In the sociology topic of family, marriage, and relationships, various aspects bout human nature and dynamics as related to the three disciplines have been raised. The movie This Is Where I Leave You best exemplifies the various teachings from this coursework. The movie is about the reunion of a much-divided family to honor their father's death wish. Through this reunion, we get to learn many problems facing the entire family and through it, comparisons can be drawn from the teachings in the coursework. The focus will be on highlighting the central theme of the movie taking note of other aspects that help in building the central theme.
The central and the most dominant theme that surrounds events in the movie This is where I Leave You is family wrangles. The cause of the wrangles a time is deliberate, but in some cases, it appears to be inevitable. The causes of the wrangles are presented in the movie include fights, infidelities, infertilities and interpersonal grudges among the characters in the movie. A dysfunctional and fractious family is united through the grieving of Judd Foxman’s father. Judd Foxman was not only mourning the death of his father but also the demise of his marriage. The unity of the family on the material day was a cosmetic one, in honor of their father's dying request which asked them to spend the next seven days following his funeral together. Judd had decided to end his marriage after catching his boss having sex with his wife. Wendy, Judd's sister, is married to a workaholic man who has little emotions towards his family members. Paul, the eldest son, is married to Alice, who was once in a relationship with Judd. Paul and Alice are also experiencing family problems due to their inability to bear a child. The youngest son Philip is also experiencing questions in his family life as he has a relationship with an older girlfriend who happens to be very rich. Their mother Hillary also sparked controversy and anger among her children when she authored a book exploiting the family’s weakness.
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Other than the idea of the family, the movie has several supporting ideas that help shape the central theme of wrangles. Love is a major cause of family wrangles in the movie. In this regards, Judd Foxman becomes the culprit. He is having a hard time trying to recover from his split with his wife whom she had caught having an affair with his boss. Religion also plays a critical role in shaping the events that depict the family disunity. Mort Foxman, before his death, had requested the family members to reunite and perform the Jewish traditional mourning known as Shiva in his honor. It is through their deep conviction in their Jewish religion and culture that they get together where the theme of family wrangles gets to be amplified through the settling of the old scores. Mortality is another aspect of the movie that helps build the main theme of the movie. It is through their father's death that they get together and we get to understand the different atrocities each member is facing as regards to their families and the larger Foxman family. The aspect of sex is also instrumental in building the theme of family. Judd Foxman caught his wife having sex with his boss, and they subsequently broke up, and he lost the job in the process. As retaliation, Judd has gone back to his old college girlfriend penny. Judd's mother is further doing more harm than good to the interests of the family as she appears to be having a sexual relationship with a fellow woman and a friend.
The movie highlights the major constructs and contents of the sociology course on Marriage, Family, and relationships. Infidelity has been presented as the major factor that leads to the demise of many marriages. Judd's wife is caught in the act of infidelity with her husband boss, and within no minute their union is over. Infidelity is also exhibited by their mother, Hillary who is having an affair with a long term friend. Marriage as an institution brings people together and enhances cohesion among the family members. The disunity shown by the members of the Foxman family is as a result of the embattled marriage relationship between their late father and their mother. Marriage maintains the discipline to both the man and the woman. As soon as Judd breaks up with his wife, he looks for his long-term college girlfriend as a solution. Other than infidelity, marriage is also built by emotions and the ability to raise children. Wendy, Judd's sister, is having a shaky affair with her husband due to his strong affection to his job rendering him emotionless when dealing with family matters. There is also a lack of peace in the marriage union between Paul and Alice due to their lack of children.
The family is a social institution which is measured by socialization, intimate relationships, economic cooperation and support and above all continuity. The Foxman family is almost the opposite of the prerequisites of a normal family according to sociological studies. Their socialization has been null for very many years until the death of their father brought them together. The level of intimacy in the family is in jeopardy in all rights. The siblings show old grudges during their one week of mourning. Judd does not have an intimate relationship with his wife as seen when his wife cheated on him. Because the family has stayed apart from each other for that long, it is obviously true that the family lacked economic cooperation and support for each other. Their mother who remains the legitimate leader of the family has lost direction and cannot bring the family together.
In the sociological study of relationships, we tend to study what constitutes a relationship, the types of relationships, and different human behavior in a relationship. The major type of relationship exhibited in the movie is the love affair. Judd, the main protagonist of the movie experiences a mixed reaction about love as a result of the treatments he has been subjected to. After the break up with his wife, he reverts to a relationship with an old college friend. The question it raises is whether the relationship has any basis or it is a mere act of convenience due to the immense void left by his gone wife. Sociology tries to define the types of relationship and at the same time question the validity of certain types of relationships in regards to their societal perceptions. Judd’s mother, Hillary surprisingly reverts to a lesbian relationship despite the fact that she was straight through her entire life.
In conclusion, the movie has succeeded in revealing the different problems a family, marriage and various relationships experience as depicted in the Sociology topic on marriage, family, and relationships. The movie centers on the idea of family disintegration and how their father's death and subsequent reunion exposes the deep animosity they have for each other. The movie also highlights the individual family problems experienced by the siblings such as infertility and infidelity which have been studied in the topic of family, marriage, and relationships.
Reference
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