MovieChat Forums > The Architect (2006) Discussion > Hayden's character (spoilers)

Hayden's character (spoilers)

posted 17 years ago by donkeychips
7 replies | jump to latest

I was wondering if you guys could help clear some things out for me.

So, from what I observed, it looked as though Hayden's character had some kind of Daddy issues (The whole frued thing or watever-- where you wanna sleep with your parents)

Am I right in thinking this? In the movie, she is making out with the younger guy(around her age), outside the bar and then, we see this older guy who was stocking up the bar with alcohol. He comes to her rescue when she is feeling uncomfortable(the guy going too far/fast... watever) and she latches on to older guy. I'm thinking that this protective shield that this older guy illuminated when he came to her rescue reminded her of her dad and thats why she wanted to have sex with him in the back of his truck, whereas she was completely turned off by the younger guy.

Did I observe that correctly or is there something else to it.

Final thing- Was the son gay or not? Why did he leave right after the gay sex on the roof? Was he ashamed of himself or something and why did his partner kill himself?

I'd appreciate it if you can answer this questions =)

[–] seancashmere 17 years ago

Wow, those are intensely tough questions. I myself was asking the exact same things and I was also curious about the ending scene when father and son meet on the housing project roof. I'm guessing that was a cinematic thing done to inject suspension and incite minds to think and talk?

I think the girl was uncomfortable coming of age. She was growing huge breasts and her father was uncomfortable around her burgeoning sexuality.

I'm guessing Martin was just finding himself. The homosexual experience was just him exploring. I think he is a homosexual, or at least now he is.

Shawn jumped out of frustration. His life seemed as though it were one big dead end. Prostituting himself was just an empty occupation.

[–] Ddey65 17 years ago

Shawn jumped out of frustration. His life seemed as though it were one big dead end. Prostituting himself was just an empty occupation.

I almost suspected that the movie was trying to blame public housing on Shawn's homosexuality, or his inability to deal with it. I agree with you about Christina, though.

[–] bottgercaroline 17 years ago

Just FYI, Freud's theory was that the feeling you describe was subconscious, i.e. you don't know you think it. Very rarely does a child express actual desires to sleep with the parents. Go and look him up before you throw his theory around like that.

[–] fitchrulz 17 years ago

the o.p. is talking about the electra complex- when a daughter wants to be with her father. but it's usually not sexual and it's a little kid (like maybe 5) saying something like she'll marry daddy. the son-mother version is oedipus complex. i think almost all young children go through it at some point. christina just had issues...

[–] ip2007 16 years ago

maybe her issues were the fact that her parents were fighting and splitting?
from her prespective it seemed that her mother was attacking her father and therefore she sided with him

[–] Chess1600 16 years ago

I'd agree that the most immediate issues for Christina were that her mother and father were fighting and splitting. I think her feelings were complicated by her relationship with her dad which seemed to be that she was a companion to him, that he depended on her for conversation, affection, because his marriage was lifeless. He didn't even seem to realize that his wife was unhappy. He was pretty self-absorbed. Christina felt responsible for his happiness, probably since childhood, and, like you say, she saw her mother as the cause of his unhappiness now. The family problems had developed gradually over a period of years I think, with no one paying attention to how the relationships were getting off-track. When her dad bear-hugged her in the kitchen and she couldn't breathe, that was like a picture of the relationship.

Some posters have wondered if there were sexual aspects to their relationship. I don't think so, other than the dad was becoming aware that she was a young woman. Someone mentioned that the older trucker could have been like a substitute for her dad and I think there could be something in that, that she's close to her dad so feels comfortable, safe maybe, with an older man. I didn't sense that she wanted to seduce her dad by seducing the trucker. Mostly, I think she was exploring her sexuality, in harmful ways.

[–] neo242424 16 years ago

It's called an Electra complex... the feminine version of an Oedipus complex.