So his first port of call was the pedo history teacher?
That’s who he thought would take the dog? Plus how long had they been shagging? Since 14?
shareThat’s who he thought would take the dog? Plus how long had they been shagging? Since 14?
shareYeah I wish we found out more about that and I wish they did something to the teacher.
shareJust throwing this out there, the details about the people he visited are not important, what was important was that he was confronting his own past demons (the teacher, the drug dealers, etc), people who hurt him and people whom he hurt, like Scrooge being forced to confront his past, he was being tested, he was testing himself, and he almost made it.
shareYes, he did.
I think that's what surprised me the most. I kept thinking that it was going to come out that it wasn't all sincere. That he was once again conning them. But he was..and that's the hardest part to take.
I personally don't feel he was conning them, I felt he had physical and neurological addictions issues he was still combatting, and suicidal issues, he wasn't physically or emotionally strong enough to re-enter "normal life", let alone face his past. The place he was staying at released him too soon.
shareNo, I wasn't saying he was conning them. I was saying I had expected early on that he was and was glad to find, in the end, that he wasn't. He had been sincere all along..
You're right though. He wasn't ready yet to reenter "normal life"
Interesting point. The film's message could be that we are to give our loved ones, anyone for that matter, the benefit of doubt. In their hard times, we are to be there for them in their moment of need. Even if they are lying and are not trustworthy, if they show they want to help themselves, acknowledge they have a problem and are willing to work to overcome it, then its important to reach out to them in loving support.
Should someone be denied assistance when they seek to reconcile past mistakes, it would only reinforce an ill-conceived and incorrect notion that they do not matter in the world, so why should they care about what they are doing and how it hurts others. Wonderful insight, roxie!
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He was owning up to his mistakes, but the heartbreaking part is that it wasn't even his own fault that he got addicted to drugs in the first place: his doctor prescribed medication to him as a child that turned out to be addicted, and he kept upping the dose. His mother condemned the now-aged doctor appropriately.
It's little wonder how people are now encouraging themselves to limiting or flat-out avoiding taking certain medications out of fear of developing an addiction.
There was a time when doctors and medical staff were not trusted out of lack of professionalism and work ethic.
Let's hope these days don't return because when there's a breakdown in communication between authority and common people, trust is destroyed and social problems worsen.
~~/o/
And yet, here we are - i'd say doctors - mainstream doctors are some of the least trusted people these days, for a good reason. It's safe and effective - lol
shareI didn't catch the part about the teacher being a pedo. Maybe I wasn't watching carefully, but I just thought the teacher was a scumbag who was looking for extra cash on the side.
share"I just thought the teacher was a scumbag who was looking for extra cash on the side."
Indeed he was, after Ben told his mother, there was a silent moment where Julia Robert's face went from not understanding to angry realization, that moment implied Ben gave the teacher sexual favours in exchange for the opioids.
I was thinking he was going in order of people he least feared to most feared. He says when he finds out Clayton has the dog that that was who he hoped had it least. It would have been easier to get the dog back in a fight from the teacher or even Maggies Dad as opposed to a drug lord. I think he was hoping it was someone weaker like that who had it.
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