Stories We Tell
In the documentary, Stories We Tell released in 2012, family secrets no longer stay secrets. Sarah Polley interrogates her family and the people close to her family in order to get the full truth of her mother, who died of cancer. Throughout the movie, Sarah sits down family members and friends to interview them with questions related to her mother, Diane Polley. Within each character of the movie we get similar answers along with memories and emotions. The director and daughter of Diane, Sarah, makes a storyline of her mother’s life. The audience is intrigued and shocked as they find out each secret along the way. We learn that Sarah does not have the same father as her older siblings, which then makes her mother look like a cheating liar ruining the family. The audience gets to experience the moment Sarah meets her biological father, Harry Gulkin. The audience also gets to
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Each family member and close friends add their own unique details and memories along with real emotions. We are given a storyline to follow with the questions Sarah asks and the answers given. While watching the movie we learn the big family secret. Michael is not Sarah’s biological father, but Harry is. Harry adds a great deal of information to the movie telling more of Diane’s secret life. He confirms that Diane was unhappy in her relationship with Michael. He adds how happy him and Diane were together and how much alike they were. He knew that she never wanted to hurt him or her family when she decided to keep them and their baby a secret. He knew that she thought it was saving a great deal of hurt and confusion for everyone. Harry helped Diane during a rough time in her life where she felt trapped. He showed her affection when she needed it the most. Even though most people would agree that Diane was the bad person in this movie, she is was actually very
Sara feels horrible that she didn’t come to see her mother and spend more time with her. She knows that she should’ve come to see her mother instead of investing so much time in school. Then, her mother died a couple of days later. She decides to stay and visit her father, Reb Smolinsky, often but doesn’t visit him after he gets married again only thirty days after her mother died. A couple months later, she sees Reb again, but he’s working.
TS: The role that Leigh Anna and Michael’s real mother play in his life is like day and night.
As Todd continues to listen to Dussander’s past memories, his image of being a golden child in the eyes of the adults in his life begins to crumble as he becomes more influenced by Dussander. Todd starts to unknowingly descend into evil when he first begins to have vivid nightmares about the things Dussander committed in the past.... ... middle of paper ... ... When Todd is describing what his mother looks like, he tells us of her appearance in a sexual way a boy should not describe his mother in and when they call out to each other.
Not too long ago, grandparents will tell family stories to their grandchildren. Parents will also tell their children family stories. Those family stories will contain family history, struggle and heroism of family members. Also, those stories will pass down the family values and traditions to the next generations. Now a days, most parents read stories from books to their children. Family story telling is an almost lost tradition because it is not practiced anymore. In her short story “Everyday Use”, Alice walker illustrates the importance of keeping a tradition alive other than preserving it.
...e on her part. Throughout the story, the Mother is portrayed as the dominant figure, which resembled the amount of say that the father and children had on matters. Together, the Father, James, and David strived to maintain equality by helping with the chickens and taking care of Scott; however, despite the effort that they had put in, the Mother refused to be persuaded that Scott was of any value and therefore she felt that selling him would be most beneficial. The Mother’s persona is unsympathetic as she lacks respect and a heart towards her family members. Since the Mother never showed equality, her character had unraveled into the creation of a negative atmosphere in which her family is now cemented in. For the Father, David and James, it is only now the memories of Scott that will hold their bond together.
A influence that has implicated the practices of the parents/carers within the documentary is the previous experience in which individuals have faced with their parents growing up. A parent or carers previous experience and upbringing can impact the decisions that they make as parents themselves, whether they use these experiences as a tools to help them bring up their child or if they choose to discard certain aspects of their upbring, which consisted of negative experiences such as domestic violence, which was an experience that Susan had faced in her childhood. Her negative relationship with her mother in particular had put Susan in a difficult place, yet she was able to take these experience and turn them into something that would allow her own daughter to be brought up by her other grandmother, as she was accepting of the fact that she was incapable of bringing her up herself due to her disability,
On the other hand there’s Harrys mother, Sara Goldfarb (Ellen Burstyn), a widow who spends most of her day alone watching television. Sara becomes obsessed with a TV show hosted by Tappy Tibbons, one day she receives a call from a company telling her that she has the opportunity to appear on her favorite show. In order to fit into her favorite dress, which she was planning to wear in her show appearance, she visits a doctor who prescribes her amphetamines for weight loss. She develops a tolerance for the medication and increases the dosage without consulting the doctor. She soon starts to have hallucinations thinking she is the guest of honor of Tappy Tibbon’s...
At one point, Leigh Anne wants to have an in person conversation with Michael’s biological mother, so that Leigh Anne can adopt Michael. At first his mother seems to not be responsive, but eventually she wishes Michael the best. While leaving, Leigh Anne encounters some guys from the projects who had previously made ugly insinuations about her. She threatens them and leaves them speechless. Several universities want to have Michael play on their teams, and so S.J. and Michael talk to the coaches. S.J. does most of the negotiating for Michael, but also for himself. Once Michael gets his grades improved enough, he must make a decision on which university to attend. He ends up deciding to attend Ole Miss, the university that Sean played for and that Leigh Anne had been a cheerleader for. After Michael’s decision had been made, Investigator Granger quickly investigates his choice, thinking that Miss Sue and the Tuohy’s are using Michael to benefit their alma mater. Before the interview is even over, Michael runs away to find his birth mother, only to be welcomed back by the leader of the tough guys at Hurt Village. The leader insinuates that Michael had sexual relations with Leigh Anne or her daughter, which caused Michael’s protective instincts to kick in, causing him to shove the leader into a wall after he threatens to go after the two women himself. Michael runs away and after deliberating and then questioning Leigh Anne, Michael realized that the Tuohy’s are his family. Michael proceeds to tell Investigator Granger that the reason he chose to attend Ole Miss is because of his family. The movie ends saying that Michael will go on to be a professional football player later
Although she seems unresponsive in the beginning, the mother finally wishes Michael the best. She says that social services had branded Michael "a runner," and she forecasts that Leigh Anne will find one day that he has run away for good without giving any previous notice. Leigh Anne also faces some tough guys from the projects who had made ugly insinuations about her before. They are left speechless when she threatens them and is not afraid of them at all.
Sandy Wilson, the author of Daddy’s Apprentice: incest, corruption, and betrayal: a survivor’s story, was the victim of not only sexual abuse but physical and emotional abuse as well, in addition to being a product of incest. Sandy Wilson’s story began when she was about six years old when her birth father returns home from incarceration, and spans into her late teens. Her father returning home from prison was her first time meeting him, as she was wondered what he looked like after hearing that he would be released (Wilson, 2000, p. 8). Not only was her relationship with her father non-existent, her relationship with her birth mother was as well since she was for most of her young life, cared for by her grandmother and grandfather. When she was told that her birth mother coming to visit she says, “…I wish my mother wouldn’t visit. I never know what to call her so I don’t all her anything. Not her name, Kristen. Not mother. Not anything (Wilson, 2000, p. 4).” This quote essentially demonstrated the relationship between Sandy and her mother as one that is nonexistent even though Sandy recognizes Kristen as her birth mother.
I was torn by Harry’s negative thoughts. Harry (2010) states, “You are beautiful, but if you’re going to hang around and give me trouble, I’d rather you died (p. 4). In addition, she did not see her daughter for the first 24 hours! A mother’s love for her daughter should always be unconditional. Riding along Harry’s roller coaster of emotions, I was sad and mad at first but then I became understanding of her feelings. Harry sets forth the honest truth of how she felt. She asked questions to the doctor regarding Melanie’s intelligence, while coping with her own fears. I understood the things she said and felt because it was her way of coping and expressing how her ideal story of motherhood and how it had to be rewritten. As Harry questions the doctors, she begins to expose herself to the unfamiliar world. She learns about her daughter 's diagnosis and grows as a person as she reflects on her thoughts. Hence, Harry’s growth as a person has left me feeling grateful that she tells her story the way she does. However, gripping on the last few pages, I was saddened and heartbroken to find out that Melanie had passed away at the age of 5. The way Melanie had died brought out my feelings of fear. It rushed through my body reminding me that my inner deepest fear of working with children is coming across death. If anything happened to the child, I would feel responsible and reminisce endlessly
I remember the time when I was most hurt, I was roughly nine years old. My mom was in pain from appendicitis but at the time she thought it was just a stomach virus or just a pain that would go away in a few days.Me and my brothers had to cook for each meal and we would put a plate full of food for her, but she never had an appetite to eat anything due to the pain.I just remember seeing my mom in the bed in a fetal position and that would make me and my brothers upset.When it's night time we all got ready to bed for school tomorrow we had to get early so we won't put any stress to my mom.When I got to school next morning all would think about is what's happening right now as am in school. Time pass so slow and I feel very concerned, I couldn't
Ah the first of December how good it feels to be hearing Christmas music and beginning to decorate. This year I have even more to be joyous about. I have a wonderful husband, even if he is a pain sometimes (love you sweetie!) and a sweet baby boy. When I found out we were expecting there were so many emotions flowing through me. Would I be a good mother? How am I going to continue my education? What is this going to do to Austin and I's relationship? Even though there has been hardships I am thankful for them each and every day. Anyone and everyone who truly knows me, knows that Christmas is by far my favorite holiday. Let's be honest, Carter suffering through it was inevitable. However, I was so excited about this being his first Christmas
This week marks a joyous and heartbreaking occasion: the return of Kyle. Kyle was the pleasant, playful, and motivated resident whom I tutored during my first few weeks at The Faine House. After an unfortunate incident, Kyle was forced to move out and until recently, I did not hear much news about him. At the beginning of the week, my supervisor and the Independent Living specialist approached me and asked if I would consider tutoring Kyle again. Though I understood more clearly all that Kyle struggled with, my answer was a resounding “yes!” and I waited excitingly for his return. Hours turned into days and Kyle did not show up. Each day there was a new excuse ranging from “I have to work late” to “I can’t catch the bus” and a few others. I somewhat feared the state that Kyle would return in, but I remained optimistic. I knew he had unaddressed mental health issues and that his living situation was unpleasant, but I held out that Kyle would be okay.
I live in Jasper, Georgia; a very small, backwoods town. My dad was born and raised all over California and my mom was born and raised in Jasper. But my parents met in the Army so I was born in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. I have always asked why they decided to raise me in the decollate town of Jasper where the only exciting thing to adventure out to do is visit the local Walmart. They said it was better for you, coming from both sides who have grown up in both the city and country, you don’t have to worry about your safety, about who has the best-looking car or clothes, or even about having to worry about being so far away from your family. I have always liked going to the big city of Atlanta to see plays and go to all the concerts but now