Smooth Talk - Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been

Smooth Talk / “Where are you going, where have you been” Essay

        “Everything about her had two sides to it, one for home and one for anywhere that was not home” (Oates 1). Connie in “Where are you going, where have you been” by Joyce Carol Oates struggles with the family dynamic in her household. The short story from Connie’s perspective depicts her constant battle with her mother and her effort hiding her wild side away from home. The movie Smooth Talk based off the short story changes the house dynamic slightly by including a supportive fatherly role in Connie’s life. Her character and choices are highly influenced by her mother in both works, yet the movie adds the fatherly role to show the mother as the aggressor in Connie’s life. While in “Where are you going, where have you been” the father has no significant role in the story, the addition of a bonding scene with Connie and her father before the barbeque highlights the negative relationship between Connie and her mother, and how that affects Connie’s development as a character.

        In the movie Smooth Talk, the addition of a father-daughter relationship with Connie shows how Connie has the ability to relate with a parent/family member. The scene in the movie where Connie and her dad go on a drive shows how he places trust into her. He asks her about what she does with her friends, and gives her a chance to tell him the truth. She does not tell him the truth, showing her young immaturity and carelessness that is common in teenagers. Despite her dishonesty, the father allows the chance for her to decide whether to be honest. This trust from the father puts the outcome of a conversation on Connie. The effect of a trusting father-daughter relationship shows how the mother-daughter relationship has no chance at the time. The mother immediately jumps to the worst conclusions making Connie become defensive and rude, also showing how her mother is not handling their relationship adequately. The mother catalyzes the backlashes from Connie by suggesting that she is a bad kid, causing Connie to put up all of her defenses and show how she doesn’t care.

        The main scene that depicts the large difference between the father and mother’s relationship with Connie is right before the barbeque. Connie arrives back home with her father after they took a drive and the mother immediately says “you’re late” (Smooth) in an accusing tone. The father cuts in saying “I had to get the lighter stuff, Connie helped me” (Smooth), attempting to give the mother a chance to give Connie some slack. Instead, the mother replies sarcastically “sure she did” (Smooth), immediately cutting Connie down. This changes Connie’s face expression showing her hurt and angry emotions.  The mother then tells Connie to get ready in a nasty tone, causing Connie to say “I’m not going” (Smooth). This immediate transition between the relatively nice drive with her father and her argument with her mother shows how strongly the mother really affects Connie. The father attempts to intercede on Connie’s behalf, but the mother cuts in saying “just let her stew in her own juice” (Smooth). This suggestive phrase of how Connie only cares about herself solidifies the idea in her head, making her even more careless. This clear contrast between the mother and father’s actions pits the audience against the mother because of her habit of shutting Connie down, making Connie appear as the victim in some cases.