To my mother, father and sister
Before dying,
my mother told me that I was not an idiot.
I was just slow to learn.
"She was a great lady".
That's what my father said.
I remember once she told me that,
since the Civil War, southerners had this problem ...
They felt inferior,
they were sensitive to criticism of their way of life, their education,
and all.
"But you shouldn't feel inferior," she said.
"Not everyone is cut out to be a doctor,
"... or artist,
"... or whatever.
There is nothing wrong with being an average kid. "
Luke...
You certainly don't want to repeat in the same class.
You'd rather move on, right?
School, math problems ...
Yes.
Sorry, I'll bring it tomorrow. I did, I just forgot.
Are you having a good summer so far?
Other than being here ...
Normal.
I spend a lot of time with Jonah.
Jonah ?
My boyfriend.
I see...
he is red, is he?
Yes it's him.
He's cute.
Yes.
I'm lucky.
- I never gave him lessons. - Certainly not. he's talented.
He leaves in August.
Do I do it?
You set how long?
Always.
We've known each other since we were 4 years old.
- Your families know? - More or less.
Do they accept it?
Why wouldn't they accept it?
Is ...
We don't talk about it. It's not that important.
Either way, whatever.
It doesn't mortify me any more than that.
Everyone knew he was going to leave, so ...
It's not a big surprise.
It is better than all that, so ...
It?
Here.
- I like it here. - All tastes are in nature.
And why do you think he's better?
He painted a little picture of a watermelon,
when he was about four years old.
It was supposed to be a watermelon, a slice of watermelon.
You couldn't really tell.
I thought it was a ladybug.
But it reminded his teacher of modern painters.
She gave a hundred bullets to her parents.
He was only four years old.
He is good at everything.
I'm sure he's not good at everything he does.
It is true.
He sucks at sports
Who is interested in sport?
Many people.
Either way, he's better now, a bit.
I taught him a few things.
Like what ?
I taught him to swim.
- Were you on Swim Team? - Yes.
And baseball.
His parents had enrolled him in baseball.
Imagine what happened.
He pissed on himself before training.
What?
He was six years old, it wasn't yesterday.
He was doing my homework.
And I was helping him.
We had come to an agreement.
Have you been together since that time?
We appreciate each other.
It's good.
It's like...
What's the word when ...
You know, the rhinos and the little birds
who eat the fleas they have on their backs ...
- Symbiotic. - Yes, veiled.
I am the rhino.
And the bird ...
I'm sorry.
But, what about you? What do you want to do ?
Do you have any ideas? is there something you would like to do?
Not.
I do not know.
I have not found yet.
It is not serious.
Not really.
It's normal.
Do your homework, Luke.
Stop! You have to work!
I remember,
when we were in fourth grade, we had to write our autobiography.
Jonah asked his parents how he was when he was a baby.
They discussed among themselves,
and decided it was time to tell him he had been adopted.
They thought he would be upset,
that he would feel unloved or sad.
I think it relieved him.
His parents told him he was special.
That he was a gift from God.
I imagine most parents say that.
"You are special.
“You are a gift from God.
You are able to do whatever you want. "
Before that, he was lonely, he sat all alone in the canteen.
He asked people why he did not belong with them.
He wanted.
And then suddenly, he was good.
Before, he was lonely.
Now he was just ...
...only.
And he understood why.
He had nothing to do here.
And He knowed ...
that one day...
he would leave.
- How are you ? - Well.
It's $ 3,000 for parts and labor.
It's more than it's worth, apparently.
You better trade it in for something that rolls.
I'll fix it.
With what money?
It looks expensive, college.
He wants to leave, so I said:
"Take a loan, I don't care, I'm not the one paying."
Are you sure you want to go north too?
- That's what he decided. - It's cold over there.
- Hé, Luke ! - Connecticut, New York,
other cities, Detroit.
They are very cynical.
- They think they're the best. - Yes, that will suit him.
That's my opinion, anyway.
I do not know. You know, Suzi's son?
He went to college, a good, expensive school.
And where is he now? Here, where he came from, doing the waiter.
Where] did it take him, all that money? Nowhere.
It is a complete mess.
- What are you doing to eat? - A stew.
What have you been doing since the end of class?
I work.
I take summer courses.
Do they actually take summer courses?
I missed two subjects.
OK its not a big deal. You did your best.
I'm not as smart as your son.
Being smart isn't everything.
I saw a sticker on a car the other day.
It said: "My son is not on the honor roll,
but I'm proud of him. "
And I thought to myself ...
"Yeah, that's awfully true."
Hey, daddy.
Don't think about your mother.
She wants to do well.
It's just that sometimes she doesn't think before she speaks.
She says I think too much.
She says you can't enjoy life if you think too much.
Perhaps.
The truth is, I idolize him.
I find it perfect.
I believe that...
I would give anything for Luc.
We have no idea what the future holds,
of what we will do, of what we will become.
Me, it tortures me, but him ...
he is moving forward.
A few days ago I spoke with my dad and asked him:
"If you could go anywhere, where would you go?"
He said. "" I'm good here. "
I asked him .'
"Don't you want to see other places, other countries?"
he said, "There is enough to see here in America."
It's funny.
Some people feel good in a place,
and others feel trapped.
It's an old cliché.
The grass always looks greener in the field of? side.
But not for everyone. Not for some.
I discovered that some people
prefer the shade of their own backyard.
Wanting something different is ...
perhaps...
want to be scared,
or unhappy.
Knowing that you are not part of any order,
of no community, no home,
and move forward, never in peace, from one thing to the next.
I think of the animals in the surrounding fields and farms,
horses, cows.
A happy life.
Quiet.
Resigned to everyday life, in a single space.
The same grass, the same sky.
Unconsciousness.
Don't think of anything higher, or tomorrow,
or in another place,
or nothing else.
I tell myself...
What luck.
What peace.
It's me who treats.
Tips
He likes you.
A w' f;?
- To that boy. - No.
Of course yes.
Why wouldn't you like him?
Are you trying to get rid of me?
Not.
I don't want to be with anyone else.
Not.
You can't do this, because ...
You cannot factor 4, only in front of the numerator.
So you do 4x ...
... more 4.
About 8x.
You understood ?
When is your mother coming back?
Two, three hours.
I didn't know if I should put him on Team or not.
His father says he needs physical activity.
I was afraid he would feel assaulted.
He is much smaller than the other children.
But he seems to be having a good time.
That's what matters, I think.
Ready ?
It is not serious.
Don't lose sight of the ball.
You have it ?
Ready ?
My dad told me he would help me pay the down payment for a car.
According to him, I need something tough, a Japanese ...
According to him, the Americans are not at the level.
A used car, but with few kilometers,
something that rolls.
I would find a buyer for my tire for a few thousand dollars,
and I'll take someone else's.
I started to think ...
".3 Jonah,
and his biological mother,
and his mother,
and the fact that it has passed from one person to another,
and the fact that I feel like it was me.
So, I bought a camera and took pictures of it.
Jonah told me he heard this phrase:
"If it wasn't photographed, it didn't exist."
I don't know who it is from.
He knows lots of quotes.
I call him "little genius".
He said."
"It's not my ideas,
"It's other people's ideas.
I'm just borrowing them. "
It was pretty what you were playing.
Thank you.
Is it your composition?
Not.
I thought.
I have to vacuum.
Well.
Are you planning something today?
I'll pick Luke up when he's finished his homework.
What are you going to do ?
I do not know. What is there to do here?
I mean ... are you going to split up or ...
It would hurt me.
I don't want to talk about it.
Do not get mad.
Its good. It will be fine.
You will make new friends. One lost, 10 found.
Who am I going to find?
I don't know, it's an expression.
This is stupid. It means nothing.
I am not stupid.
I never said ...
I am your mother.
I made my mother cry.
She cries easily.
Yes.
I feel very ...
... disconnected from them.
She asked me if we were going to stay together.
Fingers crossed.
I do not know.
She would want us to stay together if that meant I would stay.
She just wants to torture you for a few more years.
Yes.
Who could blame her?
Here. Dedicated by any Team.
I would like you to ask me not to go.
Too late.
- I might change my mind. - Stopped.
It would be easier.
I'm afraid.
Do not be afraid.
You can always come back.
This place is not going to go away.
And you ?
I am not going to disappear either.
I don't know why I am like this.
Why can't I be interested in the same things as everyone else?
Like what ?
I do not know.
The barbecues?
Children?
Tell me not to go.
Not.
Would like you to do it.
No chance.
It will not arrive.
Cooked
Jonah read me a line from a book he was reading.
It said: "Happiness is not used for much,
except to make misfortune possible. "
I once asked my father:
"How do you know you found the right person?"
He told me."
"You know.
"This is someone you like to have by your side,
"with whom to go here or there, to see a movie.
“Sleep by his side ...
"Someone who is not like you.
"Someone who makes you better.
"Who do you forgive for being different,
not to see the world through the same eyes as you. "
We'll see ...
... if things can last.
But things don't last.
He will meet other people,
much more interesting than me.
And they will like it.
Adaptation: François Minaudier Subtitling: VOSTAO