What was up with the kid and the mom? - Normal Adolescent Behavior (2022) Discussion

[–] corneilus1985 17 years ago

i know! that story went nowhere. At first i thought he was hitting on her, then i thought he wanted a mother figure because that one scene in the kitchen with their mom, made her look like b@tch.

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[–] mitcherz 17 years ago

Haha, that's what I thought. It seemed like there was that whole MILF thing going on.

"All our dreams can come true - if we have the courage to pursue them." - Walt Disney

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[–] BethBMA 17 years ago

What I wanna know is what was going on with Seans mom and dad? I swear that story line went no where.

You can't change who people are without destroying who they were.....~The Butterfly Effect~

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[–] oubrioko 14 years ago

What I wanna know is what was going on with Sean's mom and dad? I swear that story line went no where.

There are a couple of deleted scenes in the DVD Special Features section that explain what Sean's parents were arguing about. The DVD also includes a 'Behind the Scenes' featurette.

***Deleted Scene spoilers below***

Sean's mom is pregnant. The parents are arguing about what to do about it when Nathan comes over to deliver the Salmon. This is why Sean's dad says, "It's not a good time." In the extended scene, after Sean's dad tells Nathan to go home and closes the door, Sean's mom comes out and apologizes to Nathan, thanking him for bringing over the Salmon. Nathan says to her that he wishes that she had never married Sean's dad.

In another deleted scene, Wendy and Nathan find Sean's mother asleep on her front porch. She claims to be waiting for a ride from her husband, but he never showed. Wendy and Nathan offer her a ride. She asks them to take her to a clinic. While waiting in the car, Wendy and Nathan have a long discussion about being alone.

During a third deleted scene, Wendy goes next door to visit Sean. She stops and talks to his mother who is shooting hoops (basketball) in their driveway. They discuss the fact that she and Sean's father had a disagreement about her getting an abortion, which is presumably why he never showed up to drive her to the clinic. Sean's mother asks Wendy not to tell Sean, but Wendy counters that lies of omission are still lies. After their discussion, It remains unclear whether Wendy intends to tell Sean about his mother's pregnancy and abortion.

Since I have only seen the DVD, I have no idea how different it is from television (Lifetime, etc.) or other presentations of the movie. I purchased it approximately a year ago at Big!Lots in the closeout bin for $3.99. I had never even heard of this film, but it looked interesting so I took a chance. Recently, I have seen used copies of the DVD available on Amazon.com for as little as $3.

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[–] hnt_dnl 14 years ago

The way I see it, Nathan was looking for someone that could relate to him. He obviously was an outcast among his own friends (which his sister's "frienship" pact probably contributed to). He tried to be friendly with Sean, a kind of "older brother", but since Sean got so close with Wendy, that couldn't happen to the extent Nathan wanted it to. Sean was at the age where the hormones started raging and he saw this hot older woman that had a lot of free time that he had easy access to. He probably thought something MIGHT possibly happen between the two of them. I thought it was an interesting subplot and ended the way it would probably end IRL.

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[–] la_cinematheque 11 years ago

This subplot really marred an otherwise very interesting movie. The deleted scenes from the dvd shed some of light on where it was supposed to go, but as they are not in the actual movie, this storyline is clunky, awkward, and pointless.

What I got from it before I knew about the deleted scenes was that Sean claimed his parents "seemed pretty happy", but through the brother's interactions with them we see they aren't. The mom is lonely and unsatisfied enough to befriend a kid with an obvious crush on her and the dad, as far as we get to know, is a total jerk. It looked like a critique of the aspirational one-man/one-woman relationship and a critique of striving for something just because it's normal when it may not be the best option there is. And I guess the deleted scenes actually support that general theme as being the point of that plot, but with or without the scenes, it isn't made very explicit that that's the takeaway.

Anyhow, it's just really too bad the little brother and mom stuff was handled so poorly. Doesn't ruin the movie by any means, but it wastes the viewer's time.

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