Four Mothers

Four Mothers is an Irish movie about an author called Edward who recently published a fiction about two men reflecting some current social structures. His publisher wants to arrange him for a book tour in the US.

The comedy movie also reveals some social phenomena that I can think of.

Can an individual really manage everything?

With the rise of technology, longevity and ageing, we are living in an era most people still have to take care of their parents even in their middle age. Although the movie doesn’t clearly state how old he and his pals are, I regard they are playing the role of 35–45.

The setting of the movie is interesting: all of them lost their husbands, and three of their sons sends their mums to their friend Edward for pride holiday, leaving him alone to take care, as the film is named, the Four Mothers at the same time.

That makes sense, that the previous generation usually had early and stable marriages having kids who has grown up to a society accepting LBGT+, being single and late marriage, as well as business becoming more complex (as I will talk in the following section), bringing issues of loneliness and leaving more responsibilities and even burdens to individuals.

Not to mention he also has to manage his own emotions well. The situation doesn’t improve when you gain popularity. Yes, you can see Edward has a lot of tools like smartphones and laptops and papers and internet, but he has to keep checking messages from his publisher frequently and can’t escape from work. Nonstop multitasking of his business and family tasks for sure.

Self image

An author is now becoming more than an author because he is a celebrity right now who has to communicate with his fans through a series of podcasts and book tours. Many of us including Edward are always happy about such opportunities, but this doesn’t mean we are not worried about our performance. Not to mention Edward has his own circumstances of needing to take care of his mother who is unable to walk and talk.

A celebrity has no choice but to have a meeting with the staff of his publisher and online interview on his car or bus. When being asked about his background on the screen, he simply says it’s a long story. Normal people have expectations of a celebrity but in fact a celebrity is also a normal person.

In the age of social media, everyone can be a celebrity who can be struggling and nervous, and Edward prepares a lot of papers with points to remind him of what to say during interviews.

Can psychological therapy or calming app help?

Edward is a great person with reputation, trying to show his best version of self to manage his tasks well and help others. But it can be frustrating especially when he couldn’t gain recognition from his father. Edward tries to control himself all the time by using an app to breathe to keep calm, and even seek psychological help (in which at least his mother didn’t know before), but ended up showing his vulnerability to his mother.

In our society there is an increasing demand for psychological therapy, but the movie shows us it’s okay not to be okay, and mutual support does matter.

How to face ageing?

Everyone, if not die of accidents, suicide or diseases in early ages, will be ageing. Some will be even unable to stand, walk and talk, and can’t go back to good old days when being young. But is it the beginning of the end of life?

This is a movie with a lot of laughs and hopes indeed. The social phenomenon is challenging but not pessimistic.