The Squid And The Whale Movie Reflection

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Final Assignment: Film Paper In The Squid and the Whale, a film by Noah Brumbach, Walt a teenage boy with a closed mind struggles to find his own voice in the world. Walt is a young man growing up in a big city with parents in mists of a divorce. In the opening scene of the movie Walt clearly reveals he has more respect for his father, and relates to him on a deeper level as opposed to his mother. In the opening scene the whole family is playing tennis together. Quickly Walt’s brother says he wants to play, “Me and mom versus you and dad” to his brother (The Squid and the Whale). The teams sum up the family dynamic perfectly. His father is an egotistical man who feels as if the whole world is against him. Walt’s father openly gives his opinions …show more content…

At first Walt has his own way of thinking but just simple conversations with his father cause him to change his perspective. Walt has a sweet beautiful girl as a girlfriend but because of his father’s opinions of women, he changes the way he feels about her. In the movie Walt is talking with his girlfriend, and instead of admiring her perfections he magnifies her imperfections and tells her, “I wish you had less freckles” but she doesn’t know how to respond (The Squid and the Whale). He has this idea from his father that he deserves the absolute best, and he needs to share every idea that comes to mind. He regrets breaking up with her immediately and when he is asked why he did it he says ,“I thought I could do better” (The Squid and the Whale).Walt shows no respect for his struggling mother. He allows his father’s opinions decide how he handles situations. His father treats his mother with contempt, so Walt does the same. Walt moves on from being a somewhat decent young man to an angry teenager with lack of stability, which causes him to struggle. He jumps from house to house between his parents and struggles to find a home. He lets people believe that he is fine, but he is being torn apart by something he can’t control. It’s easier for him to hate his mother for cheating on his father than for him to take the time to understand what she is going through. His sense of entitlement works against him, and causes him to brush off others problems and only worry about his own. He tells himself that he’s fine and he doesn’t need anyone, but he has weak moments where he gets emotional but feels guilty for it. He sees his father in a weak condition and feels he should be the man instead of the child and be strong for his father. Walt doesn’t evolve entirely, but the changes that are clear in him are reflections of his father. The small amount of hope he has in the

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