Tag Archives: divorce

Internal Dynamics of Families

She’s the Man

Title: She’s the Man

Date: 2006

Media type: Film

Category: Internal Dynamics of Families

Keywords: conflict management, types of parents, family functioning, divorce

Rating: PG -13

Audience(s): High School Age, College Age, Adults, Couples

Language: English

Film/Episode Summary: Viola (played by Amanda Bynes) pretends to be her brother Sebastian so that she can play soccer at his new private school because the girls team at her high school was cut. She got away with it by lying to her divorced parents saying to each of them that she was at the other parent’s house. The film follows Viola as she becomes a better soccer player, all the while she is trying to fight her mother’s desire that she be a lady like debutant instead of being a rough and tough soccer player.

Comments or Recommendations for Teaching: How does having divorced parents affect how Viola and Sebastian act? How does Viola’s mother learn to draw the line between letting her daughter pursue her desire to be a soccer player while still wanting her daughter to be a debutant?

Contributor: Krista Hamann

Parenting

Boyhood

Title: Boyhood

Date: 2014

Media type: Film

Rating: R – Restricted

Audience(s): High School Age, College Age, Adults, Parents, Families

Language: English

Film/Episode Summary: Coming of age story. The joys and pitfalls of growing up are seen through the eyes of a child named Mason (Ellar Coltrane), his parents (Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke) and his sister (Lorelei Linklater). Vignettes, filmed with the same cast over the course of 12 years, capture family meals, road trips, birthday parties, graduations and other important milestones.

Comments or Recommendations for Teaching: Because this film spans 12 years with the same actors – it lends a better view of the progression of early childhood to launching not just from the main character’s point of view, but the changes in the family as well. Though it is a fictional story, the relationships developed between the actors as a result of filming together over more than a decade is much more authentic (and the actors themselves have said that they felt like a family experiencing changes and milestones together.) The film covers the typical coming-of-age tropes, but also examines single parenting, co-parenting, divorce, remarriage, blended families, parenting styles, identity development, mid-life crises, launching, relocation, drugs/alcohol/experimentation, domestic abuse, etc.

Places to view: Youtube, Amazon Video, Vudu, Google Play, Itunes, Netflix

Contributor: Kim Kieffer

Parenting

The Way Way Back

Title: The Way Way Back

Date: 2013

Media type: Film

Rating: PG 13 – Parents Strongly Cautioned

Audience(s): High School Age, College Age, Adults, Parents, Families

Language: English

Film/Episode Summary: While 14 year old Duncan is being dragged on a family trip with his mom and her overbearing boyfriend, he finds a gregarious friend at a local waterpark. The two form a powerful bond as Duncan learns to swim through the challenges of life, love, family and friendship, resulting in a vacation he’ll never forget.

Places to view: Youtube, Amazon Video, Vudu, Google Play, Itunes

Contributor: Brittney Tracey