Parenthood Reflection

Elnora Theogen

The movie
Parenthood starring Steve Martin is about the struggles of four siblings raising their children. Throughout the movie each parent had different techniques on how they raised their kids and how they dealt with the stress of it all. The beginning of the movie shows uninvolved parenting, the main character Gil Buckham was just a small boy and was left with a stranger his father paid. As Gil turns into a father himself his main focus is being a better parent than his own father. Gil’s struggles are mainly displayed through his interaction with his nine year old son Kevin. Kevin is having trouble at school and the counselor suggests
“special” school and a therapist. Kevin gets picked on by his little league teammates and has self­esteem issues, around kevin’s age is when Erikson believes is when self­esteem development is at its peak. When Gil notices his about Kevin he immediately puts more time towards his family; especially Kevin, he even quits his job. Gil and his wife Karen were the
Authoritative parents in that they were firm but also allowed for fun. Karen loved her kids, she even looked through the garbage for Kevin’s retainers. The parent throughout the movies that would have the firmest and demanding parenting style would be Pattie’s dad, he wanted her to participate strictly to learning activities. Pattie’s dad, Nathan, was the authoritarian and nurturing type of parent. The permissive parents would be Helen and Larry. Helen allowed her kids to pretty much do as they pleased, her daughter got married to some boy she brought home(Todd),shaved half of her hair off, and even took explicit pictures of her and Todd.
Helen’s son displayed an insecure avoidant type identity status, he would not really speak or even listen to his mom. Larry brought home a child which he name “cool”, he does not really seem to know what he is doing at all. Throughout the movie each style is highlighted in each character and is acted out perfectly.