When a Man Loves a Woman Essay

Barb blames Janice for Anne's death to hurt her and make her feel guilty, not knowing that Janice already feels guilty but does not express it. However, Barb does not think about the challenges Janice might have endured but is angry because she is not the ‘ideal Janice’ that she had been expecting. Barb is too busy and eager wanting to express her anger towards Janice that she cannot relate to Janice’s problems and the struggles that she goes through. Barb’s lack of sympathy towards the unexpected changes in Janice’s life only results in a bigger gap in their relationship. Once Barb and Janice start talking, Barb is again angered by Janice’s quietness and her unwillingness to strengthen their relationship. However, she does not make an effort herself to understand why. Barb says to Janice: “You told us the facts. I don’t know one damn thing about you, the person” (36). Barb is annoyed and frustrated by Janice keeping to herself, she cannot understand her. Barb wants a strong relationship with her as sisters. For Janice, the sister relationship is too difficult and would rather prefer being friends. However, Barb does not acknowledge or accept Janice’s different views but expects Janice to want the same. Barb misunderstands the quietness of Janice and takes it personally, thinking that she wants to keep a distance from her and does not want to open up. Barb does not think of the opposite. What if Janice can’t

This screenplay follows the protagonist Alice Howland, who is a professor of linguistics at Columbia University. Alice Howland is later diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer’s Disease, which turns her world completely upside down; especially given her career and ambitious nature. She becomes unable to perform normal everyday activities, and struggles with the loss of her independence. Alice’s husband, John, who is a physician, attempts to act as a guide for her through this time, but it ultimately puts a strain on their relationship. John’s job offer to move to Boston does not help matters either, and it quickly becomes the last straw for the two of them. He soon moves to New York to take the job after Alice’s memory starts to decay at a faster rate. John and Alice have 3 children, Lydia, Anna, and Tom as well as a son-in-law, Charlie. They are introduced at the beginning of the screenplay, as they all gather to celebrate Alice’s 50th birthday at a restaurant. This is also the time in which the audience notices her decline in normal conversation as she is unable to follow smoothly. Alice could be considered the catalytic hero of this screenplay, and the disease being the antagonist. Alice wants to hold on to as much of her memory that she can, and slow the regression by writing down everything. By Act 3, Alice loses her ability to do activities that she had been doing for many years; such as going out for her morning run without getting lost, remembering words, phrases, and

The emotional focus of Alice Walker's story is rage, red-hot and isolating.  As I read this piece, I became livid, not only at the thought of her devastating

     Alice’s drug addiction drives her along with her family insane. She has to fight a

A major influence on Alice's identity was when she was a young child and her grandmother would tell her stories about events that occurred in Cambodia. In Alice's teenage years, her beloved grandmother has a stroke, developed disabilities and eventually had passed away. It is around this time where serious psychological problems occur for Alice. This almost forces her into a mental state in which she knows she does not fit in with the Australian culture. She believed she had to do everything she could to change that otherwise Alice knew she would break down mentally. Alice was forced to attempt to fit the social standards of Australia.

In the film, When a Man Loves a Woman, Meg Ryan plays the character Alice Green. Alice is a wife, mother, and school counselor. She is married to the handsome and consistently dependable airline pilot, Michael, played by Andy Garcia. The film illustrates how alcoholism affects a family. Despite the fact that Alice is an exciting and fun person, she is often reckless when drunk and very negligent to her children. She has a difficult relationship with her mom, and alluded that her dad drank excessively and that her mom made her “feel like nothing” (Mandoki, 1994). Alice’s mom makes passive-aggressive remarks such as, after asking Alice if she has lost weight and she says no, “you must be tired” (Mandoki, 1994). As the movie proceeds, the viewer sees multiple occasions where alcohol causes problems with her family. Alice, Michael, and their children, who are sweet and adoring of their parents, live a comfortable life in San Francisco. All the same, Alice drinks too much and is diagnosable as an alcoholic.

Alice’s alcohol dependency has impacted her family greatly. Michael feels inadequate because he can’t fix his family’s problems. He believes that all problems are fixable and since he is the man in house, it is his job to protect his family and fix his wife. Fixing is what drives this family. It shows the dysfunction in the family when they look away and avoid conflict rather than dealing with it head-on. Generally Michael is doing the fixing and believes that by “fixing” the problems they can move on like nothing

Released in the summer of 1994, the movie “When a Man Loves a Women” produced by Touchstone Pictures’ producer Jon Avnet created a film that touches on a female alcoholic. This film included stars like Meg Ryan, Andy Garcia, and Lauren Tom. An airline pilot played by Garcia as Michael and his wife Alice portrayed by Ryan are forced to deal with her alcoholism. Within this family it includes that of her two children and the nanny (Lauren Tom). The film offers several hinting scenes to Alice’s addiction. Alcoholism is a disease of denial, the movie focuses on not only the alcoholic but those around her that deny and have even grown accustomed to her drinking.

In the 1985 movie “Love is Never Silent” it is set during the great depression and follows the Ryder family, Abel and Janice two deaf parents of two hearing children Margaret and Bradley. Abel works for a newspaper company on the printing press, Janice is a seamstress. The parents rely on the oldest child Margaret as their link to the hearing world by being their voice.

Before seeking treatment, Alice’s struggles are pretty evident. I think the struggles are the most evident when looking at Jess. You can tell that she knows her mom is not well and that she worries about her. She watches her struggle to get out of bed in the morning, and voices her worries to Michael when she does not come home when she is supposed to. Trying to find a solution to their struggles, Michael suggests that they rearrange his flight schedule and take a trip to Mexico. While there, Alice continues her heavy drinking and reckless behavior. This results in her falling out of a rowboat, into the water and if not for Michael jumping in to save her, drowning. This event scared the two of them enough to realize that she had a problem and needed to start putting in some serious effort to stop.

The movie When a Man Loves a Woman is about a couple and how their lives and the lives of their two young girls change because of addiction. The article entitled Family Functioning in Families with Alcohol and Other Drug Addictions talks about four major themes that are present in families that suffer from addiction. This paper will look at the family dynamics of the Green family from When a Man Loves a Woman and also discuss how the research results from the article also relates to the family.

The human idea of love is quite possibly the most misunderstood in today’s society. Love can be between a man and woman, mother/father and their kids, or even really good friends. However, these relationships of love go through many interactions and stages to start and progress. Many psychological events must occur and be worked through in order to be successful. All relationships must endure the five perspectives of human behavior. These perspectives are biological, learning, social and cultural, cognitive, and psychodynamic influences.

Love is difficult to define, difficult to measure, and difficult to understand. Love is what great writers write about, great singers sing about, and great philosophers ponder. Love is a powerful emotion, for which there is no wrong definition, for it suits each and every person differently. Whether love is between family, friends, or lovers, it is an overwhelming emotion that can be experienced in many different ways.

Love has many different meanings to different people. For a child, love is what he or she feels for his mommy and daddy. To teenage boy, love is what he should feel for his girlfriend of the moment, only because she says she loves him. But as we get older and "wiser," love becomes more and more confusing. Along with poets and philosophers, people have been trying to answer that age-old question for centuries: What is love?

I met her two years ago and we did not have much to say at that time. Little did I know that she would later steal my heart and become an intimate part of my life. As the saying goes "there is someone for anyone at any time in this life" and I was about to find out that this saying was so true. I have had a wall built around me and my defense was as a stronghold to protect myself from all the relationships that have come and gone over the years. I thought that I was meant to be alone in this old life and happiness was forever gone from me. This wonderful woman I am speaking of is Mary Doe, and the joy she has given me has revived my hope and faith that I may have finally found love and peace within. She has made me feel like I am a child