Blue Valentine Analysis

The third concept we choose to write on is Terminating. According to the book Looking Out Looking In, terminating is the stage where relationships deteriorate until they reach their final stage. Not all relationships end, many of the marriages last for a lifetime, but other relationships have the desire to dissociate. (Alder, 2012) Like it was the case of the movie, Brooke decides to terminate the relationship because she felt that there is nothing much left. She believed that Gary did care much about her. But the problem really was that both of them didn’t find a way to communicate effectively. Although Brooke and Gary loved each other very much it was impossible for them to be together because of the lack of communication.

“Why Did I Get Married?” directed and produced by Tyler Perry is a movie based on four couples who take a reunion vacation to the Colorado Mountains in order to reunite with friends from college. On this vacation things didn’t go according to plan. Throughout the movie there was heartbreak, infidelity, suppressed feelings, conflict, and secrets raging throughout each of the couples’ relationship in some aspect. With these unfortunate events occurred at various times throughout the film it cause their trip to evolve from a place to relax, enjoy friends, and time off from work into an emotional and tense atmosphere with the involved couple seeking validation from the other couples on the reason why their marriages are the way they are. Even though the movie ended on a good note in their celebration of Janet Jackson’s character (Pat) receiving an award one of the marriages did not survive. This couple’s relationship will be my focus for this paper.

In his 2001 film entitled Lantana, director Ray Lawrence provides a dramatic look into the consequences of jealousy and infidelity in relationships. The film focuses primarily on two couples, Leon and Sonja, and John and Valerie, whose relationships are both seemingly in the midst of their own downward spirals. As the story unfolds and the issues affecting each of these relationships are uncovered, the film paints a vivid picture of the different ways that such themes can quickly bring ruin to relationships, and, in the case of some of the film’s characters, lives.

John and Mary were high school sweethearts and best friends. They married at a young age, never had issues communicating with one another, and they have always been a very loving couple towards each other and their children. John is a man’s man and is remised when it comes to speak about emotions and feelings. Mary is very passive and was raised to believe that the man is in charge of the household. Dean has the same ideology as his father about expressing feelings and emotions and Sam is passive like his mother but also subscribes to his father’s machismo ideals. Prior to his last deployment the family was a close-knit group and John was very active in his sons’ lives. They attended Dean’s baseball games, Sam’s Math-lete competitions, and he often took his sons on hunting and fishing trips.

In the chapter “Turned Out (advanced), the wife reappears after leaving the relationship and they still continue having problems. “While I had thought that my trip to meet my father would give me and Jackie [wife] the break we needed to appreciate each other more and help put everything in perspective, the stress picked up exactly where it had been before.” (Gardner 192). After trying to give his

Throughout the essay I stated the connections between Suzy and Sam. I realized as I was writing this paper and as i read the screenplay that the connections these two young people had are connections adults look for throughout their life. The types of connections they shared are connections people look for in love and marriage. The actions in this screenplay are actual things that happen in the world and people’s day to day lives. This Wes Anderson screenplay can relate to so many people’s lives and real love situations that the world goes through. Not just young people but older adults as

In Mat Johnson’s novel, Loving Day, interracial relationships are showcased throughout the text. The main character, Warren’s, journey through the story to re-identify who he is as a person mirrors the way America has thought about interracial relationships and marriages over time; as the book progresses, so do the thoughts of the main character regarding race and his personal relationships, as if the reader is walking through time from the days when interracial marriages were illegal, to modern day where interracial marriages are becoming more common and accepted. Warren encounters other people whose views reflect the “traditional” outlook on race and relationships as well as people with “progressive” views regarding race and relationships. He has to navigate through his own personal beliefs, the way he was raised, his personal experience, the way others react to him, and the way

She wanted to be a role model for her children and at the same time, she wanted to become friend with them. Helen valued education, and she wanted Julie to go to college and have a successful life. However, after she found out that Julie had secretly being together with Tod, the poor, unambitious man. She was disappointed, betrayed, sad. Julie moved out of Helen’s home. Later, when Helen found out that Julie and her husband Tod had nowhere to live, she let them move in with her. She is a permissive parent, yet, she cares about her children, provides them as much support as she can. Helen stayed calm when Gary told her he wanted to live with his dad for a while. I can see her heart was bleeding when she heard her son’s words. She gave Gary his father’s phone number anyway, and Gary talked to his dad over the phone and figured out the cruel fact that his dad didn’t care for them anymore. Helen wanted to comfort Gary but he refused to talk. I felt Helen’s guilt and desperation at that moment. After she broke into Gary’s room and found out that Gary was carrying the bag that contains pornography, she immediately asked Tod’s help to talk to Gary. She had a chance to talk to Tod and had learned that Tod came from a broken family. She had a better idea of who Tod was and his help to Gary gained Helen’s respect. Helen supported Tod and helped her daughter Julie overcame the tough situation in marriage. Helen

Ruthener Davis and Kenneth Davis were two waves. They constantly crashed against each other in an endless cycle of slamming doors and raised voices. Perhaps it was because they married young; Ruthener was only fifteen. Neither one of them were rich. They lived together in Newark, NJ in a rundown house with six kids. Anyone with those types of pressures might've came to hating their once significant other. Kenneth would hit his wife, and she would slash their tires. They'd scream and curse at each other in front of their children, until finally, Kenneth had had enough. Ruthener begged him to stay, but he'd have none of it. Kenneth left his wife, but not his children, whose social events he still attended, whose house he still paid for, and whose

Sonny’s Blues is one of the famous stories expressing the deplorable conditions the Black community found themselves in during the struggle against racial segregation in the American history. The analysis given by John M. Reilley is to draw the attention of the readers and audience on the image of the black community, basically as expressed by Sonny’s Blues as a metaphor. Following the publication of Sonny’s Blues, James Baldwin realized he had a role in the African American Civil Rights Movement (Baldwin, 69). The story articulates the thoughts and experiences of the racial violence and oppression that was being experienced by the black Americans at the time. Through the story, the writer treats the issues of segregation and racism in a lesser manner as compared to several of his works, but the weight is felt at different levels.

After this first point of contact, the couple enters the next interpersonal stage of 'involvement,' as they get to know one another. Despite their differences, they become convinced that they have a future together and view their differences as potential positives rather than negatives. The couple moves in together and begins to establish greater intimacy. Unfortunately, it is at this juncture that the relationship begins to fall apart, as they try to establish a more private form of 'intimacy,' even though they are publically a couple.

Both Michael Crummey’s “Heartburn” and Lisa Moore’s “The Lonely Goatherd” explore the damaging impacts the lack of communication has on a relationship. Both Carl and Anita’s relationship in “The Lonely Goatherd” as well as Georgie and Sandy’s relationship in “Heartburn” are weakened due to the lack of communication. This idea is shown in both short stories through the use of foils, specifically Hans and Carl as well as Everett and Sandy ; It is also demonstrated through the use of symbolism of Signal Hill as well as using the excuse of heartburn to cover up the dreams Sandy has; It is shown lastly through the dramatic irony used in both stories. These elements demonstrate how the lack of communication leading to the downfall of relationships.

As we have seen in Rose's counseling session, past relational patterns are elicited from exploration of the patients' past and early relationships. Key themes are: the degree of love and care (emotional warmth) they experienced in early life; the degree of neglect and abuse; and the types and qualities of core conflicts. In Rose's case, the key issue, as Dr. Berenson discovers over the course of the interview is the subtle manipulation of a mother by her child. She tests her and puts her through a lot of stress, to see how she responds; in this case losing sleep and stressing over the situation.

Every episode tends to include and end with some emotional scene in which Dean is rarely open or agreeable to talking about his feelings. He grew up being the strong anchor for his family. To him, his

Blue Lips - Regina Spektor → This song represents the message that our creator has made an ideal, flawless world for us all to live in, yet we mindlessly destroy it. One line in this piece states “they started out beneath the knowledge tree. Then they chopped it down to make white picket fences.” This specific line relates to our people’s minds are being destroyed from the media. The cutting down of the tree could correlate to the demolition of our conscience. The picket fences part could symbolize how people are greedy and will try to make money out of anything they can. I think Thoreau would side with the meaning of this song because it symbolizes the greediness of people and their blindness to the real world and nature.