how painful it is for her to leave her son. She felt that she needed to find herself and that it's her fault and that Ted had just married the wrong person. For her divorce seems the only way out.
b. Shifting Gender Roles: Women are more determined in pursuing their own careers, just like Joanna Kramer from Kramer Vs. Kramer. They are searching for their identity. Joanna felt trapped in her marriage and decided to divorce her husband Ted Kramer. After they are divorced, Ted Kramer begins to take care of his son Billy, play the roles of both father and mother. At the same time, Joanna reevaluates her roles and comes to believe that as a woman she is socially and economically equal to men. Nowadays, women reject the idea that men and women each inhabit their own spheres, the woman at home and the man in the world. Women's economic opportunities have improved, making divorce a realistic option for many more of them. They believe they are entitled to escape from dreary, loveless, or abusive marriages, and they are able to prove they could manage economically without male support.
Conflicts:
a. Suffocation vs. Preoccupation: Joanna feels suffocated in her marriage and in the household. Ted takes her for granted and is totally preoccupied with career advancement. He doesn't even know Billy's grade in school. Joanna had a job when they got married; she wants to return to the workplace, but Ted will not even discuss the idea. His refusal seems to be rooted in the conception that a woman's place is in the home and a man's place is in the world. Joanna's frustration finally boils over and she can think of only one way to save herself – a life apart from her family. b. Work vs. Family: Ted was a workaholic enjoying his talents and ambition at work before Joanna left. Now he has to struggle hard to balance the demand from his work and the needs of his son. Housework and taking care of the little boy are not easy at all: He burns the French toast, arrives late at Billy's birthday party and generally makes a mess of things. But through trial and error and patience and hard work, he learns how to understand and deal with Billy's needs and feelings. For the first time in his life he feels like a fulfilled parent. During this time, he gradually devotes more energy to his family than to his work, and finally loses the job because of his new priorities. c. Paternal Custody vs. Maternal Custody: By the time Ted learns to take good care of Billy, Joanna returns and demands her child back. Ted's early neglect of the family costs him a wife, and this time he can't lose his son, so he tries all out to fight for the custody of Billy.
His statement in court is touching: \tried to make it the best I could. It's not perfect. I am not a perfect parent. I don't have enough patience... But more than anything in this world I love him. We built a life together and we love each other... So Joanna, please don't destroy this.\Joanna. However, later Joanna realizes that Billy has already had a home, a home that Ted has provided him. She decides that it is best for Billy to stay with his father.
Performances:
One of the central factors in the movie's fortunes is its timeliness. It addresses topics of concern to most people in society, reflects social change in a couple of very important ways. It deals with the changing role of women in society, women going into the work place, as well as the changing role of men at home, the different ways that men would interact with the family and participate in raising children. Kramer vs. Kramer is such a dominant film. The movie wins five Oscar Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director – Robert Benton, Best Actor – Dustin Hoffman, Best (Adapted) Screenplay – Robert Benton and Best Supporting Actress – Meryl Streep.
Kramer vs. Kramer was shot in 1979 when people paid special attention to the Women's Movement. In the movie, this social background is well reflected. Something special about the movie is that all the scenes in it are presented from the man's perspective. But actually it is a story that deals with a woman's problem. So there was more space left for the audience to think about the woman and her dilemma. In a word, this reflection of a current social problem contributes to the movie's great success.
The plot of the movie is also well designed. The director uses several sharp contrasts to show the development of the story while at the same time making the movie a whole. For example, at the very beginning, Ted is clumsy when he is making French toast for Billy. But in the end, on the very day Billy would be taken away by the mother, Ted once again makes the same French toast. But this time, he is extremely calm and skillful. Moreover, talkative as he is the last time, he is silent that day. The director tries to establish harmonious atmosphere there and then. And he succeeds. Besides, at the beginning of the movie, Joanna leaves crying in the elevator. In the last scene, she is also in the elevator. But this time, she removes her tears and smiles. It indicates a good ending as the problem has been solved.
Unit 4 Sicko (2007)
II. Questions for Thoughts
The following answers are given only for reference, and the students are encouraged to present their own understandings of or opinions on these questions.
1. Is there a non-profit universal health care system in America? How average American people get their medical expenses covered then? When is the system established and who are running the system? Would you please name several organizations that represent the major runners of the system? There’s no government-sponsored non-profit universal health care system in America, so to cover their medical expenses, the Americans must get health insurance from private insurance companies. The system is established in 1971 under Nixon’s presidency and is reinforced several times by the federal government since then. As granted by the government, the system is mainly run by private health industry, mainly including the insurance companies, a few of which are now dominating the insurance markets, and the hospitals and drug industry which also play an important role in facilitating the system. Organizations which represent the runners of the system include the Health Maintenance Organization, American Medical Association, and Health Insurance Association of America.
2. Is it easy for people to get insurance under the current system? Why? According to the film, it can be very difficult for people to get insurance. First of all, those who do not have a good job or those who retire broke can hardly afford health insurance, let alone the unemployed ones. For those who do have the money to buy insurance, their application can be easily turned down because to lower the risk, each of the insurance companies will check the health conditions of the applicants and they all have a long list of preconditions which disqualify a large number of people for getting health insurance. 3. Does health insurance guarantee proper medical care for American people? Why or why not? What do American insurance companies do in specific to deny proper medical care for their policy holders? As indicated by the film, in America, health insurance can hardly guarantee proper medical care because to increase their profitability by avoiding the cost, the insurance companies in America will find all kinds of excuses to refuse to pay for the necessary medical treatment for their policy holders. They give their physicians bonus for claiming the necessary and proper medical treatment as unnecessary or improper. If there is no way to disapprove a medical treatment,
they will have others investigate the policy holder’s medical history and carefully examine the application forms they once submitted to seek any loopholes that can give the company an excuse to cancel the policy.
4. What will happen to those who cannot afford insurance or who finds their insurance companies refuse to cover the medical expenses? Those who have no insurance or those who find their insurance claim rejected by their insurance company have no choice but to pay for the expenses by themselves. Since hospitals and drug industry put an unreasonably high charge on drugs and medical treatments, those who are seriously ill can go bankrupt in paying high medical bills and those who cannot afford the medical treatment will be left to themselves. Therefore, though sometimes a threat of bringing the insurance company to court or reveal the case to media may occasionally force the insurance company to compromise, in most cases, people are simply left in a desperate and helpless situation.
5. Who are backing up the current health care system in America? Why do they prefer such a system? Most American government officials, presidents and congress people in particular, put a high profile in giving full support to the system. Behind the scene, insurance business and the drug industry are spending a lot to promote the current health care system. Evidence revealed in the film indicates that despite their claim of serving the interest of the American people, the real motive behind their enthusiastic advocating and defending of the system is the great economic returns and financial benefits that they can harvest from the system.
6. As shown in the film, has anyone tried to promote a universal health care system in America? How is the effort brought to an end? As shown in the film, Hillary Clinton, during her early years of being America’s First Lady, once started a campaign to promote universal health care in America. However, her campaign encountered harsh criticism from many politicians in Washington who received large sum of money from the health industry and therefore would spare no energy in defending the current system. And later even Hillary herself was won over by the industry and thus brought to an end to the campaign. Since then, no attempt is made to call for a reform of the system. 7. In what way is the idea of universal health care demonized by American government and American mainstream media? What evidence is presented in the film to show that “socialized services” are not alien at all to America as claimed by some politicians? American mainstream media keep promoting the myth that non-profit