Directed by Chris Columbus and starring Robin Williams, the 1993 film Mrs. Doubtfire is a comically touching tale of an out-of-work actor named Daniel Hillard who is caught in the whirlwind of an ugly divorce. His wife, workaholic decorator Miranda Hillard, is fed up with their frequent and constant disagreements; she sees their marriage as a hopeless cause and wants to call it quits. In the divorce proceedings that follow, Miranda is awarded full custody of their three children until Daniel is able to obtain suitable employment and housing of his own. Daniel adores his children deeply and cannot bear the thought of not being able to see them every day of the week. Out of desperation, he masquerades as an aging English nanny, hoping to be hired by Mrs. Hillard so that he can spend more time with his kids. During his time in the Hillard house over the following months, Daniel, a.k.a. “Euphegenia Doubtfire,” learns many valuable lessons on parenting, love, understanding, and the meaning of divorce. Despite its PG-13 rating, there is content in the “family-friendly” Mrs. Doubtfire that may not be entirely appropriate for a younger audience. Aside from the obvious issue of cross-dressing, the portrayal of Daniel’s older brother, a homosexual beautician, would be an example of such “unnecessary inappropriateness.” In the film, brother Frank, together with his partner Jack, run a small hair and cosmetics business in the flat above their apartment. Even in the 1990s, when the film was produced, the idea of alternative sexuality carried a still somewhat negative connotation in society, especially within many conservative “family” circles. However, the film is a virtuous one, using those topics to tackle current and common issues like divorce and resentment, as well as teaching children about the importance of understanding and regrowth after divorce.
Works Cited
Bradley, Dr. Susan. “Cross-dressing in Children.” Parenting and Child Health. Children, Youth and Women’s Health Service, 02 Aug 2010. Web. 09 Nov 2010.
The Holy Bible, New International Version. Fully rev. ed. Kenneth L. Barker, gen. ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005. Print.
Ravitch, Diane. “The Language Police.” Language Awareness: Readings for College Writers. 10th ed. Ed. Paul Eschholz, Alfred Rosa, and Virginia Clark. Boston, Mass. Bedford/St. Martin’s Press, 2009. 511.
Williams, Robin, Perf. Mrs. Doubtfire. Dir. Chris Columbus. 20th Century Fox: 1993, Film.
Community. Ed. Lois Parkinson Zamora and Wendy B. Faris. Durkham, N. C: Duke UP, 1995, 150.
The Holy Bible. Ed. David R. Veerman, et al. New King James Version. Ilinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1994.
...g. Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 12th ed. New York: Pearson, 2013. 549-51. Print.
11th ed. By Kelly J. Mays. New York: W W Norton &, 2013. 551-57. Print.
...am Victorian society, sexual liberalism transformed the ways in which people arranged their private lives. Shifting from a Victorian environment of production, separate sexual spheres, and the relegation of any illicit extramarital sex to an underworld of vice, the modern era found itself in a new landscape of consumerism, modernism and inverted sexual stereotypes. Sexuality was now being discussed, systemized, controlled, and made an object of scientific study and popular discourse. Late nineteenth-century views on "natural" gender and sexuality, with their attendant stereotypes about proper gender roles and proper desires, lingered long into the twentieth century and continue, somewhat fitfully, to inform the world in which we live. It is against this cultural and political horizon that an understanding of sexuality in the modern era needs to be contextualized.
Censorship has been a big part of the world’s history and especially America’s history. One of the most quoted amendments to the United States constitution is the first amendment; “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ...” This amendment guaranteeing free speech, press, and religion is still heavily debated and contested today. Censorship, as a challenge to free speech and press has been allowed many times and has been heavily debated itself. Many people censor for many different reasons and in many different forms. Censorship itself is not always a bad thing and has in some cases been used for protection of the general population.
Janet E. Gardner , Beverly Lawn , Jack Ridl , Peter Schakel. Boston: Bedford/St.Martin’s, 2013. 250-276. Print.
Growing up in a place where free speech is strongly pressed, why is censorship no stranger? We live in a world where television, video games, music and even literary documents have all been censored. Literature can be defined as the body of written works of a language, period, or culture. This is everything from newspapers and magazines to textbooks and novels. Literary censorship has been around for a long time. These books are challenged and banned.
Ed. Lynn Z. Bloom and Louise Z. Smith. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2011. 494-507. Print.
...s; 4th edition. Eds. Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2003. 403-413
Carson, D, & Moo, D. (2005) An introduction to the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
Garber, Marjorie. Vested Interests: Cross Dressing and Cultural Anxiety. New York: Routledge. 1992. 21-41, 211-215.
Today cross-dressing is still used as a form of entertainment. In Twelfth Night Shakespeare uses a theatrical tradition of transvestitism in which the actor’s and character’s real identity is covered by clothes, voice, and gesture of the opposite sex, although sometimes the character remained the same gender. (“Clothing.” Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern Worl...
Just as other interpersonal themes, sexual themes in film are often depictions of sexual themes that exist in real life relationships. For this very reason, it is very easy for a person to compare his relationships with that of a relationship shown in media or film. Some relationships are total train wrecks from the start while others are not necessarily ideal, but healthy. Although not seen very often, ideal couples in film are attributed with characteristics that are seen by society as desirable; youthful, attractive people who are hyper-sexual and affectionate. As cliché as it sounds, sometimes relationships are simply “complicated”. Such is the case in the film It’s Complicated.
...f this film include sexual content, violence and graphic details. But, when viewing this film we have to be aware of this and only let children see this movie if the adults feel that it will not affect them in any way, such as making them feel that this behavior is appropriate or any other thing that might be in their minds.