Examples Of Symbolic Interactionism In Daddy's Little Girls

1. The movie that I decided to analyze is Daddy’s Little Girls. Daddy’s Little Girls is a movie that shows the loving relationship between a dad and his daughter and all the things he goes through to take care of them and be the best father possible. I chose to use this movie to analyze because it displays a lot of emotion and family love.
2. The theory that I would use to analyze this story is Symbolic Interactionism. This theory focuses on how people interact with each other. According to the book, “For an interaction to occur, there must be at least two people who both act and respond to each other” (Strong, Cohen 47). Interactions can be made through either gestures, symbols, or words.
3. Although there are many examples of symbolic interactionism

shown throughout this movie, I chose three that really stood out to me. The first example occurs when Monty’s daughters are court-ordered to go stay at their mom’s house. One night the girls show up to Monty’s house shaking and crying telling him that they were being abused and mistreated by their mom and her boyfriend. Monty immediately grabs his girls, holds them tight, and starts crying with them. This interaction shows how much Monty loves his girls and how hurt he is about what is happening to them. The next example happens later in that same scene when Monty puts his girls to sleep and then decides to go after the mom’s boyfriend for hurting his girls. When he finds him, Monty pulls him out the car and punches him and the two men begin to fight along with the boyfriend’s friends. Although this is a bad interaction, it still symbolizes that Monty won’t let anyone hurt his girls and get away with it. This interaction shows that Monty will go through whatever for his girls regardless of the consequences. The third example occurs when Monty and the mom’s boyfriend are in court because of the fight that they had. No one in the neighborhood likes the boyfriend because of the kind of person he is, so when it’s time to testify everyone says that he started the fight so that he can be put in jail. However, when it was time for them to testify on Monty’s behalf, everyone jumps up to say that Monty did not start the fight. When Monty is set free, everyone walks on side of him out of the court, cheering and smiling. Because of this interaction, the viewer can see how well respected Monty is in his neighborhood.