MovieChat Forums > Pieces of April (2003) Discussion > What the FUGGG was wrong with that mothe...

What the FUGGG was wrong with that mother


I wanted to punch her in the face

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I love what her mother said to her. "You're not my daughter. My daughter is sweet and kind."
Do NOT try to tell me she wasn't perfectly lucid at the time, too.

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She's critical of April because she knows this is her last Thanksgiving with her family who are all trying to put on a happy brave normal front for her but April had always been the screw up (drugs, fighting and stealing) and she's bein b!@chy to her family because she's dying and knows that there will be no second chances with them, no chance to make amends with everyone. Plus she's in physical agonizing pain with her cancer and people are coddling her when that's the last thing that anyone wants is to be treated with kid gloves. I'm sure they just want honesty.

The part that gets me, the bathroom scene flashback; the mom sees the little girl and her mother with the tights then flashing back to her with a young April screaming at her.

It's obvious that there was always tension between April and her mother but never any way to communication because they both are stubborn and hardheaded and do similar that people can either be the best of friends or the worst enemies.

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The mother seemed like a wretched shrew long before cancer. April mentioned early on in the film that her mother said her expensive salt and pepper shakers were "worth more than I was" - so I assumed her mother treated her like *beep* all her life. Hence the way she turned out, "bad" - which I didn't think April was that bad/rebellious

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I feel the same way; I think the Mom had issues long before the cancer. Maybe April got into trouble as a teen because her Mom made her feel insignificant. The brother out of all of them seemed the most grounded. It is funny how things said to us as a kid, can haunt us for the rest of our lives. Point in question .. the shakers.

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A lot of how Joy acted seemed like a defence mechanism to protect herself from further pain. She's pragmatic about her cancer, almost seems at peace with it, but the prospect of her relationship with April having been avoidable, that she could have had years of good memories of her, not just a day's worth, if both sides could have swallowed their pride... it's unbearable.

She tells herself there's no way they could have gotten along, how terrible April is, and actively tries to sabotage the meal in advance by buying junk food for the family, because the alternative would be to admit that the fault didn't conveniently lie with just one person, her family as a whole is messed up, and she's as responsible as anyone. And it all could have been resolved long before she was on the verge of dying. Resenting someone can sometimes be easier, and less painful, than admitting you care about them.

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Really well put, I didn't see it like that but I believe you're right.

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