James White, in his mid 20s. A guy in NY in pain over absent dad's death and meeting the Dad's new wife for the first time at the wake. He was excluded from the Dad's life; didn't know he had remarried! this angered him... he had a lot of anger inside. The dad had left when he was 5 or 6. He and his mom did not speak about the Dad. He carried abandonment, pain, anger around with him.
He had a close friend and they went to bars, got in fights, and picked up dates together. In one scene they rented a hotel room with 2 beds and slept with the 2 people they met the night before.
He was close to his mother. She was fun and accepting and she let his friends hang around and they got to know her too. But he was wanting space. He wanted a trip away in Mexico and he went and enjoyed his own space.
The mom helped him go on that trip. But she wanted him to get a job, and she wanted him to write. He wanted to party with drinking and drugs. He was confused and in pain. We see how hard the mother pulled on him to be there for her. She seemed to ask a bit too much of him, expecting him to serve her and be there when she needed him. He felt smothered.
He struggled with wounds around his absent dad and feeling smothered by Mom. So a detached father and overly attached mother made for a confused son that couldn't find his own ground and what he actually wants. When she starts the process of dying, he puts all his energy into being with her and puts his whole life aside. He isn't connecting to his own flow of life, but staying lost in his mother's flow, as she is needing him so much in her process of dying... and he really shows up for her, being an adult in that role for her... And when she is gone, he is not sure what to do now. She was his main reason for living... that codependence did not teach him what he could create for himself. So he is left with that empty space between feeling abandoned by Dad and being so needed by Mom and both are gone now. Where does he fit in that and how does he discover himself in the huge space he has left with no rails or guides?
Review of James White
