Family Systems Theory In Still Alice Howland

Still Alice is a movie written and directed by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland in 2014. The film is about the life of a 50 year old female linguistics professor at Columbia University who is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease. Julianne Moore, plays the role of Dr. Alice Howland, the main character in the film. Alec Baldwin plays the role of her husband, Dr. John Howland and Kristen Steward, Kate Bosworth and Hunter Parrish play the roles of their 3 adult children Lydia, Anna and Tom. In the beginning of the movie, John is portrayed as a loving, supportive and understanding husband, however, as Alice’s illness progresses John becomes unable to cope with the physical, emotional and life style changes. In order to deal with what is happening in his life John accepts a new position at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. This new position takes him away from his wife and in order to compensate for his

absence, John hires a caregiver to take care of Alice. When he returns home to visit, he can see that the disease has progressed. Alice’s eldest child is portrayed as a loving daughter; they have a special bond, as Anna is pregnant with twins. When Anna finds out about her mother’s disease she gets herself and her unborn twins tested to see if they are possible carriers of the gene. Unfortunately, Anna tests positive but miraculously the twins do not. Tom, Alice’s only son is a medical student. He does not have a large role in the movie. Tom also gets tested for the gene and his results are negative. Lydia, the youngest child is an aspiring actress. She does not get tested for the gene as if she is petrified of what the outcome may be. Although Alice did not approve of Lydia’s choice, she is still seen has the closest and most supportive family member.
The theory that I have chosen to relate the movie to is the Family Systems Theory.

This theory views the family as a system containing interrelated and interacting parts. Whether something is affecting a family member positively or negatively, all family members are affected by these factors (Mitrani,Feaster, McCabe, Czaja, Szapocznik, 2004). In this case, the Howland family must cope with the vast changes in the cognitive function of their mother Alice. Throughout the film, we see how the impact of Alzheimer’s disease affects the family as a whole. Lydia who lives in California must move back home so that she can take care of her mother while her father is away at his new job. This is an example of how Alice’s Alzheimer’s diagnoses does not only affect her, but also affects Lydia’s life. Another example of how the disease affects the family system is when John and Alice are about to go for a run; Alice advises John that first she must use the bathroom before they part. Sadly Alice does not remember where the bathroom is in the house and she urinates in her

pants.
Towards the end of the movie, we do not see many of the family members as Anna is away caring for her newborn twins and John is away at work in Minnesota. Alice and her daughter Lydia are together walking in central park. They decide to go back home, as it is getting chilly outside. Once they return home, Lydia must remind her mother who the caregiver is. At the end of the movie Alice is seen sleeping on the sofa dreaming of her mother and sister walking on a beach hand in hand, Alice’s mother and sister died in a car accident when she was young. This shows that although her memory is fading, she is still able to remember some of the most precious moments of her past.