As You Are

intro: first of all, I just wanted to say how much I really enjoyed this movie and how much I enjoyed the acting, cinematography, and what I wanted to talk about today. the starting scene: in the starting scene we see mark cleaning himself off in the bathroom and jack and mark both running into the woods together while we also hear a gunshot afterwards. Basically these scenes are telling us what happens in the final scene, what to expect in the final scene, and how it got to that point. their first meeting: a couple of minutes further into the film after the starting scene, we see jack’s mother on the phone discussing dinner with her at the time boyfriend who has a son that around the same as a Jake (this is very important in the film) after jacks mother gets off the phone she tells jack about their invite out to dinner that night and jack looks completely unfazed. just at that point in the film we could already see that jack wasn’t very fond of her mother and her boyfriend’s relationship. while also calling her boyfriend a “bouncer” the second his mother said his name. Clearly meaning that he’s not interested in him. It is only until his mother reassures him that he agrees to be respectful towards her boyfriend and dresses up for their dinner. Once his mother’s boyfriend arrives he is introduced to mark, her boyfriend’s son. just from seeing mark, jack didn’t look as unfazed or uninterested like he was during the first few minutes of the film. Later, they’re all together at a restaurant. marks father starts to ask jack about his school life and jack again seems just as unfazed and uninterested as he was before, barely giving a response over a sentence. but when mark asks him, jack talks a bit more explaining it. Later on, mark and jack’s relationship starts to build up when mark asks jack if he plays anything and mark says he doesn’t and then marks mark the same question. To his surprise, mark plays the guitar and offered to teach him how to play instruments. Mark also told jack that he should try playing the drums. Then, they started talking about music and all that stuff until mark asks jack if he wants to play one of the machines. after that, the both of them went outside, and mark pulled out an inhalent and offered it to jack. Soon later, the two of the, start to bond and ask each other all sorts of questions. Which the both of them seemed to be really into their conversation. After that we see them, walk back into the restaurant talking as if they were old friends. When they sat back down, jacks mother grinned at marks father and said “that went well.” after this first encounter is when their relationship begins.  the build up: in the next scene, we see jack quickly cleaning up his room as if someone important were coming. After he’s done, we see that mark and his father had just came over. later on, jack and mark head into his room. when mark walks in and says how much he likes his room and begins looking around, mark stands in front of his bedroom door nervously as if mark were a god and jack was trying to see if he got mark’s validation or acceptance. After mark is done looking around jack’s room, he pulls out an inhalent and offers it to jack, in which he then again accepts. This is where that part of their relationship begins. A bit later in the film, we see jack and mark at a diner. Mark makes a funny remark and then a group of men starts laughing at them. (This is where we meet Sarah who is also an important character in this film.) A girl in the table in front of them asks if they were laughing at her and her friends, which jack tells her their not and informs him about their presence and mark turns around to look at them. After that, the men get up and walk towards mark and jack and then proceeded to scare them as if they were trying to tease them or make fun of them. After that encounter, jack and mark walk out of the diner. While walking mark talks about how much he hated that encounter and how the group of men got away with it. While mark was saying that, it just so happens that the group of men were right in front of where jack and mark headed to and overheard their conversation. After that, one thing leads to another and we see the group of men fighting jack and mark until the both of them are on the ground and Sarah witnesses it and threatens to call the police. In the next scene, we see jack, mark, and sarah and her friend playing spin the bottle. It just so happens that the bottle landed on Sarah and mark. After that they both went into the closet and made out. During that, we could see how disappointed jack looked and probably wished it was him instead of Sarah. (This is there jack, mark, and sarahs friendship begins.) later in the film we see how much their friendship grows. Later in the film, mark and his father move in with jack and his mother, making their relationship grow even stronger. At one point in the film, mark suggests that jack should ask Sarah to prom since no one had asked her yet. Jack didn’t really seem interested in asking her. Later on jack and mark hung alone together because Sarah didn’t want to skip school that day with them. While jack and mark were smoking inhalents, mark brought up about how he thinks jack should ask Sarah out to the dance and kiss her. In which, jack says that he’s never kissed anyone before. After that response, mark offers to help teach jack how to kiss. In which, they kissed each other. Mark becoming jacks first kiss. (This is when their feelings for each other start to build up.) the separation: much later into the film, marks father and jack mother get into a fight because marks father thought jack needed to toughen up and decided to sign him up for the army without his mothers permission. During the fight jacks mother forces marks father to leave. In response to that marks father pulls him out of him and jack’s room which contained Sarah, jack, and mark. Then proceeded to inflict physical violence upon his son in front of everyone. When jacks mother tried to pull his marks father off him, his father threatened to harm her as well. After that, we see mark and his father get in their truck and drive away. In response to that, jack hurriedly tries to run after them. After failing, he walks back him crying and then gets comforted by his mother and sarah. The aftermath: later in the film, we are back in the lunchroom and we see jack nervously proceed to finally ask sarah to prom. In which sarah responds, that someone had already asked her and that she had accepted.in the next scene, we see sarah getting ready to go to prom and then her waiting outside for her date to pick her up for prom. After realizing she was stood up, her dad came outside to check on her. Later sarah decided that she was just going to prom alone until jack heard a knock on his front door and it turned out to be her outside of it. jack welcomes her inside and then she explains to him how she was stood up and then asks if he has anything to drink. In which he pointed her to a cabinet with a bottle of liquor, which sarah took and then out of nowhere began to kiss jack. (This is where there relationship begins) the jealousy: in the next couple of scenes, we see that jack and sarah now officially together. Even going the extra mile for the both of them to have dinner with Sarah’s parents at his house. Later into the film, we see mark hanging out with a bunch of guys his age at a liquor store causing trouble. Because of that they had the police called on them. We later see jack and sarah holding hands and walking to to same liquor store until both him and sarah and mark and his friends notice each other. Mark realizing that jack and sarah are a couple. When Sarah’s first notices mark, she quickly runs towards mark and hugs him. In response, mark softly pushes her away as if he weren’t interested in talking to her. As if her was more excited to jack again. When jack sees the mess mark and his friends made he reluctantly didn’t speak to mark and suggested to sarah that they should leave. Before they could leave, they all heard police sirens coming and mark and his friends quickly took off. After they took off, one of marks friends asked him about him and Sarah’s relationship and asked mark if he had make love to her. In which he replied that he didn’t. His friend then proceeded to ask mark about his half-brother/friend jack, seeming as if he had asked mark if he had made love to jack before. Before mark could answer, his friend then proceeded to find a intimacy toy in someone’s mailbox and proceeded to take it out and throw it at each other and make fun of it. After that, mark gently and slowly picked the toy and began to talk towards someone’s car and smash it with the toy. (My interpretation of it, is that marks friend were making fun of homosexuality and because of that mark realized something about himself as he picked up the toy and then proceeded to smash someone’s car to express his feelings. To express that he him self wasn’t jealous of jack dating sarah, but that he was jealous of sarah dating jack. To express that he himself liked someone as the same sex as him and he is frustrated that couldn’t be with someone with the same sex as him because society would not accept it. So in frustration he smashes the car with the toy.  feelings: later in the film, we see that jack and sarah had agreed to date other people openly due to their own realizations. (I believe jack chose to do this because, he realized that he liked sarah but didn’t “love” her. He loved mark. Later into the film we see that jack and mark are talking again. They later on, end up hanging out together in jacks bedroom. While jack and mark are reconnecting, mark talks to jack about the other night at the liquor store. But before he could finish talk, jack kisses him and mark kisses him back. (I believe that jack and mark both kissed each other because at that moment they realized their feelings for each other and how much they liked each other. This officially starting their relationship.) Acceptance: after that scene, we see sarah, mark and jack at the skatepark. We also see Sarah and mark holding hands. Once jack sees this, he immediately gets emotional. After Sarah had left them to talk, jack then began asking mark why was he doing this. In which he responded that he couldn’t handle the consequences of them being together. In which jack tries to reassure him by kissing. In response mark starts to hit jack and then they got into a physical fight. (I believe this first occurred because mark was not ready to accept the consequences of what to come in the future if him and jack continue to be together. While jack on the other hand, has ready to accept the consequences of their love for each other.) Which ended with mark unconscious on the cement bleeding. At the hospital, we see jack crying and being comforted by his mother. Marks father arrives and assures them that mark is going to be fine. In response, jack hugs marks father. In the next scene we see that jack and his mother came visit mark and his father to check on mark. Once jack enters marks room, he begins to apologize to him. In which, mark assures him that it’s fine. Jack then proceeded to mark an inhalent as a gift, which mark inhaled and pasted back to jack. After that he offered jack to sit next to him on his bed, which he did. Mark than began to rest his head on jacks lap. Little did they know, marks father and mother have witnessed what just occurred through the small opening of marks bedroom door. In the next scene, we're at jacks house and he gets a call from mark saying that he’s on his way there. Once mark gets there and jack opens the front door, we see that mark is bruised all over his face as a result of him and jack being caught by his father. Jack then proceeded to try to clean marks face and then touch it. In response, mark tells him not to. In which jack acts why while feeling a bit sad. Mark then proceeded to say the words “I wish you were a girl.” In response, jack put on his mother’s lipstick and dress and then walked back into his bedroom to show mark, hoping for a form of acceptance or validation. Mark then smiles, but refuses to let Jack touch him. In the final scene, we see Jack cleaning himself off and then him and Jack heading into the woods with guns. In which, proceeded to Jack killing him. ( I believe that jack killed mark in frustration. Frustration that him in mark could never be together. Frustration that they could never be together in a society that doesn’t accept people “like them.”)