Whats Eating Gilbert Grape - Essay Example

What’s Eating What’s Eating Gilbert Grape In APA Style What’s Eating… 2 Background No matter how much a family, who doesn’t have parents who perform their duties, tries to function as normally as possible would have a real tough time, if not impossible, to function accordingly. In the film What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, the struggles of a dysfunctional family who tries their very best to keep the family intact to function like a regular one are outstandingly depicted. Although the story may not be as ordinary as usual, it is easily relatable. For a family who has a father who killed himself, a mother who has practically stopped living after her husband’s demise, a brother who has run away from all the issues of the family and a special brother who has special needs, it certainly is tough to keep such family whole in all aspects when it has been broken for the longest time to start with. Intervention With all the givens mentioned above, as a social worker, an intensive intervention should be conducted with the Grapes. Awareness of the pressing issues within the family should be achieved, which entails a close review of each of the members of the family. Knowing each of the members’ take on the existing concerns the family faces is an essential part of the intervention as to know how to deal with each of them. In the film, it is portrayed that the mother, Mrs. Grape, has never left the house for 7 years, which could have been the reason behind her gaining so much weight. Basing the character of the mother in the story, she certainly has been undergoing depression since her husband committed suicide at basement of their house thirteen years back. Tagged with the loss of a child who ran away a few years after her husband’s death, it is not surprising that the series of events has taken its toll on her, which caused her to stay inside the house and not go out at all. Towards the end of the film when Gilbert comes back What’s Eating… 3 home, apologizing to his mother for hitting Arnie, his brother who needs special care, it may be interpreted that Mrs. Grape somehow blames herself for the her son, Larry, leaving the house. Although her realization of her being part of the problem of the family comes along in the film, she is not able to straighten things out for herself due to her death. Had this realization came early on, she would’ve have been able to reconcile with her realities instead and have been able to help her family recuperate from the tragic events that happened in the past. It could have prevented Larry from running away, allowed Gilbert to enjoy his life and still manage to take care of his brother, Arnie, avoided Amy from being the mother of the family, made Ellen understand her brother, Arnie, and would have allowed herself to go on and continue living and eventually move on from the past and still be able to perform her duties as a single mother to her kids. A realization of the issues of the family is an integral part of the intervention of a social worker in order to address all the issues and come up with a feasible plan to help the family heal and eventually become functional. Gilbert, on the other hand, also has some personal issues to address. It will be noticed that he asks a friend, Tucker, to help him check the brace of the flooring of their house. He himself can do the job alone but since it entails going down to the basement where his father died, he asks Tucker to do it for him. This can be interpreted that although Gilbert accepts the death of his father, deep inside, he is reluctant about this reality. There can be many factors behind his reluctance but one of the most glaring factors is him being relied on by his family at his early age. When he goes away after hitting Arnie for being such a pain, he soon realizes how important a figure he is in the family. (What’s Eating Gilber Grape, 2006) The important aspect of an invention of a social worker to a dysfunctional family is to What’s Eating… 4 make each of the members realize the causes that surround the issues and their effects to the family. By doing this, each member can easily engage in the family in unison with the other members towards a better living within the family. Just like in any case, awareness of the problem is a must in order to come up with a solution. (Steele & Raider, 1991, 23) Gilbert, being one of the breadwinners in the family, should be encouraged to become a model of change. One of the issues the family faces is their mother’s depression, resulting to being, for the lack of better term, a burden to the family. As a social worker, encouraging those members who post as important figures within the family is a good approach. They are the ones whom other members listen to so empowering them is essential. Understanding one’s role within the family should also be tapped for the members to realize how important an ingredient each one is for the family’s healing process. When this is successful, acceptance of whatever happened in the past will come along and moving on will eventually follow until the family has completely healed from the wounds of the past. (McRoberts & Pope, 1998, 31) The stigma of the society is another story. In the film, the Grape’s family faces the issue of having an extremely overweight mother. The community is aware of the cause of their father’s death, which makes them a controversial family. The Mrs. Grape is aware of this issue and should be encouraged to face it. Conforming to the norms of the society seems to be a little hard for the Grape family. Having a father committing suicide, a mother becoming anti-social and imprisoning herself within the four corners of their house, a brother running away from them, leaving all his burdens behind, and another brother who needs special care and who gets the community’s attention every so often demoralize the Grapes. Alienation of the Grapes from the community is caused mainly by disability and lifestyle. It is What’s Eating… 5 evident that the issue on Mrs. Grape is her being overweight, which caused her to avoid activities outside the house including going to church. Although it was not shown that they used to go to church as a family, it can be interpreted that she changed her religious preference sometime in the early part of her depression. In addition, Arnie’s disability also has a huge effect in the lifestyle of the Grapes since he needs special care. As a result, they are forced to consider Arnie’s condition in everything they do. In connection to my personal life, I am also a product of single parenthood. But unlike the Grapes, I would say that my childhood was more or less the same with other kids who enjoyed different privileges. I went on vacations and attended the church regularly, which added to the factors that shaped my values, customs and childhood development. The Grape’s Issues The most pressing issue of the Grapes is the mother’s depression. Just like what has been discussed in the previous pages, this issue should be dealt with accordingly since it has disrupted the family from moving on from the tragic events in the past. The avoidance of the topic about the father’s death is also big issue of the family. This should not be taken for granted since it is one of the reasons the family is not able to move on from the biggest tragedy in their family. Acceptance is the ultimate remedy for moving on. (Steele & Raider, 1991, 34) Another glaring issue of the family is the unavoidable reality that they have a member who needs special care. The community itself doesn’t fit Arnie’s condition since it doesn’t seem to have institutions for his condition. Resolutions Mrs. Grapes depression has resulted her to practically stop living. Due to this, she has neglected What’s Eating… 6 her duties as a parent to her kids who have also been greatly affected by the loss of their father and their other brother. Instead of sulking into depression, she should be stimulated to go on with life shamelessly and embrace herself, whatever size she is in. Seeing the world outside the four corners of your house is always a good way in combating depression. Acceptance of the tragedies in the past is essential to move on. Just like with any psychiatric patients, being cured depends greatly on the acceptance of one’s condition. (Steele & Raider, 1991, 37) Relocation should be considered for Arnie. The family should be encouraged to look for a place where Arnie will receive the care he needs. He also needs a special kind of education and this may entail financial stress for the family. The family should be in unison with one another in order to successfully adjust to the kind of care a special child needs. (Lefley & Johnson, 2002, 121) Indirect Intervention Since the pressing issues of the Grapes are mainly a family thing, an indirect intervention is advised. This enables each family member to support one another in order to recuperate from the devastating issues the family has; e.g., drug addiction, mental retardation, alcoholism, depression. Since the issues of the Grapes greatly affect the family and not the individual alone, indirect intervention is an excellent way to have everyone’s participation. Unlike other forms of intervention especially the direct approach, this may not seem fit for the Grapes since this approach oftentimes result to resistance of the person involved. The Evaluation In any type of resolution, there is always a timeframe in order to determine if the problem has been resolved. In the case of the Grapes, it would be tough to set a timeframe early since the issues are compounded. The issue of moving on from the death of Mr. Grape, which has been perpetuated by the depression of Mrs. Grape, has to be dealt with first. Since the pressing issue is the mother’s depression over the loss of her husband and one of her kids, every member of the family should be empowered first to help their mother to move on. When this is obtained, the next step is to consider a possible relocation. Having everyone working will be a great help to be able to send Arnie to an institution where he will receive the proper help he needs. Although this may not take overnight, this can be done when each member of the family understands the essence of their presence towards their healing process. Termination with this client system may be considered when the essence of the intervention has been cascaded to each members of the family. Since the intervention considered is an indirect approach, this doesn’t need much of the social worker’s presence due to its environment. The client system’s premature termination from the social worker may occur when the approach doesn’t seem fit for the situation. This may have a big possibility with direct intervention. References Hallström, L., Teper, M., Ohlsson, B., Matalon, D., Hedges, P., Depp, J., Lewis, J., ... Paramount Pictures Corporation. (2006). Whats eating Gilbert Grape?. Hollywood, Calif: Paramount Pictures. McRoberts, R., & Pope, M. (1998). A study guide to Lasse Hallstroms whats eating Gilbert Grape. Ballarat, Vic: Wizard Books. Steele, W., & Raider, M. (1991). Working with families in crisis: School-based intervention. New York: Guilford Press. Lefley, H. P., & Johnson, D. L. (2002). Family interventions in mental illness: International perspectives. Westport, Conn: Praeger. Read More