The movie is “Crazy, Stupid, Love,”
Most marriages often have their challenges, and in severe cases, they lead to divorce. Relationships that have taken ages to build often come to an end after a series of grave misunderstanding, and the couple cannot get along anymore. The media has often portrayed divorce cases in various ways. These cases would lead to both emotional and psychological torture to both the parents and their children, particularly if these children were attached to either of the parents. The media has been significant and has played roles that bring to the limelight the tribulations that the involved parties go through. These cases are often acted in movies, and different directors have different stories to tell. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the media perspective on the issues of divorce and how the media brings it out through a movie. In this case, the name of the movie is “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” a film that was directed by Glenn Ficarra in 2011.
The movie is all about a man who is recently divorced and wants to discover his manhood for the second time. Cal’s life was good until it changed dramatically when Emily, his wife, wanted to get a divorce. Jacob, his newfound friend, is at the forefront at helping him rediscover his manhood by picking up different girls at the bars. Initially, Cal and Emilly had a good life as they lived their American dream together. After the sudden change, Cal has to manage through singlehood or the status of being divorced. The two had been married for about 20 years. When Cal noticed that Emily cheated on him, he decided to move out, and that is where he met Jacob, who is also a regular person at the bar.
Jacob offers to give Cal a makeover, and at the same time, teach him how to be a player. It is not long before Cal starts picking up girls frequently. Jacob intends to make Emily regret why she wanted to divorce Cal and make Cal look forward to moving on with his life. As much as Cal accepts the help that Jacob offers him, he still loves Emily and does not wish to move on from her. Even with the support that Jacob gives to Cal, he knows that there is much more, which he can do in a relationship apart from the one night stand that he has at the bar. Jacob meets Hannah, a law student who also goes through relationship issues, and he notices that life is not all about getting women at the bar and having fun. A happy romantic relationship for these two friends, Cal and Jacob, with their lovers is barred by the unknown information that they get. The best friend of Cal’s daughter, Jessica, secretly falls for him.
Additionally, Robbie, Cal’s thirteen-year-old son, is also in love with Jessica. Therefore, the movie is all about the carelessness that one of the spouses may get themselves involved in as a result of divorce, which may lead to devastating repercussions. The primary characters in this movie are Cal, Emily, Jacob, Jessica, Robbie, and Hannah.
Critique/Literature Review
The media portrays the family situation in terms of the divorce, which has a devastating consequence on the spouses. People are often emotionally hurt, and they want to find something to do with their lives, just for fun. In this case, the family head engages in unhealthy relationships because he is hurt, and he seeks to hurt the feelings of his spouse. In the process, his bestfried’s daughter falls in love with him, and his son also falls in love with the girl, Jessica. The movie shows the kind of a love triangle that the divorced people may find themselves into, particularly if they have teenage children. These children are in the dating scene, and they may find themselves dating the lovers of their spouses. These things happen in real-life situations. When people divorce, they often feel like they are free birds, and they can get involved in a romantic relationship with whoever they want.
The portrayal of this family issue is realistic because of various reasons. The first one is that when people get divorced, and they sink into depression, they will always go to bars and find social places where they will soothe their emotions. They also indulge in relationships that are not worthy. In the process, they may find themselves dating the friends of their children or even caught up in a love triangle with their children, like in the case of Cal, Jessica, and Robbie. In many cases, these divorced people also hurt the feelings of their teenagers, and they may even end up indulging in drugs and substance abuse because they are stressed and depressed. The children also suffer the same consequences as the parents because the bond that was once there since they came into the family, and one that they have known for a long time suddenly changes into separation and lengths of loneliness.
In most cases, the media often portrays the cases of divorce in the way that they happen in real life. The characters chosen to act in the movies brings out the complete experience that people go through when they divorce. For this reason, the media has been a valuable tool to bring out the aspect of the family that gets ruined through the actions of the parents. Since divorce affects both the parents and the children, the media points out the devastating results that divorce brings to the family. These people can also suffer from health issues because intense stress affects the mental stability of an individual. How the media portrays the media concerning divorce has undergone a distinct shift over the past years. These shifts often coincide with a transition in the expectations of the society concerning family values and divorce. The attitudes that relate to divorce are usually negative because of the aftermath of both the spouses as well as their children, even if the society accepts it. Divorced parents should put their interests aside and purpose on how they will raise their children, especially teenagers, like in this movie, who go through a lot of transitions in their lives. These children often adopt harmful and unhealthy attitudes that they learn from their parents, who have their reasons for separating.
Conclusion
Therefore, the media plays an essential role in bringing out the aspect of divorce as well as the devastating consequences that they have to go through because of the actions of their parents. These people often consider their interests and do not want to put the needs of their children before them. The media brings forth the fact that divorce has a negative consequence on the family members, and it shows the reality of the things that these people have to go through. The parents are often forced to go separate ways, and this breaks the bonds that they have had with their children. Besides, even though society accepts divorce, the things that people do after the whole process is complete leads to psychological and emotional trauma because the spouses seek revenge, and the children suffer the consequences.