Parental separation might have several adverse impacts on children, such as emotional and behavioral problems in children. Children from separated families are likely to become insecure and display low self-esteem. Moreover, they can display a general distrust of others, socio-moral immaturity, regressive behavior, and inadequate social skills. The movie The Parent Trap portrays the impacts of parental separation on identical twins who were separated after the parents got divorced. The two parents unknowingly sent their girls, Hallie Parker and Annie James, to the same summer camp where they meet and discover the truth. The girls then plot to switch places where Annie meets her father and Hallie, her mother, for the first time in years. While the girls carry out the plot, we see how their discovery and plans affect the relationship between the two daughters and his new partner.
The twins live worlds apart and are brought together through the summer camp. Annie James comes from England, while Hallie Parker comes from Napa, California. After a short prank war between the sisters, they bond and decide to switch places to meet their parents. Nick and Elizabeth, the twin’s parents, separated soon after their birth and decided to take one child and avoid all contact (Meyers, 1998). It might be argued that their parent’s separation resulted in behavioral and emotional problems. Hallie had never interacted with her mother, while Annie did not have a relationship with her father. The absence of these important figures results in behavioral and emotional issues. The parents’ separation also had a negative impact on family self-concept and psychological adjustment (Seijo et al., 2016). However, environmental factors also influence the children in separated families. They mediate the association between divorce and offspring adjustment. In The Parent Trap, the parents do not exhibit deleterious parenting practices, economic factors, or conflicts (Meyers, 1998). Both parents offer stability and support to the two daughters, offsetting the adverse impacts of separation.
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Nick’s new girlfriend, Meredith Blake, is ill-received by his daughter Hallie. Hallie does not like the age gap between Meredith and her father. She insults Meredith by insinuating that their relationship might be founded on just sex and not love. During a scene in the pool, Hallie splashes water on her while jumping into the pool. Moreover, she is hesitant to let her father marry another woman instead of her biological mother. Meredith’s relationship also threatens the relationship with the father. Hallie’s dislike leads her to reveal that her father dates numerous women to sabotage the relationship. The twins' plot to separate Meredith and Nick, especially when they realize that the two are falling in love (Meyers, 1998). Nick’s relationship depicts the challenges that remarriage and step-families offer.
One concept highlighted in the movie is remarriage and its impact on the children. When one parent remarries, children might experience instability. Family instability refers to the disruption of emotional and social bonds, attachments, and relationships. However, family instability is mitigated since both families are in the middle or upper class (Hammond et al., 2015). Family instability plays out in the movie when Nick reveals that he is engaged to Meredith, despite opposition from his daughters. The movie also depicts the complications between step-families and the associated social and emotional complexity associated with the system. The twins do not like the instability that results from Nick and Meredith’s relationship and strive to sabotage it. Step-families should strive to achieve healthy boundaries, ranging from sexual, parenting, financial, social, safety, and physical boundaries (Hammond et al., 2015). Good boundaries protect the immediate family.
Parental separation adversely affects children’s emotional, psychological and physical health. Environmental and financial factors mediate the adverse impacts. Parental separation in the movie The Parent Trap distorts the children’s family self-concept. The movie depicts the complications associated with step-families and remarriages and the twins’ efforts to reunite the nuclear family.
References
Hammond, R., Cheney, P., & Pearsey, R. (2015). Sociology of the family. Smashwords.
Meyers, N. (Director). (1998). The parent trap [Film]. Walt Disney Pictures.
Seijo, D., Fariña, F., Corras, T., Novo, M., & Arce, R. (2016). Estimating the epidemiology and quantifying the damages of parental separation in children and adolescents. Frontiers in Psychology , 7 , 1611. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01611
