MovieChat Forums > Five Easy Pieces (1970) Discussion > Why does Bobby visit Tita at the recordi...

Why does Bobby visit Tita at the recording studio? Pleas explain!

posted 17 years ago by paradroid
19 replies | jump to latest

After Elton is arrested, why does Bobby visit his sister Tita in LA at the recording Studio where she tells him about their father's strokes? How does he know she is in LA recording an album? As far as I remember, Bobby turned his back on his entire family, including Tita, and they don't know his exact wshereabouts either, so how come he visits her at the studio? The sound quality of the DVD-release is crap, so maybe I missed the piece of dialogue that explains why Bobby and Tita meet.

[–] sage2112 9 years ago

I think he just decided to visit his sis and tracked her down. That sort of thing ... happens.

[–] rnmackenzie 9 years ago

Another interesting detail about this is the point that Veltaine made above: he's wearing a jacket and tie. It's the most cleaned up we've seen him so far in the film. Was he dressing up, planning to look for some different kind of work in L.A.? There'd be no reason to put on the tie just to visit his sister.

[–] JDL (36) 7 years ago

He was only dressed up because he wanted to look appropriate at the studio, and perhaps as a matter of respect for Tita.The bigger Qs are how did he find her and why? I agree that the scene where he jumped on the truck to play piano may have "struck a chord" which may have been intended as a pun!
We get no info on how he found her. He seemed comfortable in the studio, as if he had been to them before, so maybe he knew she had some scheduled time there every so often.
But it is clear transition; he always dresses and looks much sharper after this scene (until he forgets his jacket when he is making a break for Alaska). He returns to his roots for a while, at the island, but onyl because he now knows his dad has had the strokes. He tries to ditch Rayette from coming along and then ditches her at the motel when they get to the island. I don't think he is trying to integrate back into the life he has spurned, but he clearly returns to it - even if temporarliy - as someone who knows the conventions and standards. He just doesn't accept them, finds them suffocating, and eventually has to bolt.