ah yes, the classic “i’m only being a shitty abusive parent and not actually listening to a word you say and not acting with your best interests in mind because i just CARE SO MUCH about you” defence
As a person who’s been on the receiving end of this phrase myself from my own mother, my first thought is “Oh lord HERE WE GO.”
I’m glad that Beth has the clarity of mind to understand and point out to her mother that she doesn’t think there isn’t love present, but that the punitive actions are not themselves founded in love. But I don’t know if either Gladys OR Beth are aware and ready to have the discussion of “You’re doing this because you’re afraid of seeing the same mistakes repeated, but can’t see any other different way of life for me because of the one you’re dealing with right now.”
it is truly awful that this, being forced into a position where she can’t just solve all things by crashing out, is what had to happen for Beth’s mother to come to the point of having a conversation with Beth and trying to get her consent, rather than just doing things without her consent.
really love the nuanced layers of this scene but i find beth’s replies so cathartic lmao. i wish i had had that kind of ability to assert my feelings/discomfort towards a parent at that age!! even if beth probably feels its very helpless to do so im proud she’s trying anyway.. i feel like so much communication problems happen in life with relationships bc of the dynamics formed with a parent/guardian. you can really get a sense of so much of beth’s patterns & hurt stem from this one alone. ;_;
Anyway, Gladys/Beth’s relationship was always something i really related to/loved to read in cheap thrills so it feels really satisfying to watch it again and feel familiar with the characters but also totally unsure on what will happen because of all the differences in this new story!!
It reminds me of parenting forums, where there’s almost invariably someone in the top threads having to be talked down from the ledge because their 18 year old is a bit lazy. People worry too much
One of my childhood friends had a mom similar to Gladys: Catholic, obsessed with appearances and having “perfect” kids, and consequently ENORMOUSLY judgmental of everything they did. Looking back with an adult perspective, I witnessed some truly bizarre things pass between mother and daughters (and between mother and daughter’s friends, if we’re honest). I haven’t thought about that in a long time, but goddamn if this section isn’t calling it again to mind
I’m going to be a little harsher than Beth herself here and say I just don’t think her mother loves her very much.
For one, everyone EXCEPT Gladys seems actually concerned about the fact Beth fell out of a building and broke her arm. I don’t know, I think no matter how mad I was at my kid about something, everything else would be second priority to worrying about my kid’s BROKEN ARM.
ah yes, the classic “i’m only being a shitty abusive parent and not actually listening to a word you say and not acting with your best interests in mind because i just CARE SO MUCH about you” defence
As a person who’s been on the receiving end of this phrase myself from my own mother, my first thought is “Oh lord HERE WE GO.”
I’m glad that Beth has the clarity of mind to understand and point out to her mother that she doesn’t think there isn’t love present, but that the punitive actions are not themselves founded in love. But I don’t know if either Gladys OR Beth are aware and ready to have the discussion of “You’re doing this because you’re afraid of seeing the same mistakes repeated, but can’t see any other different way of life for me because of the one you’re dealing with right now.”
it is truly awful that this, being forced into a position where she can’t just solve all things by crashing out, is what had to happen for Beth’s mother to come to the point of having a conversation with Beth and trying to get her consent, rather than just doing things without her consent.
really love the nuanced layers of this scene but i find beth’s replies so cathartic lmao. i wish i had had that kind of ability to assert my feelings/discomfort towards a parent at that age!! even if beth probably feels its very helpless to do so im proud she’s trying anyway.. i feel like so much communication problems happen in life with relationships bc of the dynamics formed with a parent/guardian. you can really get a sense of so much of beth’s patterns & hurt stem from this one alone. ;_;
Anyway, Gladys/Beth’s relationship was always something i really related to/loved to read in cheap thrills so it feels really satisfying to watch it again and feel familiar with the characters but also totally unsure on what will happen because of all the differences in this new story!!
beths right
Hate to break it to you Gladys, but being your dad’s secretary isn’t exactly setting the world of resumes on fire in the mid-2000’s.
It reminds me of parenting forums, where there’s almost invariably someone in the top threads having to be talked down from the ledge because their 18 year old is a bit lazy. People worry too much
This is for optics. This is because Beth makes her look bad. This is not for Beth.
This is not about love, indeed.
One of my childhood friends had a mom similar to Gladys: Catholic, obsessed with appearances and having “perfect” kids, and consequently ENORMOUSLY judgmental of everything they did. Looking back with an adult perspective, I witnessed some truly bizarre things pass between mother and daughters (and between mother and daughter’s friends, if we’re honest). I haven’t thought about that in a long time, but goddamn if this section isn’t calling it again to mind
I’m going to be a little harsher than Beth herself here and say I just don’t think her mother loves her very much.
For one, everyone EXCEPT Gladys seems actually concerned about the fact Beth fell out of a building and broke her arm. I don’t know, I think no matter how mad I was at my kid about something, everything else would be second priority to worrying about my kid’s BROKEN ARM.
If Beth has had surgery and Gladys is still making her move to a house four hours away while she’s in recovery, that’s pretty telling.