Showtime Movie: “Sister” Review An out of work actor, Billy Presser, who has been estranged from his family, suddenly finds himself the primary caregiver of an adopted sister Niki that he has never known. After the death of his father, his mother Susan is widowed and has an emotional breakdown. Susan is bipolar and has had issues throughout her life; ergo, her behavior is often deemed inappropriate with her intentions and parenting skills questionable. Niki was adopted after Billy and his other sister Ashley had left the nest. 11-year old Niki has anger issues resulting from a lack of support from Susan, being bullied at the private school she attends, and over-prescription of psychotropic drugs. Initially, when Niki arrives in Los Angeles, …show more content…
On the other hand, Billy steps up to the plate and provides Niki with parental support that she was lacking. He enrolls her in a public school, which started out with an altercation with a bully; however, this worked out in Niki’s favor and she developed real friendships for once in her life. Billy also weaned Niki off from the numerous psychotropic drugs she had been prescribed (particularly after a suicide attempt using the stimulants she was prescribed), despite the altercations he had with the school psychiatrist and threats thereof. Niki’s behavior and attitude improved after she was free of this prescribed addiction. Billy and Niki developed a healthy relationship and both were thriving, until their mother Susan, decided to show up on Niki’s birthday un-expectantly with intentions of taking Niki back …show more content…
Susan, who had been diagnosed with bipolar and narcissistic personality disorder make comments which demonstrate that Niki is a possession; yet like a true narcissistic she has the ability to manipulate matters so that she is seen as the Saint and everyone else have massive issues. Billy can identify with Niki since he was the victim of the over-prescription of psychotropic drugs during childhood and the unstable behavior of the same mentally ill mother. In the end, even the school psychiatrist takes Billy’s side after meeting Susan and crediting Billy for changing Niki’s environment for the better; however, the caseworker, Miss Thompson, with Children’s Division decides that Niki should be returned to her mother. In a nutshell, when all is said and done, their mother Susan comes to realize that Niki has thrived, particularly in her gift of being an artist, under the loving support of Billy. Niki pleads her case with her mom and the professionals, stating that she is “home” for once in her life. Susan for once in her life makes a self-less choice and determines that Billy can give Niki something that she cannot, love, support and
Additionally, although proclaiming his love for her, Lester becomes a negative influence on Kathy. Under the false sense of security he provides, Kathy, a recovering alcoholic, allows herself to start drinking again after an abstinence of three ye...
Donna has quit working as a prostitute and is currently on the road to recovery from years of addiction and abuse. As a child she suffered from years of neglect and sexual abuse from her immediate family members. Donna admits to using drugs when pregnant with her youngest child and suspects that he may have fetal alcohol syndrome as he is unable to control his emotions and has a difficult time in forming social bonds.
Working as a teacher serving at-risk four-year-old children, approximately six of her eighteen students lived in foster care. The environment introduced Kathy to the impact of domestic violence, drugs, and family instability on a developing child. Her family lineage had a history of social service and she found herself concerned with the wellbeing of one little girl. Angelica, a foster child in Kathy’s class soon to be displaced again was born the daughter of a drug addict. She had been labeled a troublemaker, yet the Harrisons took the thirty-hour training for foster and adoptive care and brought her home to adopt. Within six months, the family would also adopted Angie’s sister Neddy. This is when the Harrison family dynamic drastically changes and Kathy begins a journey with over a hundred foster children passing through her home seeking refuge.
Becky became Gilbert’s outlet from the stress of being head of the household and taking care of his siblings yet he always kept Arnie along his side while he was with Becky. Soon Arnie grows fond of Becky and began looking up to her like an older sister. Another outside support is Gilbert’s job that allowed him to take Arnie with him to work because they understood that Arnie is developmentally challenged requiring a lot of attention and Gilbert is the only breadwinner of the family.
However, he is so young to handle such big responsibilities alone and feel himself buried under them. Similarly, Bonnie is not fulfilling her motherly duties, and she has become a burden for the family ( Wolz). On the other hand, Ardnie needs an extensive care and supervision that is not possible for a disturbed family, who has lost its balance after the death of the father. In these circumstances, it is important that the family should seek the aid of a professional person who can help and guide them in resolving their family issues which are negatively affecting attitudes and lives of the family. As a local human service professional, I can help the Grapes family by enhancing their motivational energy and make them understand about their particular roles in the family system through psycho education. It will also educate them to handle the stress of their surrounding issues. By counseling, I can assist Bonnie to effectively perform her duties and play her role in strengthening her family. Gilbert needs to consider him free from household duties and try to identify his personal identity that can give him inner peace and solace. Moreover, family needs to be emotionally trained, so they can effectively control the abrupt behavior of Ardnie. Whereas, Ardnie can also be taught to execute routine
Janie's outlook on life stems from the system of beliefs that her grandmother, Nanny instills in her during life. These beliefs include how women should act in a society and in a marriage. Nanny and her daughter, Janie's mother, were both raped and left with bastard children, this experience is the catalyst for Nanny’s desire to see Janie be married of to a well-to-do gentleman. She desires to see Janie married off to a well to do gentleman because she wants to see that Janie is well cared for throughout her life.
Susan and Mathew have a distant relationship because he focuses on patty the four-year-old home school education and almost loses Susan. Susan a teacher notice the interest her husband has in the child and is fears patty is too active with education and has less interaction with her peers also she pokes holes in her diaphragm to keep from having children. Nathan finally understands the obsessive behaviors he has over patty’s education and allows patty to be a child, therefore he focus more on his marriage. Lastly, they rekindle relationship and had another child. Susan and Nathan love one another, consequently, communication played enormous partake in their reconciliation.
The childhood of Frances Piper consists of inadequate love, loss of innocence and lack of concern, ultimately leading to her disastrous life. As a six year old child, she encounters several traumatic events, explicitly the death of her loved ones and the loss of her innocence. Over the course of one week, there have been three deaths, two funerals and two burials in the Piper family. “Frances was crying so hard now that Mercedes got worried. ‘I want my Mumma to come ba-a-a-a-ack.’”( McDonald 174). As a young child, there is nothing more upsetting than losing a mother. A family is meant to comfort each other to fulfill the loss of a loved one; however, this is not the case in the Piper family. Mercedes, only a year older than Frances, tries to console her even though she herself is worried. The loss of motherly love and affection has a tremendous impact on her future since now her sole guardian, James, expresses no responsibility towards her. Instead, he molests Frances on the night of Kathleen’s funeral to lessen the grief of his lost daughter. As a result “These disturbing experiences plague Frances with overwhelming feelings of low self worth and guilt that haunt h...
Andrea, her roommate, is seeking treatment from addiction to heroin and self-harm. Gwen refuses to having anything to do with the treatment center and group therapy. She believes she doesn’t have a drinking problem at all and therapy is silly. While still denying she has a problem, her boyfriend Jasper slips her a bottle of pills while visiting her. Gwen and Jasper leave the campus and have a night of partying. Gwen arrives back in her room the next morning clearly intoxicated. Cornell, the director of the rehab facility, confronts Gwen and informs her that she violated the rules of the facility. Gwen is told she is being kicked out of the program and is being sent to jail. She becomes outraged and denies that she has a problem and can quit whenever she chooses. Leaving the director’s office, she goes to her bedroom and decides to take the pills that Jasper slipped her. She ends up spitting out the pills and throwing the rest of the bottle out of the window.
Furthermore, Mary’s father was abusive in the family home to both Mary and her mother. A lifelong criminal, who was known to commit violent armed robberies, was not a good influence for Mary. Billy was often out of work, depending on earnings form Betty to sustain the house. It must be noted that there is some question if Billy is actually Mary’s father, given Betty’s profession; chances are great that Billy was just another victimizer in Mary’s lif...
Her roommate, a seventeen-year-old girl named Andrea, is a recovering heroin addict who also has a history of self-harm. At first, Gwen refuses to have anything to do with the treatment programs and denies that she even has a drinking problem. One day, Jasper shows up to visit and slips her a bottle of Vicodin. The two then proceed to sneak away from the rehab facility for a day of partying. That night, Gwen returns clearly intoxicated and makes her way to her bedroom. The next day, she is confronted by Cornell, the rehab facility director and fellow recovering addict. He informs her that she has broken the rules of the facility and is being kicked out and sent to jail. Gwen becomes infuriated and continues to deny that she has a problem with alcohol and states that she can quit if she had the desire. She storms out of Cornell’s office and off to her room where she rummages through a tissue box to find her stash of pills. Gwen proceeds to take a pill of Vicodin, but spits it back out before swallowing. She then tosses the remaining pills in the bottle out the window proving to herself she does not need
Cai Gup-Qiang’s ‘Head on’ is overall an extremely large display. It consists of 99 wolf replicas and a glass wall. The wolves are running up then overhead then smash off a glass wall just to get up and start again. A single wolf by itself is a life size scale sculpture that is covered with fur; each one stands in a different pose some bearing their teeth others crashing into the glass wall. Many of the wolves are suspended on cables as to give the appearance of running. Then several are posed against the glass to give the look of crashing into it. The few wolves that are left look to be going back to the end of the line to begin again. There seems to be an inconsistency in the look of the wolves in the piece some look very ferocious and realistic, while
The fall of ’99 was the year of all years; Janine was in her last year of law school at Yale, and her adoptive mother, Nancy, had just phoned telling her of their family visit in the fall. Just then out of the blue she hears a knock at the door.
For my second media critique, I chose to focus on the 2011 film Bridesmaids. Bridesmaids is a comedy written by Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, directed by Paul Feig. With grossing almost $300 million worldwide, 44 nominations, and 11 awards won, Bridesmaids has been a relevant film in popular culture over the last three years (“Bridesmaids”).