Tag Archives: communication

Human Growth and Development

Princess Diaries

Title: Princess Diaries

Date: 2001

Media type: Film

Format: Complete

Category: Human Growth and Development

Keywords: adolescence, communication, single parenting, parenting styles, parent-child relationship

Rating: G – General Audiences

Audience(s): Children Under 12, High School Age, Families

Language: English

Film/Episode Summary: Mia Thermopolis lives the epitome of a normal life. She is a geek, sweet, and invisible to anyone but her mother, her best friend Lilly, and Lilly’s older brother Michael. Her biggest challenge in life is making it through a day of high school without throwing up. One day, Mia’s grandmother from Genovia shows up and invites her to tea. At tea, Mia finds out that she is the heir to the throne of Genovia, a European Country. One minute she is a regular teenager, the text moment, she is royalty. Suddenly, Mia’s life becomes much more complicated. After school she is learning about how to dance, how to walk and talk like a lady, what fork to eat a salad with, and how to be the perfect princess. She also gets a makeover and a bodyguard, Joe; two things she never anticipated to happen in her life. The media finds out who she is and makes her life all the more complicated. Will Mia decide to be a princess, or will she abandon Genovia in its time of need and continue on the path of the typical teenager?

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

Contributor: Krista Hamann

Parenting

The Proposal

Title: The Proposal

Date: 2009

Media type: Film

Category: Parenting

Keywords: parent-child relationships, types of parents, conflict management, communication

Rating: PG-13

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

Language: English

Film/Episode Summary: Margaret Tate is a high powered editor that is being deported back to Canada because her Visa expired. In order to try to keep her job, she announces that she is engaged to Andrew, her assistant. The two do not get along. In fact, they despise one another. To hide the fact that they are committing fraud, Margaret goes with Andrew to visit his family in Alaska and announce that they are engaged. While Andrew’s mother and grandmother are more than excited that Margaret with be a part of their family, Andrew’s father couldn’t show his disapproval for his son’s lifestyle more. The film follows the pair as they learn how to function as a couples and learn how to deal with his family.

Comments or Recommendations for Teaching: What causes the tension between Andrew and his father? How has being orphaned at a young age affected how Margaret developed as an individual?

Contributor: Krista Hamann

Families in Society, Internal Dynamics of Families

This is Us

Title: This is Us

Date: 2016

Media type: Television

Format: Episode

TV Season-Episode: Season, Episode 1-4

Rating: PG 13 – Parents Strongly Cautioned

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

Language: English

Film/Episode Summary: This television show follow the lives of a couple, Rebecca and Jack, and their three children. Two of them, Kevin and Kate, are twins. They were triplets but one died in child birth. The third sibling, Kyle but later Randall, was adopted and is a child of color. We see how Rebecca and Jack raise the children and who they become as a result. The series shows us flashbacks of the past and tells the story in the present to have a better understanding of the family.

Comments or Recommendations for Teaching: I suggest discussion questions related to adopting a child of color, raising more than one child together, family communication, and how death of a family member impacts the family.

Places to view: Vudu, Hulu

Contributor: Linda Thao