My take on Our Hero Balthazar
Is that Solomon and Balthazar are both victims of child sexual abuse
Solomon at the hands of his dad
Balthazar at the hands of his "life coach"
Evidence for "life coach": life coach has been around in his childhood but less now that he's getting older, the life coach shows up with a surprise birthday but everyone is half-naked, the life coach has this imposing physical presence in the scene and is physically blocking Balthy from leaving until Balthy performatively cries. Even though it seems like Balthy is faking or doing a performance, there is the clear image of a teenager being surrounded by half-naked adults. It's very uncanny.
I personally read Balthy using his mom's voice for the AI sexting as a sign that he also feels some resentment towards his mom because of sexual abuse. A normal person would feel disgusted hearing their mom say sexual things, but Balthy plays it during the high/gun scene for laughs. Balthy 's lack of disgust towards hearing his mom's voice say explicitly sexual things either makes me think he is also being abused by her, there is some lack of sexual boundaries between the two, or he resents her for her complicity in the abuse from the life coach.
I feel like the bar scene was, Balthy is watching what happens to him happen to Solomon. But Balthy chose to help Solomon "it's a grift" and defy Solomon's father's business partner. Balthy takes Solomon's side, even at his own peril.
Balthy watches Solomon be abused sexually, emotionally, financially, and physically after the bar scene.
Then, Balthy almost shoots Solomon's dad himself.
I think that Balthy got upset at Solomon because Balthy is being abused since childhood by the same people, but Balthy "gets what he wants" from the people who are abusing him, as a rich boy and a performative crybaby. The tone his mom uses with Balthy in the movie almost seems like his mom *wants* him to cry, like it's a performance she wants to draw out of him.
Solomon is abused since childhood, never gets what he wants (love), and then he keeps coming back for more. It's completely antithetical to Balthy's modus operandi. I think, not only is Balthy upset Solomon isn't a school shooter and he cant live out his fantasy, but also, I think Balthy is upset with Solomon's response to his own abuse.
I really liked Balthy and Solomon's relationship because I felt like, in the bar, Solomon finally had someone to witness the abuse and be on his side. I feel like Balthy laughed at Solomon being groped in the bar, in an ironic bitter way, because he already has experienced the same thing.
Balthy and Solomon also have parallel "becoming a man" plots, and parallel traps of abuse (the ending scene of the life coach and his mom watching Balthy, then Solomon's dad and his dad's business partner) but Solomon fails (he can't sell thrush, can't keep a job, pay rent) and Balthy succeeds (he becomes the political influencer his mother wanted him to be, goes by "Balthazar", like the politician in the beginning and his mom indicated is a sign of being an adult, and he also lives up to the expectation of his social circle/classmates who all belong to the political elite).
That Solomon is probably an adult and Balthy being ambiguously a teenager of an unknown age kind of flew over my head, I didn't think about it until after the movie. I liked my imaginary dynamic of two CSA survivors who are off-putting to everyone around them (due to what I interpreted as autism and sexual trauma) but understand each other in a way that other people could not.
I think also Solomon probably being gay flew over my head, I didn't think about his sexuality other than that he wants his dad to love him. 💔
Also please tell me what you think >:-) :-D
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