Big Fish Kaylyn Rivera

The film "Big Fish" was an entertaining way to address the tumultuous relationship between father and son. Many household names were in this movie, adding to its enticing story. I really enjoyed the movie mainly because it showed how one can both love and dislike someone at the same time. The son in this movie loves his father, we know this through his actions otherwise he would have cut his father out of his life completely. He does not love his father's "fantasies". The father does not see what he is doing as wrong or hurtful to the son, because he sees these stories as his truth. There can always be multiple truths in any situation. I appreciated how the son was able to eventually come around on his father's terms, although I would have liked to see the father challenge his own truth as well. I especially liked how we talked about facts not always being enough to explain something well. I think from an academic stance, we could compare this to that of quantitative and qualitative research. Both are still factual, however, qualitative focuses on the experience (the dad), quantitative focuses on the numbers, and data, and the straightforward (the son). I want to specifically mention Jessica Lange's role as well. I think she is an amazing actor who added subtle acting techniques to make the audience feel immersed. I could be biased, in fact, I definitely am, however, the actress adds a mysterious yet enticing aspect to the movie. Like when she shows up to the funeral in a red jacket, that is something so unique to the actress herself as well! To do something outside of the box for a traditional southern woman. I also really liked when she got slightly upset with her son in one scene of the movie. Her slight mannerisms are really what intrigue me. Over all, this Tim Burton movie was so different, yet so similar to his other works. It was a sweet movie about learning to get along as separate entities, and how to let go.