Thanks to Bookclub where we read Bloodlines outloud on the internet, I've been spouting off character interpretations left and right and of course I've been overthinking one about Adrian recently:
When Adrian goes to see his dad, he ostensibly seeks to gain a few things from it: money for his living expenses, for his dad to show some interest in his life, and information about his mom so that he can have contact with her while she is incarcerated.
Sydney notices that, in spite of this, that Adrian has chosen to specifically dress and behave in ways he knows won't endear his dad to him: he wears jeans that are getting holes in them (not jeans that are designed that way, ones that specifically are getting worn down), he crumples up his shirt so it has wrinkles, and then when he gets to the restaurant he orders a martini immediately.
None of this is set up to get Adrian what he wants, which is first and foremost access to his mom. When everything falls apart its easy to look at the scene and read Adrian as argumentative and not even trying to give his dad any leeway, even as Sydney tries to stay out of the father / son fight so Adrian can have a chance at getting some of what he came for. This obviously ends badly, with his dad laughing at the thought that his son could or would want anything serious from him. He writes Adrian off without a thought and then tries to apologize to Sydney for Adrian's existence with a payoff.
So why did Adrian go about it the way that it did?
I see it as a defense mechanism, one that I can relate to. When you are viewed as the bad kid, the worthless one, there is a deeply entrenched defense mechanism that comes about over time. If someone always expects the worst from you, at a certain point you lean into it - both because its generally easier than trying to change their mind, and also because it hurts less.
I think that no matter what Adrian did, his conversation with his dad would've gone the same way. He would have asked for money and told he was irresponsible, he would have tried to tell his dad he was going back to college and trying to be better and his dad would've written him off, and when he asked for a way to contact his mom his dad would've told him no and that it was his fault she was in prison.
Now imagine this scene, going exactly the same way, but Adrian is putting on the best version of himself he can. He's wearing the right clothes, following his father's lead, sober and stays calm the whole time. And his father still puts him down -- not for who he is now but for who he thinks Adrian is.
So Adrian puts on the wrinkled, messy clothes. He orders the martini. He orders the second martini.
Because this way, when his dad writes him off, at least Adrian has the comfort of knowing he wasn't trying the best he had. At least his best isn't proven to be not enough.
