The movie Stepmom demonstrates divorce and how the family copes up with it, especially if one of the spouses has already found a new person to get involved with. There is no doubt that divorce is a difficult process, not only for the couples but also for the children involved. As in the case of the movie where Anna yelled at her father for leaving her mother, it was a natural response to a stressful situation like that. No one expects children to understand complicated things like divorce. She has a valid point in saying that it is her father’s job not to leave her mother.
However, because she is young, she does not understand that there are times when couples need to separate from each other because they would have a more harmonious relationship when apart. She also does not understand that her father leaving her mother does not mean that he is completely getting out of their lives. Intergenerational transmission of divorce is seen when “children whose parents have divorced have an elevated risk of themselves later divorcing (cited in Gullotta & Blau, 2008, p.
147). It is found that people who have experienced divorce in their families in their early lives are more likely to experience the same in their married lives. They see their parents separating and having conflicts and they feel that they are bound to have the same fate when they become adults. This is alarming because if people continue to believe in this, divorce rates would continue to rise in the future.
It is important that people who experience their parents separating be counseled by professionals or even talked to by their parents so that they understand the situation. They should be taught that they do not necessarily have to follow in their parents’ footsteps in terms of divorcing each other because every individual is different from each other and certainly, every marriage is different from each other, which presents no guarantee that they will have the same fate as their parents.
Reference Gullotta, T. P. & Blau, G. (2008). Family Influences on Childhood Behavior and