The nature of parenting is explored in both The Breakfast Club directed by John Hughes and also in We Need To Talk About Kevin written by Lionel Shriver, focusing on how parenting affects a child's mental health. In both texts the public is shown children with serious problems. The author and director explain through the lyrics whether these issues were due to the way they were raised or whether they arose with the issues explored in the text. A range of themes including family, nature vs. nurture and dissatisfaction, as well as techniques such as camera angles and contrast, are used to explore the nature of parenting. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay A big dynamic in both texts is family, The Breakfast Club, released in the 90s, was a clear nod to all the different perfect family sitcoms that were made throughout the 90s, including television shows like Full House and Family Matters. So Breakfast Club was a very different step in that it showed a much darker side of the family dynamic and showed the problems that teenagers face with their parents. This allows the context of this movie to contrast with other TV shows and movies of the time as The Breakfast Club only seemed to show the dark side of the family and never the fun parts of the family dynamic which was the exact opposite of what movies and TV . series they were making in the 90s. No one gets along with their parents in The Breakfast Club. Bender's father abuses him, even going so far as to burn him with a cigar at one point. The parents of the other children are not physically abusive, but they do not understand their children and try to force them to do things they would rather avoid. It's a pretty bleak depiction of family life. Brian and Andrew both suffer from different types of pressure – academic and athletic – while Allison and Bender both face apparent abandonment. And Claire shares something they all have: Their parents don't treat them as people, but as a means to an end. So instead, this group of teenagers form a family with each other during a day of teething together. We need to talk about Kevin also destroying the serotype of a traditional American family, which is a mother, a father, 2.5 children and maybe a pet and a fence. We Need to Talk About Kevin takes these stereotypes and turns them on their head. Kevin Khatchadourian tries to show that having a traditional family that seems "healthy" on the outside can still be terrible on the inside. Kevin tries to divide his parents and reduces the number of children from 2 to about 1.93 when he causes his little sister to lose an eyeball. We show a much more terrible family where we have to talk about Kevin mainly because of a distant mother, a controlling and enabling father, as well as a manipulative son. Proving that family problems can arise no matter how perfect your family looks from the outside. Both authors strive to dispel the myth of the stereotypical loving family dynamic by showing the more real problems that many families face, both strive to be realistic and show a less manufactured family that you see in most sitcoms. In We Need to Talk about Kevin and the Breakfast Club the nature vs nurture theme is very dominant and shows up often. The Breakfast Club shows this theme through the perspective of children, this allows the main cast of characters to show how their parents sculpted their personalities.This is told through the five children protagonists of the film, whose names are John Bender, Andrew Clarke, Allison Reynolds, Claire Standish and Brian Johnson. We Need To Talk About Kevin shows the theme through the child's parent. Eva Khatchadourian is the mother of Kevin Khatchadourian. Both the film and the book show the difficulties of parenting and this influence it can have on children. A great example of this is a scene in Breakfast, after the group comes down from the euphoria of not only drugs but also dancing, we are shown a much darker scene. Brian Johnson, called the nerd of the group, asks "what will happen to us on Monday" referring to the fact that there are no real friends outside of detention. After we are told that they would not be able to have a friendship after detention, the scene turns harsh and sad. The first technique used in this scene is a close-up of Brian where we are shown a tear running down his face as he sobs. The second technique involves the use of non-diegetic music while Brian says the line "I'm here because Mr. Ryan found a gun in my locker", the music is soft and is clearly placed in this scene to evoke a sad reaction from the audience . Brian explains the pressure put on him by his parents and the fact that he was given a failing grade in carpentry and explains that the gun would be used to take his own life. The scene shows the failure of parenting, Brian feels like his life is over simply because he wasn't given an A in one of his classes, which shows the audience that Brian believes that grades determine his worth to the his parents and that without his good grades he is nothing. This is a clear demonstration of his upbringing and the way his parents raised him. Brian grew up knowing that he wasn't gifted in other areas like sports or appearance, so he believes that the one thing he's good at, which is studying and getting good grades, is everything. So an F that makes Brian fall into a state of low self-esteem "I see myself, but I don't like what I see" and it's all because Brian's parents thought they were doing the right thing, but forced him to work hard to succeed in life but instead the pressure was too much and almost made him give up on life. We Need to Talk about Kevin explains and shows the topic through the eyes of parents, particularly through the perspective of his mother Eva Khatchadourian. From the beginning we are told that Eva never actually wanted a child and is almost forced to have one since the only real reasons for having a child are selfish and unpleasant "Having something else to talk about", "It could be fun to start a collection." From the beginning of the book we are shown how strong and independent Eva truly is, but when their first son Kevin arrives, she finds him too difficult to deal with. Throughout the novel we are told how Kevin is always out to get Eve and that he is such an evil child, but these words should always be taken with a pinch of salt as we are never told Kevin's point of view. Eva tries to show throughout the novel that Kevin was influenced by nature and was always a horrible person bent on ruining Eva's life, but Eva's prejudices are quite strong throughout the book and it is hinted that Kevin felt always angry because of the ignored feelings he had because of his distant mother. But also a big problem throughout the novel is the parenting style of the father Franklin Plaskett, when Kevin is born Franklin becomes not only a horrible father but also a horrible husband. Throughout the book Eva comes to him to talk about the problems she is facing with Kevin, yet Franklin always seems to take sideson Kevin's side. Franklin becomes a terrible enabler for Kevin by allowing him to do anything without punishment. This allows Franklin to create a rift between Eva and the rest of her family, and because of this Eva ends up harboring resentment towards him. At one point, when Franklin decides not to punish Kevin, Eva remarks, "You sure didn't sell out that quickly when you were mad at me." It's as if Eva and Kevin are siblings, not mother and son, and Eva is bitter that Kevin receives favorable treatment. This is a great use of contrast as Kevin is heavily influenced by two opposing parenting styles, Eva is too distant and doesn't allow any bad behavior and Franklin allows his Kevin to continue this behavior without punishment. Because Franklin treats his wife like a child, he is both a terrible husband and a bad father. With all these examples it can clearly be debated whether nature or nurture influenced Kevin throughout his life and turned him into a mass murderer, but his father's enabling and long-distance interactions with his mother clearly show a disconnect between the child and his parents. Shriver tends to conclude that both nature and nurture have great effects on a child's education, while Hughes strongly suggests the idea that we are greatly influenced by the nurturing aspect of parenting but that ultimately we can change the way we are raised as children. an important role in both texts. All the characters are ultimately dissatisfied with their life situations. This dissatisfaction is greatly influenced by the nature of parenting displayed by their parental guardians. The Breakfast Club shows each character with a different problem, whether it's abusive family members, terrible parents, or distant parents who don't understand the harsh realities of teenage life. Although each character has their own problems, they all share a dissatisfaction with life inherited from their parents. This dissatisfaction affects every member of the Khatchadourian family except the younger sister who has been blinded by a child's innocence. Both texts show how parents' dissatisfaction is inherited by their children. This is very evident in The Breakfast club, Andrew Clark, also known as the stereotypical Jock, is put in detention due to his father's influence. After abusing another child, he explains that he did it to impress his father, "I did it for my old man", "I tortured this poor boy because I wanted him to think I was cool, he always left when he was in school, all the wild things he did.” These powerful lines show the need for a child to impress and hope for his father's recognition. It also shows how disappointed his father is in his current life and how he always looks back at his past and tries to relive his glorious days of high school through his son. Throughout this scene the camera moves smoothly from one side of his face to the other, although at one point it is blocked by a pillar, this is used to show the true face disappointed by each side and angle. The camera uses a shallow depth of field to ensure that you focus completely on the monologue of his family matter, we also find that the lighting is very planned and is not bright, almost to show how unsatisfactory this scene is for the character by Andrew Clark shows the pressure and sadness of him trying to fulfill his father's dream of reliving his high school days. Now, comparing this to We Need to Talk About Kevin, the novel is able to show some underlined similarities, such as unhappy parents and a damaged father. teenager as a result of.