Showing Up is a 2023 slice-of-life movie directed by Kelly Reichardt, about the day to day troubles of a sculptor named Lizzy. I quite liked it. Most people talk about the movie commenting on the artistic process (i.e. a kiln gone wrong and her disappointment, while others suggest embracing the flaws). However, what struck me the most was the protagonist’s struggles with others taking responsibility. Spoilers below!
Most of the people in her life are in the arts scene, from her family to her coworkers from her administration day job at an art school. She’s trying to finish sculptures on a deadline for her first gallery exhibition, but people keep pushing problems onto her. Her friend, another artist at the college she works for, is also her landlord and keeps putting off fixing the water heater. Her brother is mentally ill and copes with it poorly, with their mother (who is an admin at the art school) brushing it off. Her father is a retired bohemian that tells dubious tall tales, also downplaying the issue. Even her cat causes problems, with his incessant meowing and wounds a bird; her friend discovers this bird, not knowing her cat wounded it, and pushes the burden of caring for the bird on Lizzy. It’s hard to work on your own passions when everyone else is expecting you to be the adult for them.
At the end, everyone meets at the gallery for her exhibition, and it converges onto low-key chaos, with the bird flying around and freeing itself. Symbolic? However, there’s another scene I feel that exemplifies the theme of responsibility, where she eats lunch while students frolic in a field for a class. Students can often lack (adult) responsibilities, but I feel their carefree attitude explicitly contrasts with Lizzy’s inability to have that. I feel Reichardt has some opinions on the arts world.