Tag Archives: response to crisis

Internal Dynamics of Families

27 Dresses

Title: 27 Dresses

Date: 2008

Media type: Film

Format: Complete

Category: Internal Dynamics of Families

Keywords: adulthood, fathering, response to crises, single parenting, stress and coping, work and family

Rating: PG 13 – Parents Strongly Cautioned

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

Language: English

Film/Episode Summary: Jane is a perpetual bridesmaid. She is constantly planning her friends’ weddings, and she’s been a bridesmaid 27 times. While she’s not planning weddings, she’s at work swooning over her boss, George, who she has been in love with for longer than she would like to admit. Then Kevin comes along. He finds her attractive, but she wants nothing to do with the cynical writer that cannot stand the thought of marriage. One-day Jane’s sister Tess comes to town. Tess is the beautiful girl that every man falls in love with. Much to Jane’s dismay, Tess and her boss George hit it off. However, Tess lies about her entire life to get George to fall in love with her. Eventually, the two get engaged and start the wedding planning. Kevin interviews the couple for the wedding and engagement column in the newspaper. To Jane’s disdain, she runs into Kevin while he is interviewing the couple. The two end up having fun and he comes back to her apartment, where he sees her 27 dresses. Without her knowledge, he starts writing a story about her, and eventually she finds out. Will the two end up together, or will Jane forever be a bridesmaid and never a bride?

Comments or Recommendations for Teaching: In what ways was Jane a mother to her younger sister Tess? How did the death of their mother affect Jane and Tess differently. How did their father have to shift roles into being the sole caretaker of the two?

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

Contributor: Krista Hamann

Internal Dynamics of Families

Sleepless in Seattle

Title: Sleepless in Seattle

Date: 1993

Media type: Film

Format: Complete

Category: Internal Dynamics of Families

Keywords: Family trauma, response to crisis, stress and coping, single parenting

Rating: PG – Parental Guidance Suggested

Audience(s): Children Under 12, High School Age, College Age, Adults, Parents, Couples, Families

Language: English

Film/Episode Summary: Newly widowed Sam Baldwin and his 8-year-old son Jonah move from Chicago to Seattle in order to attempt to escape the grief that comes from losing a mother and a wife. Even after Eighteen months, Sam still is stuck in the grieving process and can barely sleep. Even though Jonah misses his mother, he wants his dad to meet someone new so he can be happy again. Then, on Christmas Eve, Sam ends up sharing his life story with his late wife and talked about how their life together was absolute bliss and perfection. Annie Reed hears Sam confessing his love for his wife on the radio and ends up falling in love with him. Even though Annie is engaged to another man, she can’t get Sam out of her mind. Annie writes to Sam to meet her on top of the Empire State Building. Will things work out for Annie and Sam, or is their situation just too complicated for things to work out between the two?

Comments or Recommendations for Teaching: How does being widowed affect how Sam parents his son Jonah?

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

Contributor: Krista Hamann

Human Growth and Development

Juno

Title: Juno

Date: 2007

Media type: Film

Format: Complete

Category: Human Growth and Development

Keywords: Adolescence, adoption, decision making, parent-child relationships, response to crises, social and cultural influences

Rating: PG 13 – Parents Strongly Cautioned

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

Language: English

Film/Episode Summary: The film follows Juno, a 16-year-old high-school junior, who discovers she is pregnant with her best friend Bleeker’s child. Juno goes in for an abortion but quickly decides against it once she is sitting in the office. Instead, she decides to have the baby and place the child with an adoptive couple. She finds the perfect couple in the PennySaver personals and decides they are the couple she wants to choose. After all the papers are signed, the waiting for Juno to have her child begins. The rest of the film follows Juno through her pregnancy and as she processes all that is occurring.

Comments or Recommendations for Teaching:

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

Contributor: Krista Hamann