Austin Peay State University
Family Description History
The Cappadoras are an upper-middle class American family, consisting of a husband (Pat), a wife (Beth), and three children – Vincent, aged 16, Ben, aged 12, and Kerry, aged 9. When Ben was three, he was kidnapped by a strange woman with mental health issues at Beth’s high school reunion, resulting in tremendous guilt for Beth. However, recently Ben has returned to the Cappadora’s life; after some time in which he claimed to be a boy named Sam Karras, Beth discovered that he was, in fact, Ben, who had escaped after the woman committed suicide and currently lives with an adoptive father. The efforts to reintegrate Ben into the Cappadora’s lives have proven difficult and extremely tense for everyone involved.
Strengths of Family Members
Beth: Protective of her family; extremely passionate; possessive of tremendous empathy; proactivePat: Practical; level-headed; possesses paternal skills; empathyVincent: self-possessed; passionate and rebellious; encouraging; strong-willedBen: Assertive; independent; pragmatic; empatheticKerry: Friendly; loyal; inquisitive; generous
Cappadora Family as a Whole: For the most part, the family works well as a team, standing behind each other and giving practical, level-headed objections to plans and ideas they do not feel will work. Beth is extremely loyal and determined, as evidenced in her investigation of Ben’s true parentage, and all the Cappadora family members attempt to patiently integrate Ben into the traditions and everyday rhythms of their family once they manage to retrieve him.
Discussion of Ten Systems
1. External boundaries
Comparatively open external boundaries exist in the family – the family seems open to strangers, which is how they meet Ben/Sam for the first time in the film. However, the family does allow family members to value their privacy, as shown by the children’s respective rooms. The family itself has controlled emotional expressions for the most part, and change can be extremely difficult and post a threat to family stability.
2. Internal boundaries
The Cappadora parents establish themselves as being ‘in charge,’ with Pat being considered more in charge due to his status as the breadwinner; however, this power differential is mild. The children experience rebellion to varying degrees against the parents’ reasonably strict rules. However, characters like Kerry are allowed to roam the house freely, even following Beth down to her basement as she continues her investigation into Sam’s origins.
3. Equilibrium
The family experiences many changes in equilibrium over the course of the film. At first, the family experiences a stable equilibrium, which is then upended by the trauma of Ben’s disappearance. Over time, the family manages to establish a new equilibrium with just the two children, which is then disrupted once again by the re-appearance of Ben in their lives. The struggle to fit Ben back into the family causes conflict, as the equilibrium is offset by Ben’s ambivalence and confusion about the family, Beth’s shame, and everyone else’s frustration at their own loss of focus in each other’s lives.
4. Coalition
Several coalitions appear in the Cappadora family throughout the film. Beth and Pat appear to have a distinct coalition as the heads of the family – forced to make decisions together and finding ways to ally with each other when they need it. Beth and Kerry form a coalition as the women of the family, Kerry being extremely attached to Beth. Near the end of the film, Vincent and Ben form a coalition as they bond over basketball, engaging in youthful play that can truly be understood by only them.
5. Disengagement
In terms of disengagement, Vincent is the most disengaged member of the family. He is highly independent and rebellious, spending most of his time in his room with loud rock music blaring. He treats family outings with contempt, and even sneaks a drink from a patron at Ben’s coming-out party late in the film. Ben, meanwhile, is also disengaged from the family due to his circumstances of feeling like he belongs with his adoptive family – the attempts to integrate Ben into Cappadora traditions and behaviors are met with some skepticism, if not outright rebellion, from Ben.
6. Enmeshed
Of the family members, it is likely Beth who is the most enmeshed. She is extremely powerful and controlling within the family, particularly when she begins her investigation of Sam to see if he is actually Ben. This is probably formed from a sense of guilt over losing Ben those years ago, leading her to hold her family more tightly under her control to avoid losing them in the future. Kerry could also be considered highly enmeshed, as she only receives information from her family due to her youth. Her time spent with Beth also sees her learning only from her mother and within the family system. Beth’s controlling nature and lack of boundaries (such as when she disrespects Vincent’s privacy by knocking on his door incessantly and sending him on errands so she can continue to investigate) make her extremely enmeshed.
7. Triangulation
Beth is often the triangulating figure in the family as well, as she is the one most responsible and proactive in her investigation of Ben/Sam and his reintegration into the family. Ben’s interactions with the rest of the family are somewhat normal, then Beth spies on him and takes pictures of him. Beth will often triangulate other family members into this discussion, such as with Vincent and Pat, particularly when she must discuss matters pertaining to Ben and his reintegration into the family or her investigations before that discovery.
8. Energy exchange
The family will often exchange resources in exchange for love. In the scene where Beth asks Vincent to buy a pizza and entertain Kerry, she does it in exchange for being left alone so she can continue her investigation and develop the picture she took of Sam. When the family takes Ben to a normal Cappadora outing, he resists, but they promise him love in exchange for obedience.
9. Rules
Beth and Pat set down specific rules for the family in order to control their behavior. When they arrive at the party, Beth insists that everyone come in together, for instance. However, in their attempts to ingratiate Ben into the family, Beth is willing to bend rules to make him more comfortable. One small but important example is when she allows him to have milk with pizza despite Vincent’s protestations: “You do milk with pizza?”
10. Power
Beth and Pat are the ones who ostensibly have the power in the family, but the teenage Vincent’s rebellion challenges that power on a consistent basis. Beth and Pat tend to dictate the rules, whether explicit or implicit, within the family; however, Vincent’s derisive mocking of those rules and his sarcasm can serve to undermine them at times.
Family Life Cycle
The Cappadoras are in the fourth stage of the Family Life Cycle, according to Carter and McGoldrick – a family with adolescent children. In this stage, family boundaries expand to allow children to become independent, which is absolutely true with Vincent. However, in the unusual context of Ben’s re-entrance into their lives, they are currently living the transition into the third stage of the life cycle, in which new members of the family are accepted into the system. Everyone’s relationships have to be realigned – Beth and Pat to a son, and Vincent and Kerry to a new sibling. The re-addition of a middle sibling to the family unit disrupts the entire family dynamic, where the adolescent in particular (Vincent) has trouble adjusting to not being the primary focus of the family, and being drawn further into a nurturing period during the time at which he yearns most for independence.
Summary
In summary, the Cappadora family is experiencing a tremendous amount of stress and anxiety with the shifting familial roles, to which they are responding in different ways. Ben, in particular, experiences resistance in fitting in with the family, having grown up in a different family. Vincent finds himself increasingly dependent, while Beth becomes more controlling and clingy to her family members. Despite these problems, however, the family unit remains somewhat strong and supportive; however, Ben’s integration may not last, given that he is accustomed to his adoptive family. The levels of triangulation and disengagement should be mitigated and minimized in order to create a smoother transition for Ben into the family altogether.
References
Grosbard, U. (1999). The deep end of the ocean [film]. Perf. Michelle Pfeiffer, Treat Williams,
Whoopi Goldberg. Columbia Pictures.
