I keep thinking about the question Germain Lussier at SlashFilm posed to Looper writer/director Rian Johnson that I mentioned earlier today. Here’s the question:
The film surmises Old Joe killing Sarah eventually made Cid become the Rainmaker. But Old Joe can’t become Old Joe without first being killed and letting Young Joe grow up to meet his wife. In that timeline though, Cid would grow up normal because Sarah wasn’t killed by Joe. How does that all work? How does the Rainmaker exist in a timeline where Old Joe didn’t kill his mom?
I focused on the second sentence in my article this morning, asking, “How could the events of the film happen if old Joe hasn’t already come back and killed Sara?” It appears I may have been looking in the wrong place.
Two of Lussier’s comments don’t sit well with me and my understanding of the events:
a.) “The film surmises Old Joe killing Sara eventually made Cid become the Rainmaker.” Does it?
b.) “Cid would grow up normal because Sara wasn’t killed by Joe.” Would he?
To both of those questions my answer is, “No.” We aren’t asking the right question… Why did Cid grow up to be the Rainmaker in the first place?
There are a couple of keys to this story that I was forgetting this morning that I remember now.
1.) In an early scene between Suzie (Piper Perabo) and young Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Joe asks her to run her fingers through his hair because it comforts him, reminding him of his mother.
2.) When we first meet Cid (Pierce Gagnon), he doesn’t believe Sara (Emily Blunt) is his mother. He believes his mother is dead.
3.) Through his experience with young Joe, Cid learns Sara is his actual mother.
4.) At the end of the film we see Sara stroking Joe’s hair, another reminder of a mother’s love as the scene then flashes to Cid, safe and asleep in bed.
Everyone seems to be focusing on the idea that old Joe returning to kill Sara is the trigger that sets off Cid when, in fact, Cid was already pissed at the world believing he had lost his mother and was living with a liar. That’s why he became the Rainmaker. He never accepted Sara as his mother until after young Joe came into the picture and the truth came out.
Therefore, yes, had old Joe killed Sara it would have been the same (and probably worse) as Cid would have now seen his mother die and become the Rainmaker, or potentially an even more evil version. But as it stands, he now has his mother.
Some are debating in the comments on my article this morning, wondering if we can actually say Cid has now changed. I think we can certainly say Cid has changed and at this point will not become the Rainmaker.
The way Looper ends presents the only version of the future in which Cid grows up with a woman he knows and loves as his mother. A dramatically different future versus any other ever presented in the film.
What do you think? Am I remembering the film incorrectly? Am I leaving something out? I would love to hear your thoughts.
