The Nature and Power of the American Family
Consider the components of family in contemporary American life. What really defines an American
family? Have those factors changed over the course of history? What have been the consequences of those
changes? What is the power‐‐if any‐‐of family in today's society? What is your definition of family? Would
other people easily agree with you? Why? Is the American family important to our future national well‐being?
What is the "nuclear family"? How do political parties use the family to reflect their values? How does the
entertainment industry reinforce or challenge prevailing values about the family?
family? Have those factors changed over the course of history? What have been the consequences of those
changes? What is the power‐‐if any‐‐of family in today's society? What is your definition of family? Would
other people easily agree with you? Why? Is the American family important to our future national well‐being?
What is the "nuclear family"? How do political parties use the family to reflect their values? How does the
entertainment industry reinforce or challenge prevailing values about the family?
List activity
1.5K views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
44 titles
- DirectorPaul SchraderStarsNick NolteSissy SpacekJames CoburnA deeply troubled small-town cop investigates a suspicious hunting death while other events jeopardize his sanity.
- DirectorBarry LevinsonStarsAidan QuinnElizabeth PerkinsLeo FuchsA Polish-Jewish family comes to the U.S. at the beginning of the twentieth century. There, the family and their children try to make themselves a better future in the so-called promised land.
- DirectorSam MendesStarsKevin SpaceyAnnette BeningThora BirchA sexually frustrated suburban father has a mid-life crisis after becoming infatuated with his daughter's best friend.
- DirectorJohn SingletonStarsCuba Gooding Jr.Laurence FishburneHudhail Al-AmirFollows the lives of three young males living in the Crenshaw ghetto of Los Angeles, dissecting questions of race, relationships, violence, and future prospects.
- DirectorGene SaksStarsBlythe DannerJonathan SilvermanStacey GlickEugene, a young teenage Jewish boy, recalls his memoirs of his time as an adolescent youth. He goes through the hardships of puberty, sexual fantasy, and living the life of a poor boy in a crowded house.
- DirectorEdward BurnsStarsJack MulcahyMichael McGloneEdward BurnsThree Irish Catholic brothers from Long Island struggle to deal with love, marriage, and infidelity.
- DirectorElia KazanStarsJames DeanRaymond MasseyJulie HarrisTwo brothers in 1910s California struggle to maintain their strict, Bible-toting father's favor as an old secret about their long-absent mother comes to light.
- DirectorWayne WangStarsCora MiaoRussell WongVictor WongA study in culture bridging, including ... a new US-born husband, trying to work within the traditional ways, a new China-born wife, eager to join the "dream" of America, two family-minded fathers, lots of gender-related social bifurcations.
- DirectorGregory NavaStarsZaide Silvia GutiérrezDavid VillalpandoErnesto Gómez CruzAfter their family is killed in a government massacre, siblings Enrique and Rosa flee Guatemala and embark on a perilous journey to "El Norte": the United States.
- DirectorZach BraffStarsZach BraffPeter SarsgaardNatalie PortmanA quietly troubled young man returns home for his mother's funeral after being estranged from his family for a decade.
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsElizabeth TaylorRock HudsonJames DeanSprawling epic covering the life of a Texas cattle rancher and his family and associates.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsMarlon BrandoAl PacinoJames CaanThe aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.
- DirectorMike NicholsStarsDustin HoffmanAnne BancroftKatharine RossA disillusioned college graduate finds himself torn between his older lover and her daughter.
- DirectorRobert BentonStarsDustin HoffmanMeryl StreepJane AlexanderAfter his wife leaves him, a work-obsessed Manhattan advertising executive is forced to learn long-neglected parenting skills, but a heated custody battle over the couple's young son deepens the wounds left by the separation.
- DirectorBarry LevinsonStarsAdrien BrodyBebe NeuwirthJoe MantegnaBaltimore, Fall 1954: Schools implement the new integration law. Ben finds the "colored" girl in his class cute - upsetting his Jewish mom and granny. Ben talks to her while his brother looks for his WASP dream girl.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsBette DavisHerbert MarshallTeresa WrightThe ruthless, moneyed Hubbard clan lives in, and poisons, their part of the Deep South at the turn of the twentieth century.
- DirectorJonathan DaytonValerie FarisStarsSteve CarellToni ColletteGreg KinnearA family determined to get their young daughter into the finals of a beauty pageant take a cross-country trip in their VW bus.
- DirectorJohn SaylesStarsChris CooperElizabeth PeñaStephen MendilloWhen the skeleton of his murdered predecessor is found, Sheriff Sam Deeds unearths many other long-buried secrets in his Texas border town.
- DirectorOrson WellesFred FleckRobert WiseStarsTim HoltJoseph CottenDolores CostelloThe spoiled young heir to the decaying Amberson fortune comes between his widowed mother and the man she has always loved.
- DirectorGregory NavaStarsJimmy SmitsEsai MoralesEdward James OlmosA man makes his way from Mexico to Los Angeles in the 1920s and gets married and raises a big family there. The movie follows the children until they get married and start their families in the 1960s.
- DirectorJoe JohnstonStarsJake GyllenhaalChris CooperLaura DernThe true story of Homer Hickam, a coal miner's son who was inspired by the first Sputnik launch to take up rocketry against his father's wishes.
- DirectorMark RydellStarsKatharine HepburnHenry FondaJane FondaNorman is a curmudgeon with an estranged relationship with his daughter Chelsea. At Golden Pond, he and his wife nevertheless agree to care for Billy, the son of Chelsea's new boyfriend, and a most unexpected relationship blooms.
- DirectorRobert RedfordStarsDonald SutherlandMary Tyler MooreJudd HirschThe accidental death of the older son of an affluent family deeply strains the relationships among the bitter mother, the good-natured father and the guilt-ridden younger son.
- DirectorRobert BentonStarsSally FieldLindsay CrouseEd HarrisIn central Texas in the 1930s, a widow with two small children tries to save her small 40-acre farm with the help of a blind boarder and an itinerant black handyman.
- DirectorGary RossStarsTobey MaguireJeff DanielsJoan AllenTwo 1990s teenage siblings find themselves transported to a 1950s sitcom where their influence begins to profoundly change that colorless, complacent world.
- DirectorDavid SwiftStarsJane WymanHayley MillsRichard EganA young girl comes to an embittered town and confronts its attitude with her determination to see the best in life.
- DirectorDaniel PetrieStarsSidney PoitierClaudia McNeilRuby DeeA substantial insurance payment could mean either financial salvation or personal ruin for a poor black family.
- DirectorNicholas RayStarsJames DeanNatalie WoodSal MineoA rebellious young man with a troubled past comes to a new town, finding friends and enemies.
- DirectorDarren AronofskyStarsEllen BurstynJared LetoJennifer ConnellyThe drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island people are shattered when their addictions run deep..
- DirectorWes AndersonStarsGene HackmanGwyneth PaltrowAnjelica HustonThe eccentric members of a dysfunctional family reluctantly gather under the same roof for various reasons.
- DirectorAlan ParkerStarsAlbert FinneyDiane KeatonKaren AllenA mother of four is abandoned by her husband for a younger woman. Husband, wife and children struggle to survive the seemingly inevitable divorce.
- DirectorMartin RittStarsCicely TysonPaul WinfieldKevin HooksThe oldest son of a loving and strong family of black sharecroppers comes of age in the Depression-era South after his father is imprisoned for stealing food.
- DirectorJames L. BrooksStarsShirley MacLaineDebra WingerJack NicholsonFollows hard-to-please Aurora looking for love and her daughter's family problems.
- DirectorRobert MulliganStarsGregory PeckJohn MegnaFrank OvertonAtticus Finch, a widowed lawyer in Depression-era Alabama, defends a Black man against an undeserved rape charge, and tries to educate his young children against prejudice.
- DirectorLasse HallströmStarsJohnny DeppLeonardo DiCaprioJuliette LewisA young man in a small Midwestern town struggles to care for his mentally-disabled younger brother and morbidly obese mother while attempting to pursue his own happiness.
- DirectorKenneth LonerganStarsLaura LinneyMatthew BroderickAmy RyanA single mother's life is thrown into turmoil after her struggling, rarely seen younger brother returns to town.
- DirectorNoah BaumbachStarsOwen KlineJeff DanielsLaura LinneyFollows two young boys dealing with their parents' divorce in Brooklyn in the 1980s.
- DirectorChristine JeffsStarsAmy AdamsEmily BluntAlan ArkinIn order to raise the tuition to send her young son to private school, a mom starts an unusual business -- a biohazard removal/crime scene clean-up service -- with her unreliable sister.
- DirectorJirawut UeasungkomsateUnfinished Life is a Video Art based on documentary style. It's the story about journey of 3 women ; homeless, illustrator and designer. The video represents the world in their mind especially the memory of their journey between the reality and their dream through interviewing and questioning such as what was their dream when they were young, what they are doing now and what would they say to their teenage self if they could go back in time. Unfinished Life is represented with the experimental technique which include the light and contrasts between romantic vision and reality on street. This video end up questioning about our own life and how could we deal with it while it's not finish yet.
- DirectorWes AndersonStarsGene HackmanGwyneth PaltrowAnjelica HustonThe eccentric members of a dysfunctional family reluctantly gather under the same roof for various reasons.
- DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsAnne HathawayRosemarie DeWittDebra WingerA young woman who has been in and out of rehab for the past ten years returns home for the weekend for her sister's wedding.
- DirectorDavid O. RussellStarsMark WahlbergChristian BaleAmy AdamsBased on the story of Micky Ward, a fledgling boxer who tries to escape the shadow of his more famous but troubled older boxing brother and get his own shot at greatness.
- DirectorLisa CholodenkoStarsAnnette BeningJulianne MooreMark RuffaloTwo children conceived by artificial insemination bring their biological father into their non-traditional family life.
- DirectorDebra GranikStarsJennifer LawrenceJohn HawkesGarret DillahuntAn unflinching Ozark Mountain girl hacks through dangerous social terrain as she hunts down her drug-dealing father while trying to keep her family intact.