Again, Jared’s mom mixes affection with violence as she both pulls Jared into a headlock and kisses him. But as a result of this dynamic, Jared feels constantly on-edge and threatened by the people in his life, including his mother. Alongside this, violence and love are tied up in Jared’s mom’s relationships in a complicated way too. Even though she is theoretically dating Richie to help protect herself and Jared, the fact that she often has to protect Jared
from Richie suggests that conflating violence with love in this way does more harm than good.