Why ‘Boyhood’ Is Also About Fatherhood

Actor Ethan Hawke attends a screening of "Boyhood" on Monday, July 7, 2014, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)
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There is a moment in Richard Linklater’s subtle and unique Boyhood (2014, IFC Films) where your breath catches in your chest, and you’re aware of the reality of what you’re watching. Mason (played beautifully by reserved newcomer Ellar Coltrane) and his girlfriend Sheena are headed to Austin to visit his sister at college and explore what could be their hometown in a year’s time. Seeing him behind the wheel, you’re struck by that same feeling of awe that hits when you see a neighbor’s son or family friend’s daughter after many years- feelings of awe and shock at how the years pass. The only difference is, by that point in the film, we’ve been watching Mason’s transformation unfold in relative real time.

Filmed incrementally over the course of twelve years, Boyhood treats the viewer to an organic unfolding of one Texas family’s triumphs, struggles, and growth. But while the film is billed as the coming of age story of Coltrane’s Mason, there is a second Mason who grows significantly and escapes his own “boyhood,” so to speak: Mason, Sr., played by the seemingly ageless Ethan Hawke.

Much is made of the “emerging adulthood” state of young adults, with adults in their late twenties and early thirties shamed for their need to live with roommates or back at home with their parents. Hawke’s early iteration of Mason Sr. is rife with the fears that come when early parenthood is thrown into that equation. His first encounter with Mason and his older sister Sam (Lorelai Linklater) is full of the stereotypes that we associate with the “weekend visits with Dad”: offers of gifts, bowling outings, halted and awkward exchanges, and the inevitable admonishment of Mom when she arrives home and no homework has been done. Through it all, we see a man who wants to be a part of his kids’ lives, but doesn’t yet truly know how to reconcile their needs with his own.

Over the course of the film’s two and a half hour running time, Mason Sr.’s development runs in relative parallel to his namesake’s. In many ways, the two help each other grow. Mason Senior’s frustrated outburst in the car about the hesitation with which his kids disclose to him is responded to calmly by his junior counterpart with a plea to let their conversations unfold more naturally, acknowledging that it’s a two-way street. This sage advice from a then-seven year old is heeded, and the evolution of their conversations is notable from that point forward. As Mason and Sam grow, we see their father share with them more easily about his job prospects, the idea of dating other women, and his concerns for them about safe sex and distraction-free driving.

More signposts of Senior’s maturity appear gradually, but none more breathtakingly than his arrival to pick Mason and Sam up for a weekend away for Mason’s birthday. He arrives at the curb via minivan (having sold his ubiquitous seatbeat-free GTO), sans beard, and with a new wife and baby in tow; their destination is his in-laws house. What follows is a series of pastimes that seem ill-fitting for the kids (receiving a Bible and shotgun for birthday gifts, shooting guns, going to church), but appear to be coming more naturally to Senior.

One can’t help but wonder how much of this transformation is true to Hawke’s actual personal life. While much has been said about the dissolution of Ellar Coltrane’s parents’ marriage during filming, less has been said (or, perhaps, needs to be said) about the split Hawke underwent with his own wife, actress Uma Thurman, during his time filming Boyhood. As an example, he sings a lullaby to then Mason and Sam after an Astros game, roommate Jimmy accompanying him on guitar; this song was based in large part on one Hawke wrote for his own kids around the same time. The pain evident in the song’s lyrics are immensely fitting for the scene and situation at hand, and even more poignant when paired with Hawke’s own familial struggles at the time. He has since remarried, and created a life that better fits his new family; it’s all the more moving to see him do the same on screen in near parallel.

Sam asks over the weekend, somewhat disgustedly, if her father is becoming one of those “God people.” Maybe not, but what he is becoming is attuned to the needs of others, to his place in the world, and his role in a family. The fit isn’t a perfect one; he still seems to be at a loss for fatherly words at Mason’s high school graduation party, and doesn’t have cash in the instant after his ex-wife Olivia (Patricia Arquette) accepts his offer to pay for part of the event. This particular scene is an interesting one to watch unfold- while Mason Senior has clearly evolved over the course of the twelve years, we see a transformation in Olivia that is at once more intentional, and less successful. We see her moving the family in pursuit of continued education, take on professorial duties, and remarry twice, but ultimately she ends up in the same place as she started. Her development seems arrested at times, while the Masons in her life seem to be moving ever forward. That forward motion takes us aback at times, as we take in the gravity of what we’re seeing. But as they continue driving ahead- Senior in his cliched minivan, Junior in his beat-up pickup, we can’t help but be in awe of just how far they’ve come.

Amma Marfo is a writer, higher education administrator, and popular culture enthusiast dedicated to the idea that our leisure pursuits can inform and enrich the work we do. She writes often for her own blog (“The Dedicated Amateur“) and is a contributing editor to the Niche Movement. Her first book, THE I’S HAVE IT: Reflections on Introversion in Student Affairs, was released in January 2014. Her other interests include running, yoga, surfing, trivia, comedy, and gluten-free cooking/baking. You can follow her on Twitter @ammamarfo.

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  1. I saw Boyhood twice. The first time I came away mostly focused on Mason, Jr. The second time, however, I became much more aware of the development of father and mother, and was particularly moved by Ethan Hawke’s nuanced portrayal of Mason, Sr.

    Yes, he became more responsible, more settled down, as well as loving to those around him. But the scene that got to me was in the music club in Austin where his friend Jimmy was warming up for a gig. You realize what Mason, Sr. had to give up to become that responsible adult, and you realize that Mason, Jr. has come to a crossroads himself, leaving behind his girlfriend, moving to another part of Texas, choosing to pursue his photography, at least for now.

    Mason, Sr. exudes a complex mix of satisfaction and sadness – an awareness of who he has become and choices made. He’s a better man, for sure, but it comes at a cost.

  2. I’ve just seen it once, but I’ll probably see it again, as it was masterfully done. The movie prompted me to reflect on my own Mason Sr-esque extended adolescence, as well as the my relationship to my 14 year old son, and men’s often prickly and prickish interactions with adolescent boys. I’m gonna try to cut teenage boys some more slack 'cos being one ain’t always easy, and that’s not a bad take-away from a movie.

    Now if someone would only come out with a “Girlhood” to help me with my 12 year old daughter. :wink:

  3. That was a good review. For me, the scenes with Ethan Hawke were generally the strongest in the movie–the only times I felt truly engaged with it. I agree that the evolution of Hawke’s character was an important aspect of the film and that this, in general, was well portrayed. Nonetheless I did not buy his relationship with the Christian woman and her cartoonish parents. That character would not have gone in that direction and, if he did, I would view it as a mistake on his part. This seemed to me just an exaggerated attempt on Linklater’s part to capture the notion of settling down, making compromises and so forth. And his having the cliched minivan seemed, well, cliched. Why did he need a minivan anyway? He had one baby, not a whole brood to shuttle around.

    And, not to be a wet blanket, but I have to say that I was a bit disappointed by the film as a whole. I am a big Linklater fan, or at least I thought I was. And it’s not that it wasn’t a good movie, but I was led to believe it was going to be a masterpiece and it wasn’t. While I was expecting to have to be carried from the theater overcome with emotion, all in all I just didn’t find it that moving. Perhaps my expectations were too high. But the cliches! The minivan was one. And that ending about “having the moments seize you” and “it just being one moment after another.” Argh! Okay, that’s the kind of thing that adolescents say, along with shouting into the dusk at Big Bend. But those statements and types of actions also have a strong element of self-consciousness to them; they are cringe-worthy when you have to watch them. My wife groaned out loud when those lines were spoken, Was Linklater attempting to capture that dynamic? Maybe, but that doesn’t seem to be any of the reviewers’ reactions. No, it is seen as profound statement. One called it “Zen”! (clearly any mention of being in the moment is the essence of Zen (sarcasm)). I think we were supposed to be moved by the passion of it all and I wasn’t.

    I apologize to anyone who loved the movie for having to read this; I know it can be irritating to hear something you liked being criticized. But to me this basic idea that when we are young we’re on fire and idealistic, awash in a series of incredible moments and then growing up means compromising and becoming conventional and getting a mini-van seems hackneyed and superficial.

  4. I probably shouldn’t be reading spoilers since I haven’t seen this movie and am looking forward to it. That being said, this article had some spoilers and Matthew’s comments validate what was going through my head as I was reading it. If this is how Hawke’s character “transforms”, it’s a bit too cliche. You don’t have to buy a lame minivan, become religious, and give up your dreams to be a responsible adult.

    In any case, I still want to see the movie and judge for myself. :slight_smile:

  5. Yes, Seth, you should see the movie. Please don’t let me spoil it for you, though if you question that conception of “transformation,” you may end up having some of the same reactions I did. For the record, though, Mason’s father does not actually become religious himself, so at least that was not advanced as part of maturity. (And, incidentally, I am not at all opposed to religion myself, at least in some of its expressions. But the idea that Hawke’s character would end up with someone who was, apparently, a kind of right-wing fundamentalist seemed highly unlikely.)

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