Rushmore And Citizen Kane Comparison

In Rushmore and Citizen Kane, both protagonists are very determined to achieve their goal. Despite having very different settings, the unique characteristics of these two movies are very similar. In both films,, the missing mother figure for both protagonist is very significant, as they try to fill that void with something. Also their action is very unique as it ruins their social life and cause the drastic events.

The missing mother figure in both films impact them differently, yet they try to fill the void in a very similar way. In Rushmore, Max Fischer’s mother had passed away when Max was quite young; and since then, he has changed. At the beginning of the movie, we also see a separation between Max and his father. During the scene where we see Max enter the barber shop for the first time, his tone and action made it seem he was just at a normal barber shop. But later we see Max refusing to invite Bert to his dinner party, we feel very sympathetic for Bert.
This distance we see between Bert and Max makes us wonder where Max’s mother is.
But later in the film, we discover that she had died of cancer when Maxx was young. Since then, he has changed, as we see him lying about his father’s occupation and moves away from a social life to becoming a somewhat independent person, as he becomes a president or other position and moving away from a normal, functioning social life. In Citizen Kane, similarly, Charles Foster Kane “lost” his mother when he was sent off to Mr. Thatcher. Ever since then, he tried everything he could to bring himself back to his old childhood, as we hear the word “Rosebud” several times throughout the film. Along with “Rosebud,” he was also unable to keep a decent relationship. When he was married to Susan, he forced her to sing in opera, even though she was suffering in every way. It was as if Charles Kane wasn’t satisfied about the relationship, and
only saw it as a temporary way of “filling” the void. Despite having these similar “void” to fill, they route they have ended up was very different. As for Max Fischer, we see him change completely as we see him get the love and care he deserved. Margaret Yang, Rosemary Cross are the characters at the end showing care for Max, and we see this from the afterparty of Heaven and Hell. Unlike from the beginning, Bert, Max’s father, was invited and Max told everyone he was a barber, not an neurosurgeon. When Max first fell in love with Rosemary Cross, he became even more impossible and self-involved. If he were to continue down this path, we would see Max become Charles Kane. However, this change we see signals that he will not end up in that path. Charles Kane, unlike him, has met a very sad ending. He wasn’t able to achieve the goal of going back to “Rosebud,” and we can clearly see this in his final moment as he whispers it and drops the snow globe, which was from Susan.

Beyond their desires, we can also see both Max Fischer and Charles Kane’s colloquial actions that separates them from everyone else. Both characters has a very strong emotion, and it is portrayed in their action. Through Rushmore, we see Max almost unable to control his own action. At the beginning, we learn that Max Fischer is a bright kid, but he uses his capacity and intelligence on extra curricular. After trying to impress Rosemary Cross with a aquarium built on a baseball field, that ends up being the tipping point of his expulsion. His action to use his intelligence in order to attract Rosemary Cross, and this can be further seen when they are at the dinner party. His selfishness can be seen when he shows no respect for Rosemary’s date.
As for Charles Kane, we can see his selfish, heartless, and rude behavior to all his marriages.
For example, when Susan leaves Kane after years of dictation, his true personality and attitude is revealed and it pushes away most people around him. We can also see this based on his huge collection, when all he wanted was someone who left him. The point of view and attitude they have is what causes them to take a drastic actions they take.

Through these two films, their actions and traumatic experiences causes their drastic behaviors, and they both suffered in different ways. Their theme of both trying to fill a void was the cause of most of their action. They didn’t had the same outcome at the end, but their journey to reaching it was was similar, and interesting. It is quite clear why Max Fischer and Charles Foster are very alike based on their background, and considering their action, personalities makes their similarities very obvious.