Richard Dreyfuss and Kevin Spacey are both Oscar winners who were once popular movie stars and hailed as two of the most talented actors in Hollywood. But over the years they have proven themselves to be problematic men whose life choices have arguably hurt their careers and left them struggling financially. Now comes a strange, sad story about how the actors' 2009 professional collaboration figured into Spacey's MeToo-era downfall and led to Dreyfuss becoming estranged from his three adult children.
I am a queer man of color in my mid-20s. I grew up in a mostly white, conservative, rural town. It was hellish growing up there, dealing with constant microaggressions, racism, and homophobia. Even though I was not out of the closet at the time, I was constantly clocked as being gay and ridiculed as a result. Despite this, I had some incredibly close friends who were a godsend during that time.
Urbana, Ohio, is a small city of 11,000, where nearly three out of four voters went for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. The journalist Beth Macy, who in her previous books chronicled the widening fissures in American society by examining the opioid crisis and the aftereffects of globalization, grew up there. In Paper Girl, she returns to Urbana-a place beset by economic decline, dwindling public resources, failing schools, and the disappearance of local journalism.
Recently, I have had many conversations with many clients and friends discussing what happened to their family connection. As a family therapist and parent, I've spent decades helping people navigate the challenges of family life. I notice adult children and their families are drifting apart, as strong ties once counted on now seem to be coming undone. I hear it every week in my therapy sessions.
Because of work, we had to move about four hours away. Since then, we have felt increasingly isolated. I tried to call weekly, visit often and send gifts for every holiday. About a year in, I realized we were initiating all the contact and tried a little experiment. We stopped calling them. It took more than eight weeks for anyone to contact us. His mother calls his other siblings who live elsewhere every week, but not us.
I was waiting in line to enter the church for the funeral. I couldn't believe he was even having one... A church funeral? The only times I ever remembered him going were Christmas Eve or Easter, but whatever-I shrugged it off. Why was I having these thoughts at a time like this? Why does it matter when he went to church?
My brother is almost 90, a Repub for years, and a committed Trumpie from the beginning. He knows he is looking at his sunset and will die a Trumpie. He dismisses, rationalizes, or denies every critical fact about Trump. No fact, no failure, nor any reversal of policy by any court causes him pause. He only watches FOX. He has successfully alienated his wife, two very adult children, siblings, relatives, and friends who are not Trumpies.
Daniel Aruebose's mother had been estranged from her family for 10 years - the first time they had ever seen him was when his photo was shown on the news
Signs she's avoiding or preparing to avoid me - I open the door off my dining room, call down, Mom, and she doesn't answer, even though I heard her moving around moments ago. She texts two-letter replies, such as OK and no. She locks the door off the dining room. She takes out her trash before sunrise. She stops feeding the squirrels and birds. She keeps her lights off. She keeps her phone off. She stacks cardboard boxes in the laundry room or garage or on the deck.
"We started to have issues when I began having my own opinions," says Bruce, reflecting on the growing divergence between his and Scott's perspectives during their teenage years.
