Fictional Family Analysis Using Conflict Theory Lens
In the movie 10 Things I Hate About You, the Stratford family appears to be run by a single parent of two very different daughters. Their father seems to have good intentions about how he runs the house. However, when this family is viewed through the Conflict Theory lens, the family is built off power, control, and inequality, where not everybody gets a say in what happens around the house. Conflict Theory suggests that a family can be compared to a mini social system where the kids are shaped by power structures and authority. Some have more authority and resources than others, in a family. In the Stratford household, Walter Stratford holds this authority and uses it to control his daughters’ behaviors, specifically their dating lives and Kat’s goal to go to her dream college. His daughters, Kat and Bianca, lack autonomy and must adapt to their father’s rules, which stem from his fears and values. Their family can be described as oppressive rather than functional, through the Conflict Theory lens. Walter Stratford controls resources and decisions, restricts his daughters’ autonomy, and creates ongoing conflict within the family.
