Parenthood is a bittersweet comedy that focuses on the relationship between parents and their children and the struggles of parenthood. This movie focused on the lives of four siblings and their families; Gil and Karen, Susan and Nathan, Helen, and Larry.
Four different parenting styles were explored in this movie; authoritarian, authoritative, uninvolved, and permissive.
In authoritarian style of parenting, children are expected to follow the strict rules established by the parents. This is evident by Nathan. He is so preoccupied with raising his daughter, Patty, to become a high achiever. He pushes her to learn things that even adults aren’t capable of. Unfortunately, Patty is too young to understand what is happening, so she just follows father’s orders. It is evident that Nathan is proud of Patty’s abilities and uses her as his source of achievement. On the other hand, his wife, Susan, initially didn’t see a problem in this until she realised that Patty was socially awkward with her peers.
Meanwhile, authoritative parenting style involves establishing certain rules and guidelines for the children to follow. However, authoritative parents are more nurturing and responsive to their children. This style is exhibited by Gil and Karen. They expect their children to behave in certain ways but are supportive of their children. This is evident when the school principle proposed that Kevin would be most suitable in a special-education class as he suffers from behavioural problems. Gil and Karen did not believe that Kevin needed special-education classes and did their best to help him solve his issues; by spending more time with their son as well as sending him for therapy.
On the other hand, permissive parenting style was practiced by Helen. Permissive parenting style involves having very little demands from their children and being very lenient. They generally assume the role of a friend rather than a parent. This is evident in the way Helen treats her children. When Helen found out that her teenage daughter got married at such a young age, instead of lashing out, she was supportive, and did not deem her actions to be inappropriate. This was also evident when Helen found out that her son was watching pornography. Instead of questioning his activities negatively, she was interested in finding someone he could talk to about his issues. This was also evident as Helen was not concerned with her son’s safety every time he left home in a hurried or suspicious manner. The same is applied when her daughter leaves home to live with her boyfriend.
Lastly, the fourth style of parenting is uninvolved parenting. Uninvolved parenting is characterized by few demands and little communication. This style of parenting was adopted by Larry who appeared not concerned with his son’s life. When he stumbled upon an opportunity to make money, he simply left his son in the hands of his grandparents.
Upon watching this movie, I started to reflect on my parent’s style of parenting towards me. I identified that they employed the authoritative parenting style as they did expect me to do well in school but I was allowed to venture into anything that I had interest in. They did not force me into doing anything that I did not like. In fact, they are fully supportive of my ideas if it’s within boundaries of my safety.
psy317harvind 