Film Analysis Essay on My Girl: An Uplifting Summer Comedy-Drama From 1972

The tittle of the movie I watched is called My Girl. I watched this comedy-drama through Netflix because my family has an active subscription.

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Plot of the Movie

The movie entails events experienced by a family and close associates in Madison, Pennsylvania during the summer of 1972. In particular, the story focuses on an 11-year old girl called Vada Sultenfuss who struggles to withstand her emotional highs and lows. Vada lives with her widowed father, Harry Sultenfuss and grandmother, Gramoo Sultenfuss. Harry is depicted as a funeral director who operates his business from the comfort of his house. As a result, he has made her daughter to become obsessed with death because she is witnessing dead bodies and hearing death stories regularly. Due to Vada's emotional weakness, she is highly spontaneous until her father cannot understand her anymore. Harry often ignores her dramatic daughter making Vada to seek attention from her best friend, Thomas J. Sennett. The friendship between Vada and Thomas becomes intensified because they share a common trait of experiencing impulsive reactions. That is, Vada is hypochondriac while Thomas is allergic to unlimited substances. In fact, they become too close until people start teasing them that they are in a romantic relationship.

On a regular day, Harry spends most of his time making funeral arrangements for his clients while Vada cares for her grandmother who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Vada's uncle, Phil Sultenfuss also visits the family to check on them. The story continues that Harry falls in love with his employee, Shelly DeVoto who works at the funeral home as a makeup artist. Their love lasts until they become engaged. However, Vada was not impressed with her father's engagement thus causing a rift between her and Shelly. Vada reacts by seeking attention from her fifth-grade teacher, Mr. Bixler by attending his adult poetry classes. A desperate Vada even steals money from Shelly's trailer to enrol for Mr. Bixler's classes. However, their connection stops when Vada starts feeling awkward after writing a poem stating that she is guilty of killing her mother during birth.

When Vada starts seeing changes in herself, Shelly comforts her and confirms that those are just normal signs of puberty. Vada realizes that she is mature enough and starts going on dates with Thomas, leading to their first kiss under a tree along the river bank. As they were strolling, Thomas kicks a bees' net which aggravates the bees to chase them away, causing Vada to lose her mood ring. On the following day when Thomas goes looking for the ring, he kicks the bees' net once again and he is stung to death. Upon hearing the sad news, Vada locks herself in her bedroom but later runs to Mr. Bixler for consolation. She is upset when she finds that Mr. Bixler is getting engaged. Vada returns to their favourite spot and consoles herself alone under the usual tree. Afterward, she returns home and brings relief to her family who was already worried about her whereabouts. Eventually, Vada and her father visit Mrs. Sennett to mourn with her following the demise of Thomas, her son. At this point, Vada also receives the mood ring which Thomas has retrieved from their favourite spot. The Movie ends when Vada is reading a sad poem about Thomas before starting a new life with her friend Judy.

Characters who died and their Causes of Death

The movie tells of two scenarios; firstly, the death of Vada's mother during childbirth and Thomas who dies due to allergic reactions from bees' sting. These characters were protagonists because Vada's mother was bringing a new life to the world while Thomas was brave enough to search the mood ring within a swarm of bees.

Survivors' Reactions to Death

The death of Vada's mother brought a lot of grief to Harry, Gramoo, and Phil. Later on, Vada started feeling emotional weakness as she thought of her mother's death. On the other hand, the death of Thomas was a great loss to Mrs. Sennett and Vada who was shocked by the demise of her boyfriend.

Funeral Ritual and Commemoration Death

Both lives were honoured and celebrated in a special way by their family members and friends.

If children were depicted in the story, how were they told about death or how did they find out about death and what were their reactions?

Children were formally informed about deaths and encouraged to stay strong. Even though the sad news was characterised with a lot of grief, the parents ensured that they delivered the information in an organized manner.

What portion of the program content included issues of cultural diversity in dying, death, or grief?

Cultural diversity is illustrated in the manner the characters handled death. For instance, the ceremony for Vada's mother depicted an American culture for adults. This was different from the way Thomas was handled and buried as a teenager.

Were the characters that died mentioned again? In what manner or context?

Yes. The characters reappeared in the lives of their loved ones. For instance, Vada's mother was always in the discussions when she gets emotional. Vada also wrote a poem about Thomas after his death.

How else was death and/or life discussed in the story?

The movie illustrated incidences of death through Harry's business of operating a funeral home. This was a depiction that death is a natural occurrence and that people should not be extremely scared about the topic.

What did the program teach children about death?

This movie enlightened children that death is inevitable. Although it is a painful experience, people must persevere the grief. Children also learnt that people of all ages can die.

How could the presentation of death related actions or topics be improved?

The discussions about death would be improved by depicting burial scenes and anniversaries. This would create more emphasis on the death and its related topics.