Family Life Paper Analysis

Family Life Movie Critical Analysis The British film Family Life depicts the portrayal and life of a raw, disturbing character study directed by Ken Loach of a fragile, vulnerable, and troubled teenager named Janice who undergoes the harsh light of social realism and brutality of medical treatment after defying against her parents’ wishes and the conservative, restrictive societal norms of British life and culture. In Family Life, Janice is portrayed as a confused teenager who is labeled due to her perceived behavior by her authoritative figures as “mentally disoriented” and “problematic” after getting pregnant at a young age. Janice’s working-class parents view their daughter as “misbehaved” or “immoral” for moments of rebellion against her domineering parents’ wishes and discovering her own way in life. Her early pregnancy results in her parents’ strong disapproval, enforcing their opinion upon Janice such as getting an abortion. The unfortunate truth is that Janice’s parents hypocritically disapprove and blame Janice for deeply upsetting her parents, when she is unable to manage the emotional and mental effect her pregnancy and the extraneous, societal influences and pressure have on her. Janice’s condition and mental state worsens after receiving her abortion and being subjected to outrageously self-righteous, ignorant doctors because of her overassertive parents’ orders, and being identified as a schizophrenic due to her increasingly erratic behavior. This sadly fallouts in the cruel and unjust medical treatments given to Janice that leaves the audience members shocked, uncomfortable, and frustrated to witness. As presented in the film, Janice represents an equally unflinching and savage indictment on the failings of society towards those in most need. The British film Family Life illustrates the complex family dynamics between the daughter Janice and her conservative, well-restricted parents. Family dynamics significantly impact health in both positive and negative ways. Having a close-knit and supportive family provides emotional support, economic well being, and increases overall health (Thoit 105). However, the opposite is also true. Problematic and non-supportive familial interactions have a negative impact on health. There is increasing evidence that poor-quality relationships can actually harm physical and mental health. When family life is characterized by stress and conflict, the health of family members tends to be negatively affected. Growing up in an unsupported, neglectful or violent home is also associated with poor physical health and development (Gove 356-362).
As stated earlier, Janice is consistently criticized and demoralized by her parents while being assured that everything that her parents do or say is “only for her own good”. She is unable to keep attain her working job and gradually loses mental stability. Her early teen pregnancy and abortion, which was insisted by her parents, results into her growing erratic behavior by which her parents takes Janice to seek a psychiatrist. Ken Loach’s Family Life is a ruthless indictment on the mental healthcare system of the period. The first consultant that Janice seeks help is from Dr. Donaldson, an open-minded and liberal individual and a believer in gentle group therapy. Dr. Donaldson does not believe in medication to solve the issue. Through open dialogue, Janice opens up and makes progress, talking through her feelings. Dr. Donaldson interviews each family member separately and a dysfunctional profile of the unit is unveiled. However when the hospital board ousts Dr. Donaldson due to “administrative reasons”, Janice is relocated to a harsh reality of medical treatment. She is placed into the care of Dr. Carswell who favors electroconvulsive therapy as Janice’s mental state rapidly deteriorates. In the film's final scene, Janice is looked down upon as an individual of no voice (silent, passive, and unresponsive), exhibited to a sneering audience of bored medical students.
One of the challenging and grueling moments in the British film Family Life was the electroshock therapy, which was requested and ordered by Janice’s psychiatric doctor. Because of the time period where healthcare treatment was a prime example of brutal indictment, I felt that electroshock therapy was avoidable in this situational circumstance and other forms of treatment could have been implemented. Indeed, the electroshock therapy was excessive and unnecessary since it caused tremendous, significant shocks and drastic changes to Janice’s human body. In a sense, the electroshock therapy was viewed as a form of punishment or crime given by the authoritative figures of the British culture and society. The social ramifications of this circumstance depicted in the film were that Janice’s personal conflicts resulted into greater problems for Janice’s parents and society due to Janice’s perceived social labels such as a confused and troubled teenage girl, an underachiever with no sense of direction, and a schizophrenic. These social labels defied her parents’ expectations and dreams and challenged her their perception on how society (at the time) was structured and should be shaped into (Gove 358). Though, I personally believed that the treatment given to Janice was a little extreme and an alternative should be considered for the time being and this situational manner.
In my opinion, my initial reactions of Janice were perceived as a confused, perplexed teenager with a great deal of emotional/mental distress and hardships in her situational circumstance. Initially, I did not know what to expect from such a grimy, dark film and the time frame presented in the film. Throughout the film and as a viewer, there were certain points or problematic indicators in the film that could potentially her suggested mental disorder, perceived by her conservative parents and the self-righteous, ignorant doctors. For instance, one example that indicated her erratic behavior against British societal norms and culture was a scene where Janice came home in the early morning after going out all night with company and she eventually took the knife on the table and was acting in a threatening manner. Though, the significant scenes that strongly indicated Janice’s mental state were her attitudes and behaviors, as well as the family interactions with her parents. Janice and her parents would be very argumentative towards each other due to miscommunication and differences of opinion, making matters worse and challenging. In addition, there were instances where Janice was yelling when she was at the mental facility and tried to get her way by changing the television channel to her own personal interest. Janice would appear calm to others but would repeatedly lash out when everyone called her out for being “selfish”. In my opinion, Janice’s parents were not viewed as villains or monsters. In some sense, they were as much to be pitied and sympathized as Janice, no less trapped by the agreements and assumptions of British conservative society. Her mother represented an individual of bourgeois righteousness, misguidedly sincere in pursuing what she sees as Janice's best interests. On the other hand, her father fidgeted uncomfortably when Dr. Donaldson quizzes him about his minimal, unhappy sex life with the wife.
From what I’ve seen in the film and based on my perception, I believe that Janice was not mentally ill and disordered. But rather, I believe that Janice’s erratic behavior arises out of her family’s high standards and expectations of her as a working class woman, in a time and place when notions of traditional English values and customs are being usurped by a seventies counter-culture that offers another lifestyle and path, one that doesn’t necessarily lead to a husband, children, and a stable household (Thoit 106). Janice does have some personal issues to consider, but in the end, she understands and desperately fights against the indoctrination process of boring work life in a factory and the level of sameness that passes from generation to generation. Janice is intelligent enough to understand the predicament she is in and wants to break free this restricted cycle. Her alleged diagnosis of schizophrenia by her authoritative figures stirs stigma in her community, a sign of disgrace, which sets Janice apart from the others and remains a powerful negative attribute in all her social relations. When others do not accept the reality of mental illness, families have little choice but to withdraw from previous relationships both to protect themselves and their loved one, even to the extreme (Gove 358). Though, the structure of the class system and the controlled, conservative ideology, as seen in the film, prohibits misunderstood Janice from freely making her own independent choices and keeps her in place.
Family Life illustrates a deeply heartbreaking story that unfortunately portrays the profound message about the medical treatment and stigma of mental health. Though, the film is far more to do with the effects of an all too strict, and hypocritical family background with traditional, classic values. The title Family Life depicts the complicated societal relationships between society/family and Janice, in which they both have crucially failed Janice in some particular manner. The film explores how repressive and damaging parental love can be on their offspring's sense of identity and self when they refuse to see children as anything other than a replicated extension of themselves in a most effectively disturbing and poignant manner (Thoit 106). Families characterized by conflict, aggression, and anger can have particularly negative effects on children. Physical abuse and neglect represent immediate threats to the health of children. Conditions ranging from impaired relationships and living with irritable and quarreling parents to being exposed to violence and abuse at home show associations with mental and physical health problems in childhood, with lasting effects in the adult years (Gove 362).