Parenting In Richard Linklater's Childhood

Parenting is arguably the toughest job. In his film, Boyhood, Richard Linklater uses a variety of parental tropes including the deadbeat parent, the angry drunk, the strict conservative, and the consistent parent. Mason Sr., the deadbeat, abandons the mother of his children for many years before coming back to be in their lives. Bill Welbrock, Olivia’s first husband, is the rich college professor who turns out to be an alcoholic who takes his anger out on his family. Jim, Olivia’s second husband, is the strict conservative parent. In the end, Olivia is the only consistent parent who maintains a significant role in her children’s life.
Olivia goes straight from being a daughter to a mother with little to no time between the two. During parenthood, …show more content…
Her biggest mistake is engaging in a relationship with her professor. Oliva just wants the best for her kids, but she rushes into her relationship with Professor Welbrock, which in turn bites back. In her eyes, she is doing it for her kids; she wants a father figure prevalent in their lives, but she also wants a roof over their heads and food on the table. It is hard to gauge how much time passes between when she meets and marries Bill, but Bill seems quick to accept Mason and Samantha as children and calls Mason “son” while golfing (Linklater). Bill almost seems more accepting of Mason than of his own biological son Randy. “You see that Randy? That’s the way to do it” (Linklater). Meanwhile as Bill is spending some time with the boys and leaving the girls at home, Olivia tends to her homework. Bill is the one that reprimands the kids for not completing their chores. Bill wants Olivia to back him up because he is always reprimanding them, but Olivia questions Bill about having “so many lines” that the kids can’t cross (Linklater). Mason realizes the possible bad side in Bill when Bill makes him get a buzz cut while Randy just gets a trim. “Why'd you even marry him? He's such a jerk” Mason Jr. asked Olivia (Linklater). Olivia answered him by saying that “Well, Bill has his good qualities. You know, nobody's perfect. And now we have a family” (Linklater). She exposes her kids at a young …show more content…
Life is about recognizing these mistakes and building from them. After rushing into a marriage with Bill Welbrock, one would think that Olivia wouldn’t pursue a relationship anytime soon. One would never anticipate that she would wind up with a second angry drunk as a husband. But again, she winds up with another alcoholic to pay the bills and watch over her kids. Jim is pictured as the typical Texas man. He comes home from work, has a beer, and relaxes. Mason has a problem respecting Jim’s authority because he has never been reprimanded seriously. Being the typical conservative parent, Jim has a curfew for Mason Jr. From the lack having a strict parent, Mason Jr. does not care too much for Jim’s rules by saying “You know, Jim, you're not my dad” (Linklater). Jim replies back by saying, “No, I'm not your dad. You know how I know that? 'Cause I'm actually here. I'm the guy with the job, payin' the bills, takin' care of you, your mom, your sister” (Linklater). With this statement, Jim is targeting Mason Jr., Mason Sr., and Olivia. Obviously, he is targeting Mason Sr.; Jim implies that he is a deadbeat because he does not do anything to take care of his children and their mother. He takes a stab at Olivia too. Olivia, at the time, needs Jim to stay afloat by paying the bills and watching over the kids. In that moment, she pushes her responsibilities onto Jim as a