Post 3: Fathers as Depicted in Movies

There was once a handsome prince who dreamed to be king and his father the king at the time was a just and fair ruler. The king would teach the young prince on how to justly govern the kingdom.

One day while the young prince was playing, a great mishap occurred and accidentally killed the king. The young prince fled and banished himself from his own kingdom deceived by his uncle that he killed his own father. The young prince eventually forgot that he was a prince and a duty to fulfill and his kingdom was falling apart having it being ruled by his deceitful uncle.

We all know this story right? If what your thinking is the award-winning 1994 film "The Lion King", then you get an achievement and trophy! The Lion King, though focused on Simba, is a very touching and moving story of father and child.


As Marc Newman has written in "Finding Strong Fathers in Film", fathers in society are usually depicted as failures and are not getting a pat on the back they deserve. He continues saying that movies and culture are not far off from each other. "It is hard to say if movies influence culture, or if culture is mirrored in movies, but clearly they feed on one another." Then writes down a list of movies depicting fathers with good character and the fatherly morals that can be drawn from the movie.

As Marc has said, not much movies portray fathers as a strong father figures. Most movies often portray fathers as being stupid, are slackers, and maybe immature and try to retaliate by being loving in the end of the film. To name a few are "Grown Ups" (2010), "Click" (2006), and "The Hangover" (2009).

"Darth Vader and Luke" by barguest [link]

Some movies portray fathers be stupid and oblivious at the start but proves to be the strong father figure the family needs like the movie "The Game Plan" (2006). And there are movies that show how much pain a father can place on their child. Examples would be "Star Wars" episodes 4-6 (1977,1980,1983) with the famous quote "No Luke, I am your father". Another example would be "New Police Story" (2004) where the antagonist rebelled against his rude and abusive father.

One movie that would show how much a father would sacrifice for his child would be "The Pursuit of Happyness" (2006). In Manohla Dargis' movie review "Climbing Out of the Gutter With a 5-Year-Old in Tow" that Chris Gardner (Smith) broke as he is, would consider getting money a way of attaining happiness. "He doesn’t want just a better, more secure life for himself and his child... he seems to yearn for a life of luxury, stadium box seats and the kind of sports car he stops to admire in one scene."

The Pursuit of Happyness compared to the other movies presented was inspired by a real life story of Chris Gardner who was abused by his step-father. He made a decision that he would not become like his father in a positive direction. His decision was something that let him hold on to his son more than the job he was training for. His commitment to his son, in being affected by his step-father, was the kind of thing that made him successful in his career.

Fathers and father figures are the most influential person in the family and can affect their children in either a good way, or a not so good way. Movies feed on experiences with a father. Whether it may be an inspired story or a movie just hatched up. Portrayal of fathers in movies echo the fathers in the society.