"It was quite instant that he wanted Harry's approval. Did you notice that? And the children sort of rescued him this time. It's a great turnabout. That's what happens as your children get older. They do things for you, and it's quite shocking when they do"
About this Quote
There is something disarmingly adult about this observation: a grown man, used to being the authority, suddenly craving a younger person’s approval. Coltrane is clocking the emotional inversion at the heart of the moment: power isn’t simply lost, it’s redistributed. The “instant” quality matters. It’s not a long, noble evolution; it’s a snap realization that status and certainty can evaporate in a single glance from someone you once protected.
As an actor speaking from inside the machinery of a beloved franchise, Coltrane also names what the audience feels but rarely articulates. We come for spectacle, but we stay for relational shifts. “The children sort of rescued him” is slyly phrased: “sort of” keeps it from turning sentimental, yet “rescued” signals something deeper than plot logistics. Rescue here isn’t physical; it’s moral and emotional. The older figure is saved from humiliation, from isolation, from the fear that he no longer matters.
The line about a “great turnabout” captures why the scene lands culturally. It validates a truth that’s both tender and unsettling: aging doesn’t only mean weakening; it means being seen differently by the people who once saw you as invincible. “Quite shocking” is the final sting. Gratitude is present, but so is vertigo. Parenthood, Coltrane suggests, isn’t a one-way act of giving. It’s a story that eventually hands the pen to the kids.
As an actor speaking from inside the machinery of a beloved franchise, Coltrane also names what the audience feels but rarely articulates. We come for spectacle, but we stay for relational shifts. “The children sort of rescued him” is slyly phrased: “sort of” keeps it from turning sentimental, yet “rescued” signals something deeper than plot logistics. Rescue here isn’t physical; it’s moral and emotional. The older figure is saved from humiliation, from isolation, from the fear that he no longer matters.
The line about a “great turnabout” captures why the scene lands culturally. It validates a truth that’s both tender and unsettling: aging doesn’t only mean weakening; it means being seen differently by the people who once saw you as invincible. “Quite shocking” is the final sting. Gratitude is present, but so is vertigo. Parenthood, Coltrane suggests, isn’t a one-way act of giving. It’s a story that eventually hands the pen to the kids.
Quote Details
| Topic | Parenting |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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