Licorice Pizza Ending Explained: Is Alana Really In Love With Gary In Licorice Pizza? Meaning of Ending

Who knows if while writing and shooting Licorice Pizza Paul Thomas Anderson had guessed how much controversy his film set in 1970s California, which pays homage to the places and atmospheres of his adolescence, would have sparked? Among the different passages of the film that have attracted the attention and criticism of the spectators, one of the most debated is the scene that closes the film. On the other hand, the theme of the film itself is considered unseemly by some: the relationship in the balance between friendship and love between a teenager and an already adult woman.

In fact, the film tells how young Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman) falls in love with Alana Kane (Alana Haim). He is 15 and is therefore a minor, she is older. In the film, Alana’s true age is never revealed and the girl gives conflicting answers to the question: once she says she is 25, another 28. Surely, however, there is a big difference in age between the two protagonists.

After meeting her at school, where Alana helps the photographer take photos of the students for the yearbook, Gary invites her to dinner. Alana refuses the invitation, but out of curiosity she eventually goes to the restaurant indicated by the boy, spending the rest of the film dampening his every attempt to start a relationship in the bud. Alana, however, becomes Gary’s friend, confidant and business partner, rejecting any romantic aspect of the relationship but ending up unwittingly seducing the boy. In the film’s finale, Anderson gives a less ambiguous connotation to the relationship between the two protagonists, making a decision about its evolution… which angered many.

Licorice Pizza Ending Explained: Gary and Alana’s Kiss

In the film’s finale, Alana and Gary are able to focus more clearly on their feelings for each other after an argument that has alienated them.  During the interview with candidate for mayor Wachs, Gary discovers overhearing a conversation that pinball machines will be legal in California again for minors and takes steps to find some machines they use and open an arcade. Alana gets angry at how he uses his political battle for his own gain, trampling on her ideals and commitment.

The discussion degenerates Gary gives Alana the old woman’s about her and blames her for the fact that – from the point of view of her – without him she would be the school photographer’s assistant. Alana gets angry, Gary says he’ll drive the car and he doesn’t need her help. Alana threatens him: if she does, she won’t talk to him anymore. Gary starts his Pontiac and drives off, even though he clearly barely knows how to drive.

Alana returns to devote herself to the electoral campaign and approaches the manager of the same, while Gary works on the opening of his Pinball Palace. Her boyfriend misses her friend and asks his older sisters about her. Danielle in particular warns her little sister that Gary is very sad and misses her and advises her to go to the store opening. That same evening a phone call interrupts a possible kiss between Alana and her new love interest. It is candidate for mayor Joel Wachs who asks Alana to join him in an elegant club.

Alana is delighted with his attention and rushes over to him. Here she discovers a bitter truth:  Wachs is actually homosexual and he called her to escort her partner home without arousing the suspicions of a man who is stalking him. With a broken heart, the boy thanks Alana for her kindness: in fact, the young woman witnessed the quarrel between the two without intervening; she held up the cover pretending to be the girl of the stranger and accompanied him home. He asks her: are you engaged too? Alana answers yes and no, thinking clearly about her relationship with Gary.

The fight between the two – with the hidden boyfriend accusing the candidate of never caring for him – brought the situation into focus:  she really cares about Gary.  The girl runs at breakneck speed to the Pinball Palace, but Gary is already gone: irritated by her absence, he ran to look for her. Eventually the two find each other and hug. Back at Pinball, Gary makes everyone understand that Alana is her girlfriend, a gesture that annoys the girl a little. Shortly after, however, the two run away and  she kisses him on the  edge of her lips. The two run away and Alana’s voiceover is heard saying “I love you Gary”. 

The Meaning Of The Licorice Pizza Ending

Many have accused the character of Alana of seducing a minor and luring him into an unseemly relationship and some have gone so far as to talk about pedophilia. What does director Anderson – who had the inspiration for the film over 20 years ago – think of these controversies? Anderson explained that Alana and Gary’s relationship is far from loving and the final exchange is little more than sentimental. The core of the film is the story of how two young people, immature and with their lives still not very focused, approach a California where  the boundary between youth and adulthood  is very blurred and where in general the adults are not interested in life. of the children.

There is a great imbalance between Gary and Alana: he frequents the adult world and has great freedom despite being 15 years old, while she is watched over by her parents and still lives at home with her sisters, all well over 25 years old. The social, economic and religious context of the Kane family also limits Alana’s choices and makes her in fact similar to a teenager. When Alana meets Gary she doesn’t know what to do with her life and she often makes stupid or destructive choices. After descending the hill in the truck, Alana (who is still 25) realizes the danger, while Gary (who is a teenager) does not. For Alana, Gary is something like a brother or a friend to protect, but the desire for him makes her feel desirable and flatters her, sometimes clouding the girl’s judgment.

Alana, however, lives in a society that continually diminishes her value as a person as a woman: she is confused, she doesn’t know what to do with her life and her anger often proves self-destructive. She would like to do something concrete with her life (see political commitment) but she doesn’t know what to do. Strange as it is, her bond with Gary helps her focus on herself. Not only that: in the other relationships told in the film  her parts are reversed  and it is Alana who becomes a very young girl who attracts the attention of men much more mature than her, who, however, do not hesitate to try to seduce her. Alana herself understands that she is struggling to understand their way, that she is immature and unsuitable.

According to Anderson, the final scene should be interpreted as Alana’s realization that Gary is as important to her as she is to him: an emotional bond that goes beyond mere seduction. The director pointed out how often people experience these short but memorable “wrong” love stories, which are all-encompassing when lived. The film actually only tells us that Alana has realized she cares about Gary: we don’t know if the bond will end in late summer or if it will last long enough to see Gary come of age and become something more serious.

Is Alana Really In Love With Gary In Licorice Pizza?

According to director Anderson, the relationship between Alana and Gary far from loves and the final exchange is little more than sentimental. According to Anderson, the final scene should be interpreted as Alana’s realization that Gary is as important to her as she is to him: an emotional bond that goes beyond mere seduction. The director pointed out how often people experience these short but memorable “wrong” love stories, which are all-encompassing when lived. The film actually only tells us that Alana has realized she cares about Gary: we don’t know if the bond will end in late summer or if it will last long enough to see Gary come of age and become something more serious.