20th Century Women

That was my husband's Ford Galaxy.

We drove Jamie home from the hospital in that car.

My mom was 40 when she had me.

Everyone told her she was too old to be a mother.

I put my hand through the little window,

and he'd squeeze my finger,

and I'd tell him life was very big...

and unknown.

And she told me that there were animals

and sky and cities...

...music, movies.

He'd fall in love,

have his own children, have passions, have meaning,

have his mom and dad.

When they got divorced,

my father moved back east and left the car with us.

He calls on birthdays and Christmas.

Last time I felt close to him was on my birthday in 1974.

He bought me mirrored sunglasses.

I saw the president fall down the stairs...

and I threw up on the carpet.

Since then it's just been us.

I don't understand. What about you?

I'm staying here with him 'til the plane gets safely away.

No, Richard, no. What has happened to you?

- Last night we... - Last night we said a great many things.

Listen, Captain, I am having a party tonight,

it's my birthday actually,

and I would like you to drop by so I can feed you.

It's not necessary, Mrs. Fields.

No, Dorothea. No, I... I insist. Please?

That way I... I can thank you.

It was a beautiful car.

Mom, it...

smelled like gas and overheated all the time...

and it was just old.

What?

Well it wasn't always old.

It just got that way all of a sudden.

You know...

when the firemen come...

people don't usually invite them over for dinner.

Yeah? Why not?

Why can't she just move on and be happy with me

rather than... lingering on him?

My mom just makes me feel like I'm not good enough.

It's just, I'm constantly being compared to my dad.

Oh, hey, sorry.

Uh, Jamie's not here right now.

They're not home.

Don't.

I'm taking a picture of everything that happens to me in a day.

I don't like having my pictures taken.

I didn't happen to you.

Hello?

- Hey. - Hi.

Hi. Here.

- You okay? - You aren't gonna believe what happened.

What?

Our car burst into flames in the parking lot.

- It wh... - Seriously?

- Are you okay? - Yeah.

You know, we're okay.

- How did it happen? - Well I don't know.

They... they said it was probably just something electrical.

We walked out and it was just sitting there... on fire.

Oh, man.

- Yeah. - I'm sorry.

So... what happened?

They never tell you anything, I... They won't...

I won't know anything for like a week.

Oh.

And I'm... I'm gonna be late on rent.

That's okay. Don't worry about that.

Thanks.

Oh, God.

What if you had been in the car?

I wouldn't be here.

You would've missed me?

Don't joke.

It was so much easier before you got all horny.

It... it's not like you don't...

Do it?

Friends can't have sex and still be friends.

I like us like we are, okay?

Okay.

Jamie!

Could you come help me set up, please?

Can my mom just chill out?

She's compensating for her loneliness.

Dorothea, all that is really beautiful molding there.

- It is. - I want to continue that around the side.

Right so we're gonna have to re-match that.

Now is that... is that actually wood...

- That is wood. - or is that plaster?

No, the plaster is underneath it.

The molding on the outside there is wood.

- So... - Okay.

It's gonna take a little bit of time, but...

Well, we've got...

Okay, no, it's good.

Actually, it was, it was built in 1905,

and the same family had it forever,

but they lost all their money during the war,

and then there was a fire and...

You should've been here for that.

Anyway, so, it was just a mess. They let it fall apart.

Then a bohemian inherited it in the '60s,

then a bunch of free spirits moved in, and they lost it to the bank.

It's beautiful.

Oh, I... I completely fell in love with it.

We're connected to the dirt 'cause we came from the dirt.

The dirt is made of stars and stardust, in the same way we are,

so when you put your hands into that dirt

and feel the Earth Mother...

- Uh, William? - Mm-hmm?

It looks as though I'm gonna be in need of a car.

Do you think you have something for me out there, cheap?

Maybe that '49 Deluxe?

I think we can work something out.

Maybe we'll trade for rent or something.

- Thank you. - Sure.

Okay. Got through that one.

All right. Just, um...

give me a minute and then come out.

My mom was born in 1924.

When she was my age people drove in sad cars

to sad houses with old phones, no money, or food, or televisions...

but the people were real.

When she was 16,

the war broke out and she had to leave school.

Her dream was to be a pilot in the Air Force.

She actually went to flight school.

But the war ended before she was done.

She became the first woman to work

in the Continental Can Company drafting room.

Then she met my dad...

and then I came.

Then they got divorced.

But people from her time never admit anything went wrong.

- What do you mean? - I'm sorry.

He's too young to have an account in his name only, little guy.

No. He... he's a person.

He's not half a person, and he's not some cute little guy.

He has volition and autonomy and privacy.

He needs a bank account.

Can you do that for us?

Now, Jamie, you can't just keep skipping school and making excuses.

Well wait a minute, why not? Why can't he just skip school

if he... if he has a legitimate need to be away?

Well, then I need a legitimate real note from you...

- Okay. - with your real signature.

Wow, how did you forge my signature so well?

That is ingenious!

But you should never forge someone's signature

or do anything behind someone's back.

Please excuse Jamie from school this morning.

He was doing volunteer work for the Sandinistas.

Please excuse Jamie from school this morning.

He was involved in a small plane accident.

Fortunately, he was not hurt.

You're gonna be in for a legendary surprise.

It's mahogany underneath.

She's always trying to bring a man into my life.

This is probably Honduran mahogany.

Really fine, very...

- This is, like, really, really boring. - Hey, come on, watch it.

He's talking about, like, wood and stuff.

He's helping me out. Restore the house, okay?

IBM?

She writes down her stocks every morning.

Two-hundred and thirteen point two.

GE?

Um, 51.62.

She smokes Salems because they're healthier,

wears Birkenstocks because she's contemporary.

She read Watership Down

and learned how to carve rabbits out of wood.

And she never dates a man for very long.

Thank you, bye bye.

Good night, Dorothea.

- Good night. - Bye.

So, I'll see ya later.

Just don't hang out with that Chris guy anymore, okay?

- Good night. - He's a skeez and he's kinda dumb.

- Exactly. - Good night, Dorothea.

- Happy Birthday. - Bye, Julie.

Stop.

What?

Thinking that you know everything that's going on.

No, I don... I just think that, you know,

having your heart broken is a tremendous way to learn about the world.

Okay.

Do you think you're happy?

Like...

as happy as you thought you'd be when you were my age?

Seriously?

You don't ask people questions like that.

You're my mom.

Especially your mom.