This is Jeff Nichols. He is the writer/director of the 2012 film,
Mud. He spent over
ten years working on the script, peppering it with a mixture of personal experiences, symbolism, and literary allusions.
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| Jeff's cool, older, punk-rock brother, Ben. |
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| Mud's "reminder." |
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| Young Mark Twain was friends with another young boy named Tom Blankenship. Tom's father was a drunk, and Twain drew from this memory to create Huck Finn's dismal living situation. |
At its heart,
Mud is an adventure story. My own love for the film stems from its power to make me feel like a young boy again. Ellis, who is the film's actual star, forms the movie emotional core. While he is no doubt hungry for the adventure and imagination that Mud himself provides in droves, he spends the course of the film searching for love: seeking to understand his parents' failing marriage, looking for a girlfriend, and trying to find some example of ideal love.
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| The pain of one's first heartache is the worst. This film captures that beautifully. |
The pain of all of this is palpable, and like any good
Bildungsroman,
Mud ends on a bittersweet note: Ellis looses his innocence, but emerges older and wiser.
Your Task
Select three characters from the film, and describe/analyze what Ellis learns regarding love and relationships from them. If possible, describe/analyze if the character represents a mirror image of Ellis (For example: Does Mud represent an older Ellis with his romantic sensibilities?)
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| Does this man ever wear a shirt? |
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| Ellis' dad |
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| Tom Blankenship |
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| Galen |
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| May Pearl |
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| Juniper |
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| Ellis' mom |
- Post your responses in the comment section below.
- Be thoughtful and make specific references to the film.
Due before class - Monday, 1/26
Relationships are gained and lost throughout the movie Mud between the main characters and the side characters. Some relationships are Ellis's future and are lessons learned for him. For example, Mud's love life was a major learning point for Ellis. It showed Ellis that he should fight for the one he loves and to never quit on someone you truly love. To continue, in the movie Mud tells Ellis when he killed a man because he was messing around with Juniper and now he's a wanted man because of that. Ellis saw his "girlfriend" hanging out with another and he goes and punches. That scene plainly shows that Mud is Ellis's future. Furthermore, another character that shows Ellis about love is his father because he shows his son that love doesn't always work out. The reason why his dad shows that love doesn't work out is because his dad gets divorced by mom in the movie. The scene where Ellis sees his "girlfriend" hanging with another guy show ls that love doesn't always work out because he loved her but when you love someone they don't always love you back. Lastly, his mom shows that even when you love someone it must come to an end. That's why in the movie his mom divorces the father because she loves but she doesn't at the same time because it's not working out.
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Mud, being the mysterious and thrilling adventure for Ellis in this film, would have to be the most obvious influence regarding love and relationships. Along with his own parents, and his love interest May Pearl. Ellis, confused and riddled by the nature of love and romance, dealing with the news of his parents getting a divorce stumbles upon good ole Mud. The plot of the film is driven by Ellis accepting to help Mud to win back his girl. Love to Ellis is very important. He is willing to do anything for Mud and his girl, because Mud said he loves her. Though Ellis does this for them to be happy, it’s not far off to say that he does it for himself more so. As a young boy, chasing his first girlfriend May Pearl, struggling to understand her, and seeing his parents fall out of love and split, he needs to believe that love still exists. Ellis is very innocent, though throughout the film he progressively loses that. His parents teach him that everything isn’t always rainbows and sunshine with love and relationships. May Pearl makes him experience his first heartbreak. I think it is fair to say that Mud and an older Ellis would hold many of the same characteristics romantically speaking. Mud see’s his father as a failure, because he gave up on his mom, while he looked as Mud as a love warrior. Mud is a hopeless romantic that believes that nothing will stop him and Jupiter from being together. Ellis also shows that he too thinks love conquers all.
ReplyDeleteMud, Ellis's dad, and Tom Blankenship are the 3 characters that reflected and set an example for Ellis. Mud Showed Ellis to never give up someone or something. Mud has been defending and looking out for Juniper is whole life. Ellis's dad showed Ellis not matter what the situation is between family, fighting, divorce, doing wrong, to always be there for your love ones and friends. When Ellis go bitten by a snake and him and Ellis weren't on good terms he was still there for him and his soon to be divorced wife. Tom Blankenship is a "friend" of Mud's. He always looks out for Mud like he's his son. He comes back to help Mud when he was getting shot at. He takes great care of Mud.
ReplyDeleteClark expressed in class that he thinks Mud represents Huck Finn with his badass mentality and adventurous nature. Mud is very poor with relationships and often times finds himself in tough situations because of the woman he loves. I can see Ellis as a 'Huck Finn' symbol because of his curiosity and his desire to help Mud, who I think represents Jim the runaway slave. Ellis learns that love can be real from Juniper and Mud but discovers it's not all it's cracked up to be. Ellis and his father have a very indifferent relationship. In his parents' marriage he sees some suffering and discontent because they don't live a happy, glamorous lifestyle. I think that struggling financially and lacking free time as a couple is destroying their relationship. Tom Blankenship's relationship with Mud is complicated and I think it makes Ellis understand that it is important to keep a good standing with his father as he grows up and leaves home.
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ReplyDeleteI feel that Ellis learns the most about love and relationships from Mud. He learns that truly loving someone you would do whatever it takes to make sure they are okay and safe. Through this journey with Mud you see that Ellis is heartbroken the most when he feels Mud gave up on her and used them. Juniper who is the girl Mud loves and did these things for also has a huge effect on Ellis. I feel that she represents an older version of Ellis with her romantic sensibilities. He saw her pain and suffering for love but then also saw Mud’s side and started to distinguish the difference. Mary Pearl was Ellis’s first encounter with love was with this girl and she in a sense broke his heart. She taught him his first lesson in love which is about heartbreak. With all these influences in Ellis’s life he has different ways on looking at love with all these different backgrounds and influences. Just like life, you live and you learn and with these examples around him would make him better off.
Ellis has a few influential people in his life. I would say that Mud is the most influential person in his life. Also I do think that he is like a future Ellis. Ellis truly believes in love. Ellis does anything for Mud that involved his girl because Mud says that he is in love with her. He wants Mud to be happy, and by trying to fix stuff with Muds girl, he knows it will make him happy. Ellis parents were getting a divorce, so I think he might have been helping Mud because of that. He didn’t want another person close to him to be unhappy like his mother and father. Ellis sees his father as a failure because he took the easy way out by just divorcing his mother. I think Ellis thinks that love is basically immortal because if you ever truly love someone you can never stop loving them. -Tiffany Valiante
ReplyDeleteEllis is a younge challenged kid with man influences in his life. Mud being one important person,where Ellis learned how to fall in love. Ellis got a girl friend and supposedly fell in love with them they broke up all in the matter of days that he's known Mud. He thought he was in love after seeing Mud and Junipry love he wanted the same feelings. Another significant person who touch him about love/girls was Ellis dad. That man would physically and verbally abuse the mom In front of Ellis. The dad told Ellis straight up that you can't trust a woman's love. This negatively influenced Ellis. Lastly May Pearl was Ellis so called girlfriend. She broke his heart and embarrassed Ellis in front of all her friend which destroyed his self of steam and his pride. That may have scared him from girls. Or maybe it will give him more confidence like at the end of the movie when he head nodded the girls across the street.
ReplyDeleteIt is most obvious that Mud foreshadows Ellis as an adult. Ellis learns the disappointment of love from Mud. He sees all that Mud has sacrificed for juniper and how she just let's him down. Time and time again Mud goes running back only to get his heart broken. However, that also shows the strong love that Mud has. It shows Ellis that people are capable of loving someone unconditionally. Tom Blankenship appears to be Mud's father, even though they never come out and say it in the movie. Ellis sees that no matter what trouble Mud gets himself into, Tom always has his back. He is constantly looking out for him, whether it be leaving packages of food and necessities or saving his life in a shoot out. Finally he is faced with his first heartbreak with May Pearl. She is just another example of how love doesn't last in Ellis's life. Much like how his parents relationship didn't last and Mud and Junipers. Ellis thinks that May pearl is committed to him but then realizes that she is no different than the others when he finds her with another boy. He leaves hurt and embarrassed.
ReplyDeleteEllis was most like mud in that his impression of love and there personality is the same. He always swings first and asks questions later and doesn't think about the consequences of his actions in the movie mud kills the guy that touched the girl he likes and Ellis punched the guy who was kissing the girl he likes. And juniper shows him that the girl doesn't always know what she wants and can get the boy in trouble which is why muds in the predicament that he's in. And lastly his father who is one of the best teachers who shows him that love doesn't always work out but what they had together was real if only for a short time.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion Ellis learns alot about relationships and being in love from Mud. Mud shows ellis that no matter what you have to do to make someone happy you do it even if he isn't successful. But through it all Ellis feels heartbroken from mud for giving up on love when in the begging you always fight for what you love. juniper is the girl who mud loves and did everything for. once Ellis saw how much they cared for eachother he realized he cared for mary pearl because that was his first real crush but then she broke his heart. In all these situations it tought ellis to look at love differently and showed him to move on in life and that there are pleanty of fish in the sea.
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