MovieChat Forums > The Ice Storm (1997) Discussion > Parents who can't talk to their kids...

Parents who can't talk to their kids...

posted 16 years ago by DeuxLumieres
4 replies | jump to latest

I'm probably drawing the exact conclusion that I am supposed to, but it seemed Elena Hood was the only parent in the group who could actually relate with her kids. And SHE was the one who was kind of painted as deeply unstable.
Janey Carver..forget about it! Her totally random comment to Wendy about Samoa and other developing nations, her calling Sandy a little idiot and saying that Mikey has been out of it since birth. Jimmy Carver, trying to talk to his kids about silicon when they weren't even aware he'd been out of town. And don't get me started on Ben Hood and the self-abuse monologue in the car while he was driving Paul home from the train station, and carrying Wendy home like a toddler after he told her he wasn't all that bothered by what she was doing with Mikey in the basement.

In the last scene in the car when Ben was crying, it all seemed too late.

"Abortions for some, miniature American flags for others."

[–] DryToast 16 years ago

It seems that Joan Allen can't help projecting good will, warmth and sympathy no matter what the role is, but, aside from that, I do not see Elena relating to either of her children. (In fact, at one point in the novel, Elena washes Wendy's mouth out with soap.)

Sigourney Weaver has expressed her belief that Janey is the best parent in the movie, and the commentary track on the DVD shows there's some support for that statement. I would agree. She's the only one who is trying to be honest with the kids (and about them), and the things she says to them ("Your body is a temple" and "Play with the whip [not the explosives]") are the healthiest things addressed to them in the whole movie.

"It is I! It is me! It is Carla Göteborg!"

[–] thbryn 16 years ago

It wasn't just lack of communication with children. Most of these people couldnt (or wouldn't) communicate with anyone at all. In some cases it was drug use, others mental --apparently-- illness, or possibly they were jerks I don't know?
I wonder what the Joan Allen character said to the drug store managers after she had pocketed a hand-full of lipsticks. Probably nothing more than an 'I forgot.'

"He sent the rain."
"Who sent the fire?"

[–] dcharacky 11 years ago

although I think Sigourney Weaver is a great actress I have to disagree with her on Janie. Who would sleep with their lovers at their home when their kids mostly likely be at home. I did not like the ending when Janie remained in bed while her husband was crying over her dead son. On the other hand I do not hate Janie because in many ways she is like Elena. Both women were products of that 1950s Father knows best nuclear family structure. I suspect Janie married because that is what was expected of her.

[–] nimimerkillinen-463-988730 11 years ago

But wasn't she resting and wasn't yet aware of what is going on?