Remember the metaphor Chris used? "I am the lock--my mother is the key." What do you think he meant by that?We talked about the 3 primary institutions of socialization--family, church, school. How do you think these three entities play out in the lives of Chris and Cody?
Wei:
I was deeply touched by this provocative documentary which shows the struggle of two Appalachian boys and their interaction with the family, school, church, and the society at large. Before I watched this video, I would never imagine that life is such a misery in these impoverished and forgotten corners in the States. For Chris, life is never easy - being diagnosed with behavioral disorder, living in a trailer, having an alcoholic father, parents arguing, mother leaving, struggling for daily necessities... All these hardship of life made him feel hopeless and isolated from the community, although deep inside he is a very ambitious boy. The "lock" refers to this dilemma. And his mother, who was always there talking to him, supporting him, and reminding him of his commitment, became the "key" that helps him to cope with this situation. As Chris stated clearly on the PBS website: "She (mother) wants to see great things about me. So she tries to get a lot out of me. She pushes me. You know how they push people to their limit? She tries to see if she can push me past that limit, so that way I succeed. If I fail at one thing, I'll succeed at another. She tries to keep herself optimistic about me."
Craig Bailey:
Chris and his mother are very close; she is the one person that seems to really understand Chris, and she is willing to call him out when he falls short of what he is capable of accomplishing. She is the key that can open his potential. He may see himself as a lock because he has grown up in a family environment that has probably been embarassing for him to cope with. He strikes me as someone with very good superficial social skills. His social skills are not used for connecting with other people; instead, they are used to protect him from being known by others. His mechanism for coping has been to withdraw and remain on the sidelines; unnoticed, with thoughts and feelings best left hidden. But when we see Chris with his mother, we see the guard being dropped...the lock opened.
Wei:
I agree with you on the "mechanism of coping." For Chris, family is more important than school. Although his home is a shabby and unpeaceful place, it is still providing a shelter and a confort zone for him - a place to vent, to hide, and to learn, a place where he can always find his own identity. His mother, who is the only person in the family he can truly communicate with and get support from, is the "key" to the "lock" of his mind. Chris' strong commitment to the family can be seen when he skipped school to help the family move to the new trailer. I don't think that was something he and his mother would like to see but they had no choice. Also I feel that by doing this Chris was trying to hide away from his newspaper commitment when he felt unsure if he could make it or not. School could have done better by offering a helping hand if they sensed this earlier.
Wei:
In elementary school, Chris was diagnosed with a behavior disorder that limited his functioning severely enough that he qualified for Social Security's Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. However, from the movie I hardly see that he was severly suffering from his "behavior disorder." I don't know exactly what is the criterion or definition for it. To me, Cody demonstrated more disorderly behaviors than Chris did - nipple piercing, unruly personality... He is just luckier than Chris that he has a caring grandmother, a supportive girlfriend and her family, and a pastor friend who shares his interest in music with him - a good supportive socialization system that keeps him on the right track. Unfortunately, this is something that Chris doesn't have.
Jim Jackson:
It was my understanding that Chris was diagnosed at a very early age. At one point he states that if he is ever tested again, they would probably find that he does not have the disorder and the checks would stop. I think he alluded to that being a concern of his mother's. She appearantly knows the system and how to work it in her favor.
Documentary link: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/countryboys/
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