Do we change ourselves, or does the world change us?
Jo and Bethie Kaufman were born into a perfect Leave It to Beaver household in Detroit in the 1950s. Jo is a tomboy who wants only to make the world fair while Bethie is pretty, feminine, and concerned with being good; she plans to use her beauty and her pleasant demeanor to glide into her own June Cleaver world.
The truth ends up looking much different than the dream. Jo and Bethie both suffer traumas and tragedies that change who they are. The grow up in the time of free love, Vietnam, Woodstock, and women's lib, and Bethie becomes and adventure-loving hellion who has dedicated herself to everything but settling down. And Jo becomes the proper young mother in Connecticut wearing cardigans and ballet flats and smiling at other mothers in the grocery store. She watches the world light up while Bethie seems intent on burning it down.
Neither are happy. Both are searching for authenticity in themselves and the world around them.
Can we miss the boat on our own lives? Do we get the chance, even later in life, for a reboot? For a chance at authenticity?
