“Shook Ones Pt. II” - Cal Says It..
Cassie and McKay enter Cals cooking tent. Nate is there.
Cal (speaking to McKay): “Nah, it is a big deal. You’ve got one of the best slide steps I’ve ever seen. You’ve got talent, you’ve got promise. You’re not pushing yourself hard enough.”
Nate: “Dad, I think McKays gonna be just fine.”
Cal: “I’m just tryin to help him keep a girl like her.” (Cassie).
Nate (we can surmise) is conflicted about his feelings of attraction to the opposite and same sex and beyond (in that matter). Nate gulps many times during this interaction and conversation. Nate knows about his dad, but has seen his dad portray this “perfect white bread, upper middle class, boys do sports and date the hot cheerleaders who put out” stereotype of what WAS EXPECTED during Cals formative years and beyond….. Nate’s seen this. It’s his dad.
I feel, Nate wants to overcome what Cal is/was (love for Derek) and becomes by proving he is “all man”. When Nate’s dad states he’s trying to help McKay keep a girl like her (Cassie). Cal has her pegged. For an easy beard. Cal senses what Nate is and thus, points out to Nate what an “easy cover or ‘beard’” would look like. Someone bred to be beautiful and always reminded that ‘nothing can be wrong when you’re pretty’. Different time.
Nate already KNOWS Maddy is not THIS girl- the end all/be all for him. She DOES show up to the carnival ‘looking like a hooker’ (although - she SLAYS the outfit!) and Maddy KNOWS his parents are there.
Nate wants not only to please his dad, but to PROVE to his dad that he can overcome all of the ‘perversions’ (from Nate’s perspective) that he sees his dad to have, that makes Cal a weaker man.
Of course Nate would marry Cassie! She is the epitome of what has been engrained into him since childhood (I’d bet, coming from this world). Nate seeks approval from his dad through his choices. He chooses follow-me-faithfully women and takes over Cals company. Nate wants his dad’s approval that he succeeded in life and hopes to do so, ‘above’ Cal. This is why Nate is so docile.
The problem Nate will face is that his dad has a one-up on him- Cal actually went out and LIVED the life he wanted, albeit-briefly. He did live loud, if only for a moment.
Nate and Maddy never made sense to me. Peel back all the layers and they were both the hottest/most popular/most followed in school. That’s it. First love.
Maddy was always going to move on. She’s STRONG and SELF-CONFIDENT. She wouldn’t have had time for Nate’s shit. I say this as someone raised a Cassie- to know my worth through men’s approval. Maddy never needed that. Maddy just needed time to come into her own.
Rambling. Sorry. Just thought this was interesting and I’d share.