The Other Sister Sparknotes

812 Words2 Pages

The film The Other Sister, tells the story of Carla, a young woman with an intellectual disability, and her struggles that involve Erikson’s psychosocial stages, parenting styles, and humanistic perspective. As a developing women, Carla encounters various stages of psychosocial development that result from unresolved conflicts within her life, as well as, her transition into adulthood. In the beginning of the movie, Carla is picked up by her father who she refuses to talk to or make eye contact with. This behavior is associated with the trust vs. mistrust stage of Erikson’s psychosocial development because Carla feels that she cannot depend on her father and does not feel comfortable opening up. Although Carla is a gregarious individual, her …show more content…

Although, Elizabeth does love her daughter deeply, she is overbearing and often tries to dictate her life. Elizabeth’s authoritative parenting style is portrayed when Carla tells her family about her dreams to finish public high school and become a veterinarian’s assistant. After hearing this, Elizabeth declines to talk about it and attempts to hold control over her daughter. This behavior is shown again when Elizabeth takes Carla shopping and does not let her pick out clothes that she wants to wear. Elizabeth’s controlling and suppressive parenting style becomes too much for Carla to handle resulting in Carla attempting to run away. Elizabeth’s overbearing parenting is heightened when Carla begins dating Daniel. Before even meeting Daniel, Elizabeth was hesitant and weary over letting Carla form such a relationship, however after realizing that Daniel is also intellectually disabled, Elizabeth permits it. In addition to this, Elizabeth agrees to let Carla live on her own in an apartment, but is still controlling and overprotective as seen from the explicit rules and instructions for the apartment. Elizabeth’s authoritarian parenting style is truly tested when Daniel proposes to Carla. At first she refuses to let Carla get married, but after realizing that her daughter is an independent woman, she accepts Carla’s decisions and supports her

Open Document