The best movies for family viewing: psychologist's recommendations
We need to take our eyes off the news. Seven movies plus two cartoons for family viewing, mostly about the relationship between children and parents.
I have collected family films in which you can simultaneously look at family life through the eyes of children and adults. And films that are related to looking at oneself over time. For adults, they may be simple and naive, but they are the right ones to watch with children.
1. Yes Day. A family has three children of different ages. The eldest daughter is a teenager. Mom is usually the "bad cop," and the children often hear "no" from her. Dad is a tough boss at work, but at home, he can't say no to his children. During the crisis, the family agreed on a "yes day," when parents fully follow the children's wishes. The whole family explores the boundaries of freedom and responsibility, play, and rules.
2. Family exchange. A family has three children and a dog. Suddenly, during the biggest quarrels, everyone switches bodies. The father is with his son, the daughter is with her mother, and the baby is with the dog. They have to find and repair the glass in the observatory, but in reality, they have to repair their relationships and find each other again.
3. Freaky Friday by Jamie Lee Curtis. A psychologist mother and her teenage daughter can't get along. And after the death of her father, the mother finds a man she loves. A fantastic intervention with a body swap helps them to feel what is important to mom and daughter.
4. 13 Going on 30. A teenage girl who feels like a failure at 13 wakes up in the body of a 30-year-old woman. A bit of a naive movie, but it has something that can be important for children who want to become adults faster. And for adults who have forgotten how it feels to be children.
5. 17 Again. He is a disappointed man who in his youth had brilliant athletic abilities and should have pursued a sports career, but gave it up because his girlfriend told him she was pregnant. Now he is bored at work and does not feel close to his wife and children. His wife is planning to get a divorce. The children are growing apart. But after a strange encounter, he returns to his 17 years, when he made important decisions. The film contains conversations about sex and an important monologue about respecting a girl's decision and consent to sex.
6. Groundhog Day is a well-known and beloved holiday.
7. Big (with Tom Hanks) - also well-known and beautiful.
Cartoons: Turning Red and Brave. The cartoons are about the relationship between a mother and a teenage daughter, about growing up, finding one's role and strength, resistance and aggression, adult control and guardianship, about reconciliation and respect. And also about the power of the family.
May we be safe and strong.