Being Flynn (2012)
7/10
Compelling, Poignant and Revealing
26 June 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Parental abandonment is something that many people deal with. Some never reconcile it, choosing to ignore it. But the fact is that abandonment early in life can leave scars that affect you for the rest of your life. Pretending not to notice or shrugging it off can seem like it works for a while, but as one ages, the gravity of the experience begins to take form. This film will most likely bring to light some of the circumstances surrounding a viewer's own similar situation.

For me, it was realizing how the lack of a father has affected how I view relationships and as a result, my own choices. Young girls learn about male energy and how it can be beneficial from their fathers. My father abandoned me very early in life, surfacing only a few times, one of which was when he was in ill health. Fortunately for me, I was not faced with the situation that Nick was - my father had the means to live on his own.

I also had a stepfather who never recognized me even as a family member. When he wasn't ridiculing me he was just ignoring me. Thankfully, my mother was a very strong presence in my life. But she was gone well before her time as well. Nick's mother committed suicide -- and there are many other more subtle ways to do this. Like ignoring your own health and well being and allowing yourself to become so ill that it is too late to repair it.

It seemed early on that Nick decided to be a writer because his father considered himself to be one. That, along with providing much inspiration by way of their own story - is another contribution to Nick's life that I'm sure he has acknowledged. The one thing that Nick's father did was validate his writing. For a writer, that can mean more than just about anything.
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