I'm a kid-at-heart. Children movies and teen films attract my attention more than other genres. These movies bring me joy, and once in a while I simply need this injection of youth into my soul. Only by reconnecting with my youthful self I can be the adult I want to be.
A while ago I read this story about an Indian man with his 39 wives, 94 children and 33 grandchildren, it got me thinking of this film. I watched Yours, Mine and Ours when it first hit the theater in 2005, and it made me wonder if big family is a blessing or a "messing". I was born to a small family consists of only my parents, my elder sister and me, so I have never experienced the good and bad of a big family first-hand. I can only have a distant observation of a few families I knew and through movies like this one and Cheaper by the Dozen. And the results are inconclusive.
Yours, Mine and Ours is the remake of the 1968 movie with the same name. In this updated version, two widowed middle-aged high school sweethearts reignite their romance after the man moves back to town. The problem is, he has eight children and she has ten (six of them adopted). Where can they stay? How many chickens and potatoes do they need for dinner everyday? Can they or can't they make this family work, and how?
The answer to the first question is easy: They move into a lighthouse, a perfect location for storing a big family, and whatever cheesy "I'll shine your way back to me" ending you suspect is coming. The second question is not directly addressed (Mr. 33-Wives and his family needs 30 chickens, 132lb of potatoes, and 220lb of rice), though there are one scene showing chaos at the breakfast table. The third question is a bit tricky. He is a strict and no-nonsense Coast Guard Admiral who has regimented view on how to run the family while she is a free-spirited and anything goes artist who gives total freedom to the kids. They do not have the same idea on how to raise their kids and they can't agree with each other's method (they try to tolerate but there's only so much they can take before they eventually snap). To make things worse, his eight kids and her ten children don't seem to get along at all, and they fight in every little situation including the aforementioned breakfast time.
But you know what people say: It's better to unite and fight together when you have a mutual enemy. In this case, the children from both families realize the best solution is for their parents to split up, so they can back to their previous status of single-family. So they work together, conjure a plan to get their parents snap. And the plan works, the parents decide to split. But then of course you know the children regret their decision, and so they go chase after the father who has followed his team out to the sea, and your suspicion of the "shine your way back to me" scene come to pass. The parents reconcile, and everyone lives happily ever after. The end.
Well, the "happily ever after" part is remained to be seen. I am skeptical a big family like this one can truly live happily ever after. The kids are from different background and different ethnicity (for variety sake the film scripted the six adopted kids to be multiple races from Japanese, Indian to African American), can they really agree with each others and tolerate whatever differences they have? I knew none of the family as big as this one. The biggest I knew was a family with nine kids, one of them being my friend; and according to my friend he wanted nothing but to escape from the noisy and crowded house he has to endure everyday. He just wanted some time alone, and that was not something easily come by in his house.
Of course now that he has grown up he learns to value the perks of a big family and countless siblings. He can always count on his brothers to be his back-up when he needed to fight (kids, not a good example, no fighting), or when the siblings play around at the park. This is the upside we from a small family see, and wish we have. So each of us have our own reason to wish for or wish against a big family, but in the end we still have to accept whatever fate has bring to us. It's really up to our parents, and not us. So one day when you are a parent, you have big decision to make. But for now, you can start by exploring the pro and con through watching this enjoyable film.
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