MAY

MCGOR
VEY
"We're all miracles. You know why? Because as humans, every day
we go about our business, and all that time we know... we all know...
that the things we love... the people we love, at any time now can all
be taken away. We live knowing that and we keep going anyway."
"Little Children" is as adult as it gets.

The childish laws of attraction gives way to an unprecedented adulthood of sorts, in

one unique manner. Aided with a simple script, redefining acting skills and a PBS
baritone, "Little Children" is all about the intersection of three stories woven with
the common need for the slightest of appreciation.

The film portrays the lives of two lovelorn spouses from separate marriages, a
registered sex offender, and a disgraced ex-police officer, as they struggle to resist
their vulnerabilities and temptations in suburban Massachusetts.

LITTLE CHILDREN
2006 | Direction: Todd Field | Language: English
Duration: 2hrs 16mins | Drama
 The child who longed

ERIKSON
 
THE ANTHROPOLOGY - behaving like an anthropologist, woman in a suburban society. Existence
of verbal, situational and dramatic irony to assert her own truth in later parts of her journey.

BOVARY - Vicarious Modeling.

the child who was a man

This burdening is connected to a similar one in the life of Brad Adamson (Patrick
Wilson), who is supposed to go to the Municipal Library to study for the bar exam,
but instead spends his time at the skate-park wishing for the "slightest
acknowledgement" by the skateboarders.
 The child who was good
THE SON - Self-fulfilling prophecy, a misinterpretation of sorts – an acute blindness towards
potential hazards.
The child who tried too hard

DISGRACED EX-COP - Relation between Larry and Ronnie is full of biases that need
exploration. Horns effect, availability bias, massive escalation of commitment.
Typical errors in judgment, misinterpreting cause and effect.
THE PBS & THE ESTUARY OF
ACTION
 
DIALOGUE & THE PBS - THE ART OF PERSUASION:
Frame of common ground.
Connect emotionally.

FILM STRUCTURE – see-saw and estuary action.

 THE FORLORN SOCIETY
A FORLORN SOCIETY - bounded in a form of “Organisational Commitment” as if
negating any affective component in relationships to work on just continuance and
normative approaches which mainly concerns maintaining status quo (economic value of
staying in an “effective” marriage) and abiding by ethical obligations. BREAKPOINT – Sarah.
The KISS & WHIMS OF
DISSONANCE

KISS OF DISSONANCE - How she tries to rationalize the kiss and reduce the
incompatibility between her attitude and behavior. Describe the effect of the kiss
on the attitudinal changes in terms of affective, cognitive and behavioural.
WHIMS OF SLIGHTEST APPRECIATION – Brad skateboarding, Sarah going up and
speaking to Brad. Need for affiliation.
 THE JESTER’S CAP
TOYS OF UNRESOLVED CONFLICT – The shots of the toys portraying Erikson’s theory
and negative resolution as well as unresolved conflict in the three stories.

JESTER’S CAP – all characters, all situations

KNOBS OF SEARCH - Kathy is triggered by anchoring biases and seeks to find a

legitimacy of her thoughts.
The GUST OF truths
Now the climax gives us everything, things which we do not anticipate yet what we seek to find.
Before Brad leaves his home, the photograph of his family is left untouched whereas when Sarah's
husband, Richard seeks pleasure from a Slutty Kay, the photograph of his family is made to face
down. The former shows a form of physical detachment, as Brad still loves Kathy. The latter shows a
mental detachment, as there existed nothing more than simply, the consequences of the marriage
between Sarah and Richard. The ending reveals the childishness hidden in all our characters. Larry
does it before the climax, when he channels his chagrin for Brad towards Ronnie. Sarah believes in
Brad's promise to runaway with her, leaving behind his family. Brad is allured by the skateboarders
who, finally, acknowledge his presence. He tries to attempt a trick and is knocked down senseless.
Finally, Ronnie castrates himself in the park after reading his mother's letter of change. All this
frivolousness and lack of thought is associated with a little child, thus justifying the beautiful choice
for the name of the film. Their childlike decisions lead us to the climax where they rediscover the
truth of their miserable lives and how they were carried away by self-centered fantasies.
 THE wallflower
"Beauty's overrated, Sarah."
 
The shot in which Sarah's bare legs are shown to touch Brad, reflects the above line in literal sense.
How Brad says that his love for her is not a matter of physical appearance but a connection on a
deeper scale. Then the night league touch-football game which uses slow motion, perturbed voices
and a parade score to highlight the peak of feeling alive, which Brad had failed to be in recent times.
This scene will always be worth remembering.
 
A touchdown on the field and a touch to the heart with a kiss, is all that he ever wanted
unknowingly. They were happy; as if a wish they had never made, but hoped for, came true. They
were happy; just like "Little Children".