Dissecting The Royal Tenenbaums Essay Example For Students

Dissecting The Royal Tenenbaums Essay This paper attempts to perceive the Tenenbaum family through interactions with each family member and describe the reasons for certain behaviors using patterns observed in research studies conducted on families. It theorizes that the family dysfunction present in the Tenenbaum family originates from Royal Tenenbaums absence and his wifes pressure on her children to become intellectual geniuses and talented individuals. The occurrence of these factors causes the adult Tenenbaum children to become stagnated in childlike states of mind, unable to cope with their emotions. First, the paper notes the family systems theory created by Murray Bowen. This theory is used to focus on the interlocking relationships between the family rather than individual characteristics. This allows the family to be described in terms of association with each family member. Royal Tenenbaums separation from his family is described as a cause for his childrens sense of abandonment and loss of self-esteem. Etheline Tenenbaum furthers the blow by being overbearing on her childrens future success instead of giving them time to be youthful. As a response to their parents treatments, the children fail to learn to live independently and are forced to move back home to learn how. Triangling between Margot and Richie Tenenbaum occurs as a method to reduce the tension between their relationship. Finally, Royal Tenenbaum plays a role in reversing the dysfunction of the family, proving that he had been the cause of the discord. Wes Anderson is a modern day filmmaker whose movies often observe interactions in dysfunctional family units. In Andersons film The Royal Tenenbaums, the source of family dysfunction derives from the absence of Royal Tenenbaum and Etheline Tenenbaums push on their children to succeed, leading to a childlike state in adulthood and the inability to cope with emotions. Through the family systems theory proposed by Murray Bowen and other research studies on separated parents, the behavior patterns witnessed in the Tenenbaum children are described as being a natural reaction. Finally, as a way to depict how Royal caused the dysfunction, Anderson reverses it through the change and growth of Royals character, revealing that the parents are the support system for the family; when they fail to fill their role, it causes the children to have psychological problems. The Tenenbaum family resides in a five-story house in Manhattan. The household is made up of Royal Tenenbaum, the father, Etheline Tenenbaum, the mother, and their children Chas Tenenbaum, Richie Tenenbaum, and adopted daughter Margot Tenenbaum. According to Murray Bowen, the family must be viewed as a unit or a network of interlocking relationships? (Kerr and Bowen p. ix). If a family was observed as individuals in a household, then the observations would only serve its purpose as a study of an individual person. By categorizing a family as a network, the interactions within the family can be described in relativity to the other family members. The thoughts, feelings, and behavior of each family member both contributes to and reflects what is occurring in the family as a whole ? (Kerr and Bowen 166). For example, when Chas moves back home, Margot hears of it and decides that she too will move back into her childhood home even though she is married. At this same time, Richie returns from his travels. This behavior of moving back into their mothers home reveals that the family is dependent on each other to the point where they cannot operate independently. There is a strong relationship between the transfer of general and emotional help and close proximity between adult children and their mothers ? (Compton and Pollack). The children rely on their old home as a place where they exhibit their talents. Before moving back home, Margot had fallen into a depressive state whereas she locked herself in the bathroom and refused to see anyone. She stopped writing her acclaimed plays. Yet by the end of the film, she has begun to write again. The same happens to Chas; following the death of his wife in a tragic plane crash, Chas has been living in a frustrated and panicked state of mind that he carries on to his two young sons, Ari and Uzi, forcing them to go through evacuation drills of their house and daily fitness exercises. By moving back home, Chas learns to let go and live. Richie also experiences the importance of family and setting when he learns to voice his feelings. The dysfunction existed in the family because the members influenced each other in negative ways. The children have to learn to be independent, something they never really achieve (Browning 41). Since the dysfunction left them unable to live independently outside of their childhood home, they must go back in order to learn and receive the emotional support that a functioning family provides. This proposes that they never really left home, (Browning 42) mentally or emotionally. The problem for the Tenenbaum family is rooted in the lack of presence of the father figure and the overbearing push for accomplishments from their mother. Royal Tenenbaum separated from Etheline when the children were in their preteens. The children exhibit pain and confusion through the separation; for example, Richie asks if they were the cause of the problem, to which Royal replies No, no! Obviously weve made certain sacrifices as a result of having children, but, uh, Lord no! This exchange of dialogue between father and children becomes the origin of the issues the family experiences. Royals response lacks confidence. This causes the children to believe that they are the root of the problem and the reason their parents are separating. From this moment, Royal is seen as an outsider to the family. During this period of identity development, the adolescent is preoccupied with what he or she appea rs to be in the eyes of others? (Denney and Martin). The only child Royal shows favor to is Richie because he earns money through the bets he places on Richies tennis tournaments. Malcolm X is a film directed by Spike Lee EssayIn Kerr and Bowens description of triangles, the Margot/Richie/Eli triangle follows a pattern of anxiety shift (Kindle Location 1834). Richie becomes frustrated with Eli because of his drug use and his incapability to keep Richies secrets safe. Margot realizes that she does not love Eli and tells him, to which he replies that he did not love her either, and that Richie had had feelings for her since they were young. The outsider to the triangle then becomes Eli, and the tension between Richie and Margot decreases, thus allowing them to confront one another. Margot and Richie decide however to not pursue each other because their relationship would be frowned upon by society as incest. At the same time Margot and Richie solve their tension, Royal Tenenbaum is realizing the role he played in creating the deep-rooted problems of the family. By residing in the household, Royal is able to cancel out his childrens negative characteristics by balancing them against his opposite traits. According to Bowens studies, One frequently observed pattern was that family members functioned in reciprocal relationship to one another (Kindle Location 139). Royal offsets Chas strict adherence to rules through his rule-breaking, Richies failure to say what he feels to sharing his thoughts regarding everyone and everything, and Margots quiet nature to his loud personality seen in his clothing and command of attention. Royal understands that it is his fault that his children do not know how to be independent. The children never had someone to listen to their problems when they were young and have pent up guilt for their parents separation. He reconciles with his family by paying attention to them and reacting to their dysfunctions. He advises Richie to go after Margot and disregard what society has deemed as unacceptable; he takes time and speaks with Margot, something he had never done when she was young, and learns about her; he explains to Chas that he needs to let his boys live as children so that his children will not harbor the same feelings against Chas as Chas and his siblings now feel against Royal. His final resolution with his family is represented in the presentment of a Dalmatian to Chas, revealing that Royal `did pay attention to his childrens interests, and through the signature of the divorce apers between he and Etheline, displaying that he cares more about her happiness than he does about her belonging to him. At the conclusion of the movie, the family is shown standing around Royal Tenenbaums grave. The script on the epitaph reads ?Died tragically rescuing his family from the wreckage of a destroyed sinking battleship  ¦Royal does rescue the family in a way, perhaps not in an act of wartime heroism but in making good the mistakes of his past ? (Browning 50). The Royal Tenenbaums is a film about family dysfunction and the interactions etween family members that caused the family dynamics. Royal and Etheline Tenenbaum cause the emotional instability present in the children through lack of presence and over controlling the outcome of their young lives. The origination of the problem suggests that parents are the emotional and psychological support for the family. If the support is unable to maintain its duty, then the structure will collapse, as seen in the Tenenbaum family. It is through the restoration of parental figures that the Tenenbaum children learn how to live independently. Bibliography: Works Cited Alexander, Sharon. Adult Children of Divorce.   The Ohio State University Extension. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 May 2011.  5000/ pdf/ Adult_Children_Divorce.pdf. Browning, Mark. Salinger Reloaded: The Royal Tenenbaums (2001).   Wes Anderson: Why His Movies Matter. Ed. Vincent LoBrutto. Denver: Praeger, 2011. 33-52. Print. Modern Filmmakers. Compton, Janice, and Robert Pollak. Proximity and Coresidence of Adult Children and Their Parents: Description and Correlates.   The University of Michigan Retirement Research Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 May 2011. . Denney, Maria K., and Benny R. Martin. The Effects of Father Absence on Adolescent Self- Concept.   Adolescent Development: Current Issues. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 May 2011. . Kerr, Michael E., and Murray Bowen. Family Evaluation. New York: W.W. Norton Company, 1988. N. pag. Kindle Edition. Web. 26 May 2011. Nichols, Michael P., and Richard C. Schwartz. Family Therapy Enters the Twenty-First Century.   Family Therapy:Concepts and Methods. 4th ed. N.p.: n.p., 1997. 315-349. Print. The Royal Tenenbaums. Wes Anderson. Touchstone Pictures, 2001. Film.