So Dodd was full of shit right? That's why Freddie runs

This is one my favorite movies. used to watch it a lot. wrote an essay about it. desu still dont know why freddie left.

Dodd believed in what he was saying though. well he was delusional, a delusional demagogue. so i dont think you can say he was feeding freddie bullshit, so to speak.

>>80831476
Dodd was right, you are either a master or a follower, no middle ground. Now, which one are you?

He wasn't, Freddie gets to see Amy Addams' eyes black.

>>80831682
I disagree with you there. Dodd is controlled by his wife. He's a fool that perpetuates bullshit he doesn't believe. Look at how he lashes out at the woman. He is implying that it doesn't matter what's in the book, it's all bullshit, but that if she's stupid enough to believe it she should go ahead and do so if she's sop fucking stupid. He has no respect for her. for this very reason. He is aware that his followers are idiots.

Dodd wants Freddie to stay and believe his lie with him, but Freddie isn't as weak as him and says no to it. He wants Dodd to stop his bullshit, but Freddie knows that he's unable to do so. The song that Dodd sings is an expression of sincerity. Freddie knows Dodd is capable of it but his lies are so embedded into him at the end that he knows it's too late. His wife has ruined him for good.

Movie is straight forward as fuck guys. Freddie was always going to leave. That's why Dodd loves him. Because Freddie is what Dodd used to be and lost. And it's why the wife hates Freddie so much. Because she's the opposite end tugging Dodd back and preventing him from being the person he wishes he still could be.

>>80831476
In general it's a good movie about relationships and how some people will never view you as an equal and make you submit.

>>80831819
This. Dodd wants to leave the lies behind but he can't. The pit he has dug is too deep.

The movie is about control. Dodd tried to control Freddie but in the end he was "corrupted" by his untamable nature, having to be controlled by Amy Addams as well. His second book, the one he wrote inspired by Freddie, is rejected by Laura Dern because it's the result of Freddie's influence on Dodd. Freddie runs away because he couldn't find happiness in slavery like the rest of the cult

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTl89UtsqcA

>>80831882

Not to hijack your post but to compound on this I think that's where a lot of the tragic beauty of Dodd/Freddie lies.

Dodd loves Freddie for his free will and the way he reminds Dodd of who he used to be. But at the same time he can't help but try to break Freddie because he himself was broken. Which is why that ending song was so powerful because while the true Dodd inside him wants Freddie to resist the way the real Dodd wants to resist, the fact that Freddie DOES break free and leave means Dodd could too and doesn't. And having to admit that would kill him inside.

>>80831934
Good post. In the end the movie begs the question: "who is the master of who". Dodd seems to be the obvious answer but he can't control Freddie, he can't control Amy and his own son thinks he's full of shit. Freddie on the other hand is his own master but he had very little control over his own life. He made his own choices but he still can't get anything he tries to achieve. In the end, I agree Dodd's character has a tragic vibe to it, like his power has made him, in a way, powerless. A slave of the circunstances sorrounding the same power

>>80832254

I think it's poignant that Freddie is the only one to develop by the end as well. The final scene of him laying down next to the sand castle woman is him being able to let go and move on.

There's beauty in that even though part of Dodd was trying to corrupt Freddie the entire time he ultimately DID succeed in making Freddie a better person. Just look at how he acts with Doris' Mom. The old Freddie would never have gotten through a conversation with that much civility. Freddie is Dodd's second chance and I like to think Freddie getting with Wynn in he end shows that everything is going to be alright for him.

>>80832383
This exactly. I saw some idiot in youtube saying Freddie's back to 0 because he is back to doing sex and alcohol in the end, clearly didn't get shit from the film and the last edit of him and the sand lady. That edit clearly shows how far he got, from wanting comfy love to achieving it.

>>80832383
Freddie was so wild and impossible to control that by trying to dehumanize him and brainwash him, he reacts the opposite way, humanizing and freeing himself.

>>80832532
pottery