MovieChat Forums > Joshua (2007) Discussion > Everything was handled the wrong way

Everything was handled the wrong way

posted 15 years ago by daisukegirl
4 replies | jump to latest

Just finished the movie and loved it, but never saw Joshua as evil or even a bad child. The psychologist was right, in her own way. Joshua was abused. His parents seemed to be disconnected from him through the entire movie. They acted much different with the baby, and though the father made an effort, his efforts seemed shallow and forced.
The part that really made me sympathize with Josh was when his father started getting paranoid. He suspected Joshua of all of these horrible things (though Josh probably did them all), but he never talked to him, never took him to a doctor, and when Joshua was crying after his dad announced he was sending him "far away", it didn't seem like pretend tears. It genuinely seemed like Joshua was crushed. He was abused emotionally for sure, and if he were to grow up to be a demented man, I would definitely blame the parents for their lack of empathy simply because he was a hard-to-handle baby.

[–] pstonie 14 years ago

We don't know whether they were like that all the time. There was a new baby in the house and naturally everyone was fawning over her. The father's attempts seemed to me like an honest effort to reach a child that is obviously an enigma.

Like his uncle said though, it runs in the family and by the looks of things psychopathy got pretty strongly concentrated in him. The only time he shows any emotion is when his father decides to send him away, which of course would derail his master plan to be with his uncle.

That said, I think whatever the kid has (probably banksterism) is as much a product of the society we live in as it is genetic. The old bible thumper was right, that place is not a home, for one thing. But if the parents were doing anything wrong they probably didn't know it. The parents can't be blamed any more than his little sister can. It's a situation that has been allowed to develop over generations and in a way everyone is to blame, which makes assigning blame pointless. The fact is that the kid is a little nutbar and should be kept away from the unwary while our so-called civilisation is taken apart until we can find the cause and deal with it.

[–] avia2 14 years ago

The old bible thumper was right, that place is not a home, for one thing.

It was almost refreshing to see a horror/thriller that makes a religious character one of the sanest. Her beliefs aside, the grandma would have made the most loving guardian for Joshua.

[–] Zando777 14 years ago

Yeah. I mean, why would an agnostic mom freak about a kid actually wanting to develop his spiritualism?

[–] badjuju_00 14 years ago

I don't think that was the reason she was freaking out. I think the reason is the grandmother's influence on the child. The grandmother is one of those overbearing, religious freaks who use God as an explanation for everything. The mom did not want that for her child and I can't blame her.

Also, the grandmother is a know-it-all and you can tell by the way she gives her opinions - even going as far as to tell her adult son NY is not a home and that he needed to be a man and move closer to her. I bet Joshua's mom is very aware of the grandmother's ways and does not want her guiding her son's spiritual life.