Hillbilly Elegy

 Movie: Hillbilly Elegy
Nominated for: Actress in a Supporting Role, Make Up & Hairstyling
How I watched: Netflix
When I fell asleep: I didn't
When it had me: I was never completely IN
When it lost me: I was never completely OUT
What I have to say:

I had a complicated response to this movie. 

Let's start with the good. Hillbilly Elegy addresses generational trauma. I think this needs to be right at the top of the list of what we are examining and acknowledging in our society. If you are living in generational trauma, you can't reach your greatest potential, because you don't ever feel safe. Even worse, if you are living in unexamined generational trauma, you can easily get into a mindset where you believe no one else deserves to feel safe either.

Glenn Close's character (Mamaw) got pregnant at age 13 and ran away to get married and start a life. That life included a LOT of abuse and violence in their marriage. Her daughter, Amy Adams (Bev) was raised in a completely unsafe home and despite being a very smart child (salutatorian) she never experienced safety within herself which led to her not believing in herself enough to make strong choices for the betterment of her life. Consequently, she begins raising children while struggling with drug addiction and a string of boyfriends in whom she seeks (and never finds) the safety she desperately craves. Her son (JD) sees her mistakes and seeks a better life for himself but might lose it all because he must keep interrupting his own life in order to come to his mother's rescue.

Our society tends to value personal responsibility to the point where we would blame Bev for her "choices", ignoring the fact that she had the deck stacked against her from the start. Or we would blame JD for prioritizing his "loser" mother over his future. We expect each person born to begin life with the same blank slate, ignoring that some people are born into a family that already needs so much healing. No one offers them healing, they just have to claw and scratch for it. Some will find it; many will not.

I'm glad this movie addresses this with compassion and shows us how especially difficult it is for the family member who decides to break the cycle of trauma and try to begin a new way of living.

Now the less than good. This movie has a tone problem. One scene where a grown man panics over which fork to use at a dinner feels over dramatized and almost silly. Another scene, where Bev roller skates through the ICU is downright hilarious, but unintentionally. At times, it rolls along quite smoothly, and at other times it feels like a TV movie of the week. I'm guessing this is why only Glenn Close and her make up team are in the mix. (To be fair, you end up finding out that Glenn Close looked exactly like the real Mamaw!)