Laurel Canyon

Today’s film defies most pre-conceived notions of what a mother is; how she acts, what she wears, what she does, etc. When preparing my multimedia gloss for mother several words came to mind immediately- loving, nurturing, caregiver, supporter, friend, responsible, nester, etc. Then I began to think of the word mother in regards to the film Laurel Canyon. Jane, the mother, is very different than your stereotypical American mother. When thinking of Jane as a mother I though of words like, marijuana, alcohol, addiction, sexual promiscuity, no bra, hippy, irresponsible, partier, stoner, etc.
Sam wanted so badly the stereotypical mother and felt so much aggression towards his mother for the way she acted when he was growing up. I found it ironic that Sam was studying to become a psychiatrist so he could help the mentally disturbed/challenged, but what he really need to do was get a little psychotherapy for himself. He is a highly disturbed person carrying a great deal of baggage.
Sam was obsessed with leaving his mothers home, and claimed it was for Alex’s sake, when in fact Alex was quite content. Alex herself needed the time away from her research to experiment and explore a different life she never knew. Even though Alex was happy, Sam couldn’t stand the fact that she was spending so much time with his mother. I think Alex hated his mother’s lifestyle so much that he couldn’t imagine that the woman he loved could stand participating in such actions.
No matter how you interrupt the characters actions throughout the film, it is apparent that Sam and Alex needed to step outside of their normal lifestyle and experience something different to realize that what they had was good and solid. Even though I applaud them for trying new things, I thought that it was totally unnecessary for Alex to attempt a threesome with Jane and Ian- that’s just wrong.