MovieChat Forums > Charlie St. Cloud (2010) Discussion > Why didn't Charlie contact his mother

Why didn't Charlie contact his mother

posted 13 years ago by tvfan87
2 replies | jump to latest

The question that kept popping up in my mind as the movie was ending was, why would Charlie not even call back his mother and never try to contact her even though he was eventually able to let go of the loss of his brother. I mean this was supposed to be a happy ending and Charlie was depicted as the most hearted person in the movie. So why would he start a life with a girl he barely knew till a short time back and start living "happily ever after" while at the same time not even remember the women who took such great pains to raise him and his brother as a single mom even after their father left them. This in my view is yet another example of how hollywood in particular and modern(or you may call it post-modern) popular mass-media in general promotes unfair, or dare I say, cruel treatment of parents. This movie was supposed to promote close family bonds but what kind of a cold-hearted man would not even return the call of his mother even after years of not having seen her and more importantly even when she was saying that she misses her.

[–] TorontoJediMaster 13 years ago

In the book, it's mentioned that Charlie's mother has remarried. She has stepchildren with her new husband and lives on the other side of the country -essentially a new life with a new family. She moved on after Sam's death, while Charlie didn't.

At the end of the book, after Charlie has finally left the cemetary and is starting to live his life, it's mentioned that he's booked a trip (at Thanksgiving, when Tess wakes up) in early January to go and visit with his mother.

[–] tani_banani 10 years ago

Charlie doesn't respond to his mother's calls earlier in the film - this is when he is still hung up on Sam's death and I got the impression that he was guilt-ridden and didn't want to face his mother who may consider him responsible too.
There's nothing towards the end of the film that implies he is still dodging contact with his mother - it can easily be assumed that he resumes contact with her once he has let go of the past and his guilt.