Family Assessment

The portrayal of the Callaghan family in the movie While You Were Sleeping can be considered a perfect example of an ideal family in this modern day world. In the movie, the Ox as portrayed by actor Peter Boyle is a gruff but nonetheless, a very lovable father figure. The mother as portrayed by actress Micole Mercurio sets an example of a mother who eases through the role of motherhood with the charm and grace of a teenager.

The grandmother (Glynis Johns) is also a typical example of a grandmother whom everyone is constantly worrying about because of her heart condition. Another close family friend of the Callaghan clan named Saul (Jack Warden) also perfectly personified the usual role that close family friends normally play which is to be privy with the personal and private affairs of the family and sometimes be the first to know all the gossips and issues among the family members.

As in this movie, it was Saul who knew at the onset that Lucy was not engaged to Peter. In the movie, the Callaghan family can be seen to have constant and frequent interaction and communication with each other. Almost everyone can be expected to know the affairs of the other family members. This close family bond among the Callaghan’s makes it easier to resolve conflicts among them. Note that in the movie, the conflict among family members revolved around brothers Jack and Peter over their affection for Lucy.

However, unlike the usual battles involving maters of the heart, the brothers opted to pursue the more civilized way of settling the dilemma. In this case, it was Jack who initially gave way in favor of his brother. The Callaghan family is also supportive of one another’s welfare and interests. They are compassionate and faithful with one another and are always supportive such that when Peter was comatose in the hospital, everyone participated in seeing to it that he is properly attended to and cared of.

There is unity among them and this motivation can be attributed to their healthy upbringing and relationship with one another. Every member of the Callaghan is possessed with distinct and unique personality but these differences do not in any way work to the disadvantage of family. In fact, their peculiarities complement with each other as they are able to cope each other’s personality differences. The graceful personality of the mother and the gruff but lovable nature of the father are essential factors to the character development of the Callaghan siblings.

They were raised to be affectionate with one another and hence, there is no major conflict among them or if there were any, it is almost guaranteed that the misunderstanding will be resolved immediately. However, with respect to the respective external affairs of the family, the Callaghan seems to have less focus. This may be attributed to their extreme involvement with one another that they in turn neglect to inquire as to the affairs of their family members outside their circle itself.

Notice how completely unaware the rest of the Callaghan clan was of the prior engagement of their son Peter to another woman named Ashley. There seems to be more focused given to the family itself and less on the individual affairs of its members. A possible solution to this weakness would be to recommend to the Callaghan clan some sort of a group interaction wherein each and everyone will be given the opportunity to share other events of his life outside the family circle. Reference Turteltaub, Jon (director). While You Were Sleeping. USA

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