Written by John Snyder
There is much that could be said about Richard Linklater’s 2014 epic Boyhood. It is epic in scope because it effectively captures an entire childhood, and thus becomes the quintessential coming of age story in the 21st century. As someone who “came of age” as this movie was being filmed, I found it was very nostalgic and an accurate portrayal of white, middle-class American boyhood in the past decade. I will admit that my experience of growing up, with joy, drama and pain aplenty, was pretty removed from what the main character Mason (Ellar Coltrane) experienced, but I saw a lot of Mason’s story in many kids growing up around me. The complex familial relations, the searches for satisfaction and meaning are nothing new under the sun, but instead are retold in what is, for my generation, an extremely relevant way.
There is much that could be said about Richard Linklater’s 2014 epic Boyhood. It is epic in scope because it effectively captures an entire childhood, and thus becomes the quintessential coming of age story in the 21st century. As someone who “came of age” as this movie was being filmed, I found it was very nostalgic and an accurate portrayal of white, middle-class American boyhood in the past decade. I will admit that my experience of growing up, with joy, drama and pain aplenty, was pretty removed from what the main character Mason (Ellar Coltrane) experienced, but I saw a lot of Mason’s story in many kids growing up around me. The complex familial relations, the searches for satisfaction and meaning are nothing new under the sun, but instead are retold in what is, for my generation, an extremely relevant way.
Mason (Ellar Coltrane) grows up before us on the screen, consuming much of the culture that we (or our peers) did in the past decade.
As someone who grew up in a two-parent family, never moving from the physical house I grew up in, Boyhood was an incredible trip inside the of life of someone who did not have such relational or locational constancy. When Mason’s mom (Patricia Arquette) married her community college professor, I was so intrigued and moved by how smoothly the brotherly and sisterly relationships formed between Mason, his sister Samantha (Lorelei Linklater), and their step-sister Mindy (Jamie Howard) and step-brother Randy (Andrew Villarreal). I was consequently devastated at their violent separation. This period of their life was an acutely painful one dealing with the alcoholism and physical abuse to which the middle-class is not immune. And then there is the entire notion of visiting the other parent on the off-weekends; seeing Mason’s biological dad (Ethan Hawke) develop and mature, becoming gradually a better adult and father, was as powerful and convicting as watching Mason and Samantha grow up.
 As we watch Mason grow up, his father (Ethan Hawke) also grows and matures. |
We first see the desperation and search for direction in Mason’s mother. We see her pursuing happiness throughout the movie in different ways. Bouncing between romance, education and occupation, she ultimately finds the most value in raising her kids. But even this isn’t enough. She has an emotional outburst at the end of the movie, as Mason is about to leave for college. She has been living from “milestone to milestone” in life, and now that she has a stable job, an advanced degree and an empty nest, the only milestone she sees ahead is her funeral, with a vibe echoing Ecclesiastes 1-2 (minus God and the whole finding satisfaction in one's toil). In an earlier scene, Mason makes a comment about his mom being just as confused as he is about the purpose of life and other existential questions. As the movie (and time) progresses, we see Mason become a deep-thinking artist, and the movie ends with on an appropriately vague statement about it not being we who seize the moment, but the moment that seizes us. Rolling along with the chaotic waves of circumstance is certainly the pattern of the characters in the movie and, whether we like that philosophy or not, it seems to be a common attitude of many boys and girls who came into adulthood around the same time that Mason did.
Towards the end of the film, Mason has to face his own share of disappointment, and starts to think deeply about life.
Viewing this movie as a boy who grew up watching PBS Kids, VeggieTales, playing educational computer games, and going to church, I was able to vicariously experience the lives of others of my generation. The goal of good movies and stories is to enable the viewer or reader to spend a little time in another person’s shoes, and if a movie filmed over twelve years—as the actors and actresses themselves grew up and changed with the world around them—can’t do that best, I don’t know what can. In this film there is a lot of cold, concrete pain mixed with the numb, drifting of hopelessness alongside the ecstatic joys of family that emerge even from one so broken. The reality is that in every life, in every family, in every person’s process of growing up, we must deal with the same elemental insecurities and desires. Boyhood, although bleak, induces empathy in an extraordinary way—especially for the people who grew up in the years alongside it.
The story ends with Mason arriving at college, not with any answers to his questions, but having completed his boyhood and ready to start off on a new adventure.
