What do Little Miss Sunshine, Juno, The Kids Are All Right, and Rachel Getting Married all have in common? All are great movies primarily written about families. Trying to capture the inner workings and dysfunction of the family has become a successful (and lucrative) media pastime -- just think, Modern Family.
Why is it that families fascinate and entertain us?
This isn’t just a recent phenomena. Over 30 years ago, Kramer vs. Kramer, a film about a mom who walks out on her husband and son, was nominated for 9 and won 5 Oscar’s, including Best Picture.
Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep (who both won Oscars for their roles) play husband and wife in this film chronicling what happens in the life of Ted Kramer, a rising advertising executive and his young son Billy after their wife/mom leave. It’s a simple story, but a compelling and intimate one.
Fifteen months later, while Ted and Billy struggle to build a beautiful and functional relationship, Joanna returns and a court custody battle ensues. In a time before dads fought for custody and it was assumed that children were always better off with their moms, this film pushes the limit of those assumptions.
I think in watching other families, in laughing and crying over their winsomeness and heartache, we discover what it means to truly be a part of something. We learn about sacrifice, stewardship, brokenness and love. Our families serve as hints, as signposts, to what we were made for.
As you watch this film (which I desperately hope that you will) consider what it is about families that draws you in. Whether at its best or its worst, families remind us that we are loved beyond our merit, that in dysfunction there is always hope, and that beautiful harmony can flourish even in brokenness.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNLcfJ06y34
Read more http://rednow.com/blogs/intothedark/olderclassic/kramer-vs-kramer/
