A Letter to The Step Brothers,
Film-Based Project; First draft.
This is an informal assignment based off a movie we watched during class which is Step Brothers. This movie is about two middle-aged men (Brennan, and Dale) who still live at home with their parents. These step brothers finally get a taste of reality when their parents marry which ends up in a divorce caused by them. The brothers only have a few days to finally start their adult lives and live on their own. They grow apart from each other but end up meeting up again when Brennan hosts and event that Dale caters. In my writing I wrote a letter to the brothers explaining why I think their behavior is unacceptable at their age and is partly their parents fault for enabling their behavior. I also provide information about different parenting styles as far as the parenting styles that their parents raised them by and the parenting style I think they should've been raised by,
This is an informal assignment based off a movie we watched during class which is Step Brothers. This movie is about two middle-aged men (Brennan, and Dale) who still live at home with their parents. These step brothers finally get a taste of reality when their parents marry which ends up in a divorce caused by them. The brothers only have a few days to finally start their adult lives and live on their own. They grow apart from each other but end up meeting up again when Brennan hosts and event that Dale caters. In my writing I wrote a letter to the brothers explaining why I think their behavior is unacceptable at their age and is partly their parents fault for enabling their behavior. I also provide information about different parenting styles as far as the parenting styles that their parents raised them by and the parenting style I think they should've been raised by,
Draft #1
Dear Brennan and Dale,
After watching your child like behavior in Step Brothers, I have come to the realization that you’re both lazy unemployed freeloaders. There comes a time in life where you have to grow up and take responsibility for your actions. You guys seem to have a problem doing so. Although your parents have a lot to do with the way you behave, I feel as though you are both old enough to make your own decisions. At the age of forty I believe there should be such a maturity level to where you should have your shit together and be able to act accordingly. Both of your parents have made a big mistake and at this point it will be hard to recover from. They have treated you guys as if you are still teenagers. Allowing you to live at home until you’re thirty-nine and forty years old, letting leech off of them because you have no job and also allowing you both to do stupid and unreasonable things without there being consequences. So yes, it is safe to say Nancy and Robert are partly at fault but, how long will you use this as an excuse? Instead of letting you both live at home and enabling you to do unrealistic childish things at your age, they should’ve been on your asses about finding a job. Nancy and Robert should’ve been teaching you both the importance of adulthood and having your own things, this way you wouldn’t have to depend on them at the age you are now.
Their parenting style is very indulgent and permissive; this has lead you both to act in such a childish manner. They are so undemanding and you just take advantage of it. Being as though their parenting style is indulgent, it has caused an obstruction of your identities. Psy.D Matthew Miller has a similar thought on the topic of indulgent parenting. In his article Indulgent Parenting: The Impact On Children, he discusses the consequences of indulgent parenting such as entitlement, impulsivity, and immaturity.
Finally, children raised by indulgent parents often are less mature than their peers. This lack of maturity is evident in their response to not getting what they want. These children are prone to age-inappropriate temper tantrums. In addition, as other children are learning to take responsibility for their own actions, children with indulgent parents do not. As a result, they do what they feel like doing. When they do not feel like doing something, they do not. The problem with this way of thinking is that there is much in life that we need to do whether we feel like it or not.
I feel as though all three of these topics are very relatable to you and Dale. In the movie you both show lack of responsibility and you also threw several temper tantrums when you didn’t get your way. You both did whatever you wanted and didn’t fear any consequences because you knew that there wouldn’t be any. There was such a level of laziness and if you guys didn’t feel like doing something, you simply wouldn’t. There were no set boundaries which is why your behavior is accepted. If Nancy and Robert took on the approach of an authoritative parenting style this would’ve been the solution to their problem. This, to me is the most effective style. This type of parenting is characterized by reasonable demands and high expectations vs indulgent where there are no demands or expectations at all. If they would’ve just set limits from the very beginning, you would both have self-discipline and potentially not do some of the things that you do today.
Don’t get me wrong, it is sometimes okay to bring out your inner child, but you have to know when and where the appropriate time is. You have to learn the boundaries between adult and inner child. You guys may think that becoming an adult makes it impossible to maintain your youth, but that is not true at all. There is a time and a place for everything.
Sincerely,
Alexis Moton.
Dear Brennan and Dale,
After watching your child like behavior in Step Brothers, I have come to the realization that you’re both lazy unemployed freeloaders. There comes a time in life where you have to grow up and take responsibility for your actions. You guys seem to have a problem doing so. Although your parents have a lot to do with the way you behave, I feel as though you are both old enough to make your own decisions. At the age of forty I believe there should be such a maturity level to where you should have your shit together and be able to act accordingly. Both of your parents have made a big mistake and at this point it will be hard to recover from. They have treated you guys as if you are still teenagers. Allowing you to live at home until you’re thirty-nine and forty years old, letting leech off of them because you have no job and also allowing you both to do stupid and unreasonable things without there being consequences. So yes, it is safe to say Nancy and Robert are partly at fault but, how long will you use this as an excuse? Instead of letting you both live at home and enabling you to do unrealistic childish things at your age, they should’ve been on your asses about finding a job. Nancy and Robert should’ve been teaching you both the importance of adulthood and having your own things, this way you wouldn’t have to depend on them at the age you are now.
Their parenting style is very indulgent and permissive; this has lead you both to act in such a childish manner. They are so undemanding and you just take advantage of it. Being as though their parenting style is indulgent, it has caused an obstruction of your identities. Psy.D Matthew Miller has a similar thought on the topic of indulgent parenting. In his article Indulgent Parenting: The Impact On Children, he discusses the consequences of indulgent parenting such as entitlement, impulsivity, and immaturity.
Finally, children raised by indulgent parents often are less mature than their peers. This lack of maturity is evident in their response to not getting what they want. These children are prone to age-inappropriate temper tantrums. In addition, as other children are learning to take responsibility for their own actions, children with indulgent parents do not. As a result, they do what they feel like doing. When they do not feel like doing something, they do not. The problem with this way of thinking is that there is much in life that we need to do whether we feel like it or not.
I feel as though all three of these topics are very relatable to you and Dale. In the movie you both show lack of responsibility and you also threw several temper tantrums when you didn’t get your way. You both did whatever you wanted and didn’t fear any consequences because you knew that there wouldn’t be any. There was such a level of laziness and if you guys didn’t feel like doing something, you simply wouldn’t. There were no set boundaries which is why your behavior is accepted. If Nancy and Robert took on the approach of an authoritative parenting style this would’ve been the solution to their problem. This, to me is the most effective style. This type of parenting is characterized by reasonable demands and high expectations vs indulgent where there are no demands or expectations at all. If they would’ve just set limits from the very beginning, you would both have self-discipline and potentially not do some of the things that you do today.
Don’t get me wrong, it is sometimes okay to bring out your inner child, but you have to know when and where the appropriate time is. You have to learn the boundaries between adult and inner child. You guys may think that becoming an adult makes it impossible to maintain your youth, but that is not true at all. There is a time and a place for everything.
Sincerely,
Alexis Moton.