I watched Richard Linklater's "Boyhood" last night on DVD and thought Mason and I had a lot in common growing up. For one, we both loved photography. We also were adorable children, though he had better hair. We had siblings who picked on us, though I didn't have a narcissistic sister. I had two older brothers who couldn't accept that I was Mom's favorite. (Only joking, guys.) I also grew up in a post-divorce home, visiting Dad during the summer. He was not anything like
Ethan Hawke, thank God.
The above photo is the only one I have of The Wedding. Our blessed mother is wearing blue in the center of the photo, sound asleep, surely dreaming of a better life with her second husband. I'm the cute one staring at my new step-grandmother, who I never really talked to or even met more than once or twice. My older brother Mike looks like he's about to punch something. Wayne, appropriately in the middle, is the calm one.
Memories of my own boyhood came flooding back as I watched "Boyhood." The film itself was not all that great. But it was based in Texas. The director, Rochard Linklater, was born in Houston and studied film in Austin. He formed the Austin Film Society in 1985. His work provoked in me a desire to rethink my own childhood and try to figure out just why I'm here. Of course, the point he made in the film was this: none of us can figure these things out.
