Storytelling : Mickey raped his father.(spoilers)

Don't forget that when Mickey asks Consuelo what it means to be raped, she responds that rape is when you love someone, but they don't love you so you go and do something about it. Mickey then said that he loved his parents, but he did not feel like they loved him. He wondered if he could do something about it, and Consuelo said that maybe when he's older.
The Hypnosis part of the movie was Mickey "raping" his father by the definition provided by Consuelo.

I never thought if it that way but that makes perfect sense.

wow that's a really smart assumption, i never thought of it that way.

That's the most intelligent insight into this film I've read yet.

thanks.!! took me a long time to think about it.

Yeah, that is very insightful. You're an acute viewer.

i was half expecting there to be a scene the next day where he told his class that he raped his dad. it wouldnt have been out of place ^_^

Would this insight support a theory I have had that Mickey Livingston is a sociopath? The scenes of Mickey with his family, and especially Consuela, shows a character that really has no sense of empathy toward others. It seemed everything he said was directed toward himself. Especially the scene, if I remember it correctly, when he finds Consuela crying about her son and he basically tells her to just not cry. I believe this scene later contributes to the aforementioned hypnosis where he tells his father to fire Consuela.

filmfanatix:"most kids that age are egocentric. mix in the fact that mickey is socially awkward and pretty bright for his age, well... let's just say i wouldn't label him a sociopath. if he was a teenager, sure. but he's still a kid. most kids think the world revolves around them. "

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This is true. In fact the brain hasn't yet matured to a point yet that empathy and similar feelings towards others are fully possible. When kids show empathy at this age it's more of a learned thing so they tend to do it more if they're rewarded for it. If they're not rewarded the kid will be more egotistical. If this goes on for too long unchecked the kid will grow up to be a sociopathic teenager.

One should judge a man mainly from his depravities.Virtues can be faked.Depravities are real.Kinski

If you noticed, every character in Nonfiction was absolutely and completely absorbed with themselves and their own ends in life. Only exception is the father near the very end of the movie.
Scooby - obviously he wants to be a famous talk show host.
Mickey - He wants to be loved by his parents, no matter what it takes.
Middle Kid - He is worried about his public standing at school so much that he asks his brother to cancel his homosexuality (which is really the only part that trait of him had to do with this movie).
The Director (giamatti) - Concerned only about the success of his movie.

Well that's all the conclusions I've drawn (I'd have to see the movie again to tell you the rest) but its all truth.

wow. its little things like that that if you watch his films more times you pick up on. amazing director

I'm pretty sure Consuelo's definition of rape is directly out of "To Kill a Mockingbird."

Not sure completely though. Also not sure if that's been said.

Wow... two points to you for catching that, I missed it. There is the thematic link between the first and second stories. Wow! Seriuosly, I'm not pandering you, thank you for pointing that out. That's deep... and really, really messed up!

I too never thought of it in that sense. When I first read the thread I thought this sounds ridiculous, but it turned out to be very clever. Well done!

Nice one!

"If I have any genius it is a genius for living" - Errol Flynn

Oh my god you're right. Just saw the film recently and never thought about it this way..

whoa, can't believe that so many people including myself didn't catch this. It seems so obvious.

Everything stated above did seem obvious to me. However, the family's complacency toward Consuelo was a direct reflection of the "American" attitude toward minorities. This was overwhelming obvious to me as well.

That is pretty neat. So is Solondz actually telling the same story twice? There seem to be more parallels there.