Tag Archives: work and family

Families in Society, Family Resource Management, Internal Dynamics of Families, Parenting

Pursuit of Happyness

Title: Pursuit of Happyness

Date: 2006

Media type: Film

Format: Clip

Category: Families in Society, Internal Dynamics of Families, Family Resource Management, Parenting

Keywords: work and family, family demographics, response to crises, decision-making, financial management, parent-child relationships

Rating: PG-13

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

Language: English

Film/Episode Summary: Chris Gardner is a down on his luck guy who ends up losing his livelihood, home, money, and wife and lives on the streets with his son. The movie follows his attempt to get steady work and sell a bone-density scanner he has helped create. The story focuses on Chris Gardner’s work ethic and drive to make a better life for him and his son.

Clip Description: In this scene Chris Gardner has been brought into jail on unpaid parking tickets. He has barely enough to pay his tickets, but as he only has a check he ends up having to wait the night in jail so they can clear the check before they release him. As he is unable to leave he has to call someone to watch his son against his instincts. In addition to having to find care for his son he also has a job interview in the morning for a good job but is in work clothes that are covered in paint.

Comments or Recommendations for Teaching: What role does keeping Gardner in jail do to his life? How, if at all, does imprisoning someone for minor charges help the individual, the city, or the police department? Do you think this scene speak to the cycle of incarceration and poverty?

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

Contributor: Ian Brunzell-Looney

Families in Society, Family Life Education and Methodology

Jiro Dreams of Sushi

Title: Jiro Dreams of Sushi

Date: 2012

Media type: Documentary

Format: Complete

Category: Families in Society, Family Life Education Methodology

Keywords: work and family, cultural and global perspectives

Rating: NR

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

Language: Japanese

Film/Episode Summary: Jiro Is a world renowned sushi chef in Japan. His passion for his craft and his constant desire for improvement dominate his life, and the lives of his family. Jiro’s restaurant employs his older son, who is set to inherit the business when Jiro decides to retire, though it seems that the only thing that will stop Jiro from working is death. Jiro’s younger son runs his own restaurant, associated with Jiro’s. The brothers were raised by a man possessed by work which shaped them as individuals and chose their career paths, ones that mirrored their father. The culture of Japan really shines through in this portrait of a family and their business, giving a fascinating glimpse of a family unit from a culture other than one’s own, unless of course you are from Japan.

Comments or Recommendations for Teaching: What is your impression of Jiro as a father? Husband? Businessperson? Was his devotion to his work well placed? Why? Though the focus of the documentary is primarily on Jiro and his work, his personal and family life gets bound up in the story why do you think the 2 are relevant to each other?

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

Contributor: Ian Brunzell-Looney

Families in Society, Family Resource Management, Internal Dynamics of Families

The Queen of Versailles

Title: The Queen of Versailles

Date: 2012

Media type: Documentary

Category: Families in Society, Internal Dynamics of Families, Family Resource Management

Keywords: work and family, family demographics, response to crises, financial management

Rating: PG

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

Language: English

Film/Episode Summary: This documentary follows a once extravigantly wealthy family that has lost the lifestyle they could once afford. It focuses on the dynamic changes as the family has to live with less and less. The father and husband works constantly to try and salvage as much as he can from his once booming time-share business at the expense of time with his wife and children, not that he was very involved before they lost money though. The family struggles to understand the world that they have to start living in, a simpler and less entitled one.

Comments or Recommendations for Teaching: What roles does wealth play in the family system in this documentary? What do you think these individuals are struggling with the most? How can you relate to them and their situation? What role does the father’s job and business play in the individual family members’ lives? What about in the family system?

Places to view: Amazon Video, Vudu, Itunes, Hulu, Netflix

Contributor: Ian Brunzell-Looney