Compare the Representation of the Family in the films The Parent Trap and Are We There Yet?

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Compare the Representation of the Family in ‘The Parent Trap’ and ‘Are We There Yet?’

This essay will thoroughly discuss the representation of both families and then how it changes throughout the film. It will then compare the two films to see if the representation is the same. Both these films have very similar themes but are set in very different settings/contexts. The storylines are different yet at the end of both films the representations of both families is almost identical.

The Parent Trap is a film where upper class Bostonian Sharon McKendrick meets her unknown tomboyish twin Susan Evers from California on a summer camp for girls. After continuous quarrelling due to their identical looks they are placed in a cabin together for punishment. Instead of finding more arguments they discover the biggest secret that they are actually twin sisters. The rest of the film is an insight in to how the twin sisters swap places in a ploy to try and reengage their parents love and bring the family back together.

The main problem of the family at the start of the film is that there is a huge split because of Maggie and Mitch divorcing and having one child each. The first twin we see is Sharon who is from Boston which is a very wealthy, upper class part of America. She pulls up in a Rolls Royce which is a very expensive make of car; only the wealthiest of people would have been able to afford one. Sharon is polite, very well dressed, well groomed and because of the possessions she has suggests she is intelligent. She wears a very formal dress to a summer camp which would have been unsuitable for the activities they would do at ‘Camp Inch’. We then meet the other twin Susan; she is the complete opposite of Sharon. She is rude, undisciplined and acts like a tom-boy. This is explicitly shown to us by the way that she reacts to Sharon when she sees how similar she looks ‘how dare she take my face’. Her hair is very short and looks like a boys hair cut showing her masculine up-bringing. She also can’t let things go, she seeks revenge on Sharon and her friends for tipping their boat over. The directors of this film have made the twins like this (complete opposites) so they can convey the split in the family. They have very different backgrounds and upbringings and because of their parents splitting up they are complete opposites. Throughout the film the representations change.

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As the film progresses we start to see changes in the family and the relationships. Maggie and Mitch see each other for the first time and there is a moment of joy as they ask how they are and they’ve been. This turns into an argument when Mitch asks Maggie why she has suddenly turned up at his house, but they stop when Mitch sees both his girls for the first time.

Sharon and Susan cause Vicky to leave when the three of them and Mitch go on a camping holiday. Sharon and Susan try to make it as ...

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