Movies about infidelity disturb me

Laurel Canyon

Is it just me or do the morals of the characters in this course seem to get progressively worse?

Along with the theme of female directors, I noticed (at least in the two movies we have watched so far) a theme of fear and/or lack of commitment. In The Piano, Ada has a daughter with one man, is married to another, and sleeping with yet another. In Laurel Canyon Sam and Alex struggle with the curiosities of being with new and different people in new and different situations while in a relationship. Throughout the movie, I got the sense that Sam was trying to get away from his past and his mother’s lifestyle unsuccessfully. I think that his worst fears were realized when Alex got sucked into her lifestyle and began experimenting with drugs and sex. However, by getting roped into a relationship with Sara, Sam is also perpetuating his mother’s habits and being unfaithful to his girlfriend, as she is to him. I wonder if Alex’s initial suspicions of Sara (I think she began getting suspicious when they had coffee and she said she lived in The Valley- where Sam wants to apartment hunt) pushed her to become involved with Jane and Ian.

Another aspect is mother-child relationships and the perpetuation of the reality that your children never turn out exactly as you would imagine or want. This relationship is somewhat contorted between Sam and Jane, as Sam does not have the kind of mother he would like to, he wishes that she would be more normal and subdued, while Jane’s opinion on Sam is more unclear short of her desire for him to have fun and relax. The scene with Wyatt and his mother is a perfect example of this truth, though. He is a typical rebellious teen who is angry at his mother for wanting so much from him, whereas his mother only pushes him because she wants the best for him and wants him to turn out well. Wyatt rebels against his straight cut mother by doing drugs and being a hooligan. Sam rebels against his hippie swinger mother by going to medical school and trying his best to be normal and typical. In a way, Wyatt and Sam play each other’s opposite in this movie.

-Cynthia