My understanding of The Fabelmans with spoilers:
It’s a story of a passionately curious boy from discovering and making films to being acknowledged by the greatest ever lived filmmaker of that time – John Ford(cameo by David Lynch).
John Ford tells him that it’s only interesting when the horizon is either on the top or at the bottom. His father initially dismisses his passion as hobby and asks him to do something which is real like getting a drivers license and not imaginary thing like a film. He stops making films after exploring the power of film which helped him in understanding about his dysfunctional family – the horizon is at the bottom. But his mother confesses that there nothing far that he thinks of is between his uncle and her.
And resumes making films after he meets Monica. A film of the ditch day has its horizon at the top as he made, the most shitty person he ever met in his life look like a hero and got his girl back because of his movie. Isn’t this the John Ford is talking about?
Isn’t the same Sam Fabelman walked happily out of the studio while the camera adjusted to the horizon, grew up to become Steven Speilberg who made E.T. , Catch Me If You Can(even if its adapted) , Close Encounters Of Third Kind with melting down of nuclear families! I think it was that divorce of his parents and that break up with Monica had a huge impact on the American Films(through the lens of Speilberg) and exploring the familes and relationships in his films. Truly honoured to understand what made the man he is today.
Rohith Kesharaju 