Los Angeles Times: The Kids Are All Right's part of a trend

What is the summer zeitgeist that The Kids Are All Right is part of? Same-sex marriage? LA stories? According to David Ferrell’s article “Those Moving-On Movies” in the Los Angeles Times, The Kids Are All Right joins Toy Story 3 and Cyrus in dealing with encountering empty-nest syndrome. Interesting proof of this Zeitgeist can be seen in that A. O. Scott wrote a very similar piece, "They Grow Up So Quickly, Don't They" over at the New York Times. In Ferrell's piece, Co-Screenwriter Stuart Blumberg comments on Joni’s departure in the film: “As she's about to go to college, she starts claiming her own will. She stops thinking about what they want and thinking about what she wants." While the Joni’s departure is in some ways a subplot, it carries a very emotional strain:

Despite the radical differences in their story lines, the films all touch a universally powerful chord — and at a time when it is especially resonant, according to Kaiser. Confusion about leaving home has never been greater, she said. There are "virtually limitless" ways to travel and have fun and experience adventure after escaping the parental shackles. Mix in a high level of youthful rebellion, and there is an "excitement and urgency to get out in the world and try things," [Los Angeles-based author and psychotherapist Stacy] Kaiser said. "And then you have these kids who, because of the recession, can't get out."