Theory on who is who in the Boggs family?
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Any Which Way You Can
gutz1981 — 12 years ago(March 20, 2014 11:23 AM)
Interesting how neither this film nor the previous one gives a clear indication on the relationship of Philo Beddoe, Ma and Orville Boggs. On the one hand Philo refers to Senovia Boggs as 'Ma', though she does not call or refer to him as son (not that she has to for him to be). Orville treats him like a brother, but often calls him friend. Philo is willing to put up a great deal of his prize money to get "A new roof and a couple of extras for Ma." It sounds like they are family, but how? I often think Philo was Ma's first child from a previous marriage, then had Orville from a second marriage. But seeing Orville refers to Philo as a close friend, I often come to the conclusion that Philo might have been a homeless child who Orville met and befriended at a young age, and Ma took him into her family hence the loyalty to Ma and close relationship to Orville. Who else thinks they are or are not family. I just find it hard to see the character of Philo as a grown man just one day moving into a friends house and calling a stranger "Ma". Of course I could be putting too much thought into this, but it is just something I have wondered about with these films because it is quite a unique dynamic that I don't think I have ever seen in another film before. Any thoughts or films that have a similar concept, I'd like to here? Cheers.