fake appearance of being happy. If she was honest with herself she would have said yeah i wish i was back in the hospital also.
She has so many issues. She wants people to think her family is perfect. She felt like her husband displaying that information was a sign of weakness.
Mary Tyler Moore is absolutely brilliant in her performance! A Best Actress nominee at the 1980 Academy Awards, she lost to Sissy Spacek (Coal Miner's Daughter) but my vote would have gone to her. She perfectly inhibits the aloof and hurting mother and there are actually strong similarities between Beth and Mary Richards. Though Richards was very sweet, she was often "polite" vs. "nice", much like Beth. Moore was a genius in this role!
@pitbull103 I don't care how much you're grieving. That's your child. You suck it up and realize that your child is far more important than you. Especially when that child needs you.
@pitbull103 actually, I am writing a paper rightnow, she really doesnt wanna deal with Conrad she disconfirms him through out the movie, she never had that motherly bond to Conrad, like she did buck. You gotta look at all the views and issues.. yah it sucks blame my teacher.
@pitbull103 well said. I actually feel sorry for her, despite some of the uncalled for things that she says. But she brittle on the inside and not strong, and doesnt know how to handle her grief and any issues she has with Conrad. The result is a facade,
SpreadTheWord11 thanks from Lima, Perú. This excellent film shows how a tragedy reveals the latent conflicts in a family apparently "ordinary" & happy. The impact of the elder son's death in each member of the family provokes negative reactions: the mother's insensitivity & resentment against his survival son, the deppression of young Conrad. But also the crisis produces a positive reaction, too: the effort of the father for understanding what happens with her wife & his son. Thanks again!
Sorry...in the book, it says that he chopped his hair up either before trying to kill himself, or after he was put in the hospital. I haven't read the book in a long time. That's why she says his hair grew back in nicely, and he says "yeah, that was a dumb thing to do."
i kinda thought he was referring to the shock therapy, which requires him cutting his hair off, as a "dumb thing to do", not necessarily just cutting his hair off.
The doctor says: "I think you came in here looking like something out of the body snatchers." He's mistaken. It's the boy's father, Donald Sutherland, who was in that movie. Small plot hole.
How is that a plot hole? He's simply trying to be amusing by referring to a creature from said film, that and nothing more. Sure, Donald Sutherland was in that film, but I don't see how this is a plot hole. How the bloody is this a plot hole???
Even if it was a "joke," how the bloody hell does a plot hole figure into all of that??? When you have to tell someone that it''s a joke, you have failed miserably in your "joke." :o)
"Hey, would you cheer up?" As if it were a decision... It must have probably felt really bad for Jared that even the girl that was with him at the hospital was getting better and not understanding him.
Looks like a boring party.
geupelboi 2 weeks ago
Beth has a problem with favoritism.
CreeperBeatdown 2 weeks ago
"Like something out of the body snatchers..."
Donald Sutherland! :D
antiinsomniac 1 month ago
@mustwinder
she looks like Gloria Estefan :-)
saar144 1 month ago
@mustwinder Her name is Dinah Manhoff and she was in the film version of Grease. She played Marty Marichino (as in Cherry)...lol.
kamobile 1 month ago
Beth is grieving by withholding her love for Connie. Anger and rejection are how she is protecting herself. For her, it's easier to be cold and hateful than to break down in sobs.
[SPOILER!!!]
Later in the film, an event occurs where we see just how much she was putting on an act to save herself.
DickieAnginson 3 months ago
The Mother's issues are not about grief. Grief just added another dimension. The Nature of the Mother is the problem. She has a personality defect.
kitiowa 4 months ago
Her husband is the furthest thing from a robot. Seriously? He's warm, funny, and loving. She's much more of a robot than he is.
dulceparamour21 5 months ago 4
@dulceparamour21 Absolutely
calalilygirl 5 months ago
Her situation is worse than all. Lost a kid and has a robot for a husband. The pain is like a web
pnice000 5 months ago
Drinking and driving... Ah, house parties in the 80's.
Mitchellfw 7 months ago 4
Calvin is right.Seeing a doctor is a status symbol not something to be ashamed of
501columbus 8 months ago 4
@501columbus Maybe not back then
calalilygirl 5 months ago
@501columbus fuck you.
klasomentas 2 months ago
Its funny, how in so many movies and shows, you see a couple of people get together over a drink. One person has a couple of sips, and then all of a sudden has to leave. What a waste of time and of a beverage, lol.
manguy2000 1 year ago
What a lot of people don't seem to understand is that Beth is hurting just as much as Conrad. She just deals with it differently. She has shut herself off from caring about ANYTHING to numb the pain. Conrad has tried to commit suicide. Her way of coping with the potential loss of him too is to not allow herself to feel anything for him. In the process she's destroying herself. She is a character to be pitied not reviled.
pdonster2 1 year ago 4
@pdonster2 I don't think the movie shows that though. I think Beth actually felt proud through her first born's success because she is that superficial,because that is what she only cared for; appearance. It's also mentioned in the movie, I think her husband asked her if she loved her dead son,even him doubted it.
klasomentas 9 months ago
@pdonster2 ...if my former response is a spoiler,hide it.
klasomentas 9 months ago
@pdonster2 very very well said
MVR326 6 months ago
@mustwinder i think the mom is one of those annoying and ignorant people who look down upon mental disorders and thinks you can just 'snap out of depression'. She really wants to look good to other people.
SuperBellaJade 1 year ago
@SuperBellaJade Oh come on, that's pretty harsh. I know she comes acorss a bit cold but she's a mother who lost a child and is probably terrified of losing another. It's denial. She's scared. That's grief. Everyone expresses it differently.
VVExtra 1 year ago 3
@mustwinder I thought the samething about the mother too. =)~
Persephonie22 1 year ago
It's interesting that Mary Tyler Moore specifically said in interviews following this movie that she did not want people to dismiss the mom as a "bitch." And sadly, that is exactly what the majority of youtubers do. She is far more complex than that. This is her performance of a lifetime. Plenty of women have played "the bitch," but few have carried heartbreak that is so clearly eating this woman up.
pitbull103 1 year ago
I feel like if he had called her and kept in touch she would have stayed alive alittle longer. Not forever but she would have felt a connection and would not have felt she had to put on a fake appearance of being happy. If she was honest with herself she would have said yeah i wish i was back in the hospital also.
wishywashygirl19 1 year ago
She has so many issues. She wants people to think her family is perfect. She felt like her husband displaying that information was a sign of weakness.
wishywashygirl19 1 year ago 3
Mary Tyler Moore is absolutely brilliant in her performance! A Best Actress nominee at the 1980 Academy Awards, she lost to Sissy Spacek (Coal Miner's Daughter) but my vote would have gone to her. She perfectly inhibits the aloof and hurting mother and there are actually strong similarities between Beth and Mary Richards. Though Richards was very sweet, she was often "polite" vs. "nice", much like Beth. Moore was a genius in this role!
fusock 1 year ago
People who simply "hate" the mom don't understand the nature of grief.
pitbull103 1 year ago 40
@pitbull103 I don't care how much you're grieving. That's your child. You suck it up and realize that your child is far more important than you. Especially when that child needs you.
dstluke 1 year ago
@pitbull103 actually, I am writing a paper rightnow, she really doesnt wanna deal with Conrad she disconfirms him through out the movie, she never had that motherly bond to Conrad, like she did buck. You gotta look at all the views and issues.. yah it sucks blame my teacher.
AsetianStormL 1 year ago
@pitbull103 I agree. I don't think she's not supposed to be a 'lovable' character, anyway.
VVExtra 1 year ago
@pitbull103 I agree. I don't think she's supposed to be a 'lovable' character, anyway.
VVExtra 1 year ago
@pitbull103 Yeah and they don't understand her personality either, and she's just like Conrad!
bubbletwist2370 7 months ago
@pitbull103 well said. I actually feel sorry for her, despite some of the uncalled for things that she says. But she brittle on the inside and not strong, and doesnt know how to handle her grief and any issues she has with Conrad. The result is a facade,
MVR326 5 months ago
SpreadTheWord11 thanks from Lima, Perú. This excellent film shows how a tragedy reveals the latent conflicts in a family apparently "ordinary" & happy. The impact of the elder son's death in each member of the family provokes negative reactions: the mother's insensitivity & resentment against his survival son, the deppression of young Conrad. But also the crisis produces a positive reaction, too: the effort of the father for understanding what happens with her wife & his son. Thanks again!
musicaenlaniebla 1 year ago
@2:03
Notice she doesn't say Conrad's privacy.
ServosFLyingCircus 1 year ago 4
timothy has a great smile
da1976stone 1 year ago
what's with the "Jump" @ around 3:15?? I'd like to know wtf was said lol
poor Conrad's so "jumpy" he jumped the tape during the transfer onto the computer LMAO sorry had to.
anywho speaking of jumpy, the poor kid's so nervous, he was making ME nervous too to be completely honest. I'm liking this movie so far.
Thanks for posting!!!
ibkristykat 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
1:49... Shut the fuck up bitch
klasomentas 1 year ago
Dinah Manoff as Karen is superb.
KellyGreen5555 1 year ago
@mustwinder
Yeah I fucking hate his mom. I'm watching this movie instead of reading the book for an English assignment and I actually like this movie.
OneLeggedPuppies2010 1 year ago
Conrad has really bad taste in women if he thinks she's beautiful. Or maybe he needs glasses.
7beers 1 year ago
i hate that woman... she's like the worst exuse for a mother there ever was
dnftytun1 1 year ago
Mary Tyler Moore would have won an Oscar in any other year but Sissy Spacek was also brilliant in Coal Miners Daughter taht year
kangaroosbraun 2 years ago
"It was a dumb thing to do." What was so dumb about letting his hair grow in? Weird.
7beers 2 years ago
It was a dumb thing to cut it all off. (According to the book)
rohrgedackt8 2 years ago
To cut what all off?
7beers 2 years ago
Sorry...in the book, it says that he chopped his hair up either before trying to kill himself, or after he was put in the hospital. I haven't read the book in a long time. That's why she says his hair grew back in nicely, and he says "yeah, that was a dumb thing to do."
rohrgedackt8 2 years ago
So he tried to kill himself because he was upset over how his hair looked?
7beers 2 years ago
i kinda thought he was referring to the shock therapy, which requires him cutting his hair off, as a "dumb thing to do", not necessarily just cutting his hair off.
timeforaction 1 year ago
@timeforaction
In the book they tell you that he cut off most of his hair right before he left the hospital.
ServosFLyingCircus 6 months ago
At the end, when she turns around and yells "HEY!", what she should have said next is: "Guess what? I'm in a play -- we're doing A Thousand Clowns"!
7beers 2 years ago
1:31 "He's great." Really, really great! A coffee table book about coffee tables!!
7beers 2 years ago
That girl that Conrad was with in the hospital was not getting better. It was all an act.
MultiJazzyjo 2 years ago 2
mtm is soo good in this
computerwife 2 years ago
i really hope donald sutherland's character slaps the living shit out of her later on
UnicornHead 2 years ago
"You really look beautiful"
"So do you"
Toocrazyforthisworld 2 years ago
The doctor says: "I think you came in here looking like something out of the body snatchers." He's mistaken. It's the boy's father, Donald Sutherland, who was in that movie. Small plot hole.
7beers 2 years ago
How is that a plot hole? He's simply trying to be amusing by referring to a creature from said film, that and nothing more. Sure, Donald Sutherland was in that film, but I don't see how this is a plot hole. How the bloody is this a plot hole???
JoshieDoozie 2 years ago
Open a dictionary and look up the word "joke".
7beers 2 years ago
Even if it was a "joke," how the bloody hell does a plot hole figure into all of that??? When you have to tell someone that it''s a joke, you have failed miserably in your "joke." :o)
JoshieDoozie 2 years ago
Feel better now?
7beers 2 years ago
So... what's a plot hole good sir? :o)
JoshieDoozie 2 years ago
Party scene is just superb.
7beers 2 years ago
Yep all she cares about is her status in society.
Norb1t9 2 years ago
"Hey, would you cheer up?" As if it were a decision... It must have probably felt really bad for Jared that even the girl that was with him at the hospital was getting better and not understanding him.
Painnnnful 2 years ago
Actually, it was the reverse: he was the one who was getting better, not her.
7beers 2 years ago