He was also emotionally messed up. When Sam asked about his parents he just said that "it's too complicated". He also avoided those girls at the bar. Then the guitar shop owner said to Sam something about "helping him out" or something. And then when the band came to know about the origin of those songs, Q acted the harshest.
What was his story?
Well, we know his Mom was working as a prostitute and Quentin told Sam that she was doing "better" but then referred to a time from his past and said he'd "never be that poor again" which clearly implied he was living with her at the time. We also know that he said he was "the caretaker" of the house he was living in and that the owner owned the posters on the wall. Q lived in one part of the house and the owner lived in another. That was all Quentin ever said about any of it. Del, the music store owner told Sam that he "was a Godsend" to Quentin so I think the implication is that Q had a lot of holes in his life where people USED to be and that he had been on his own for a very long time because the reasons those people were gone weren't pretty.
Especially given that the lie about who had actually written the lyrics & music they had been performing was such a huge blow to Q more than anyone else; and I think Sam understood that innately. The impression I got in my mind was that Q had lost someone, possibly his father, to gun violence & death and he just couldn't move past that loss and everything it brought with it. Anton Yelchin said in an interview that one of the things he liked about Q was that he was really cut off and alone and that he connected to people through music. It was clear that he and Sam both sort of rescued each other during the process of making Rudderless such a popular band.
With some people, I don't think you really need the whole "back story" to have a picture of who they are. In Q's case, it was enough for me to know that he had a past in which he had been badly broken and working with Sam helped him to start healing enough that in the end, he was able to do it for himself without Sam.
In Sam's case, I think it's also pretty clear that both he and his wife were broken to a certain degree even before their son committed mass murder at his school but that event in itself, shattered Sam completely. It was his son's music that got him off the boat and out of his own head enough that Q could connect to him THROUGH that very same music and it was their work together and then with the others that carried them both forward beyond the shared pain of their past.
Everybody is at least a little broken in some way or another. It's part of being human. The how's and why's aren't always as important as what comes after you get broken like that…. which matters the most in the end.
For me, the specifics of how and why Q was broken aren't as important as his journey back into the world. Because in the end it's a journey that links everyone to everyone else.
"Sir, can we take a break? It appears my intelligence circuits have melted." Kryton/Red Dwarf
I know it has been a while but thanks for your detailed explanation. I did not understand Quentin. Everything else became clear after the twist was revealed.
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Books and movies are usually better than real life.
No problemo wy!
I have always operated on the belief that if a post of mine is still up there, it's still viable.
I've been known to post on boards YEARS after someone else has posted something, for whatever reason, and hoped they'd see my post and respond. It just happened that I had recently watched Rudderless again (I really do love the film for a wide variety of reasons) and happened to come back to the board to see if anything was there I wanted to comment on. I will say that the second viewing gave me a lot more insight on the film and made me realize that it's one of those movies that will continue to have meaning even after repeated viewings... something I really appreciate.
"You told me I had nothing. But you were wrong. I have love, I have hope and I have faith."
I think you should go and watch Danny Collins if you haven't watched that already.
You'll really appreciate it. I watched it a few days ago and found it a lot like Rudderless, but much better.
Personally I thought this aspect of the story was way underdeveloped and easily the most lacking aspect of an otherwise very good film.
But what do I know. I'm just a girl.
He gave her when he hugged her. She must be dependent on him when times are slow.
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