The Family Portayel on Brick Lane

The portrayal of family within the movie just seems like an ordinary family at the beginning but as the movie keeps on going we see the true colours of the characters emerge from the movie itself.  Throughout the movie at first glance the family itself seemed divided as the mum and dad held their strong cultural believes (e.g. speaking in Bengali) all the time when they spoke to each other. Whereas, the daughters especially the eldest one seemed very westernised which was shown not only by the way she dressed but also when she had that argument with her father. In this scene the father was seen expressing his anger towards his daughter because she talked back purely out of disrespect. So, by him showing his frustrations towards his daughter it felt like the audience felt some kind of sympathy for him for the first time. On the other hand, when the mum went to see her friends family it just seemed like a complete and utter shock because the way her family and this family operated was completely opposite. They way in which they were opposite was that the mum herself smoked and didn’t even wear a hijab to cover herself knowing that she was Muslim herself. This in return would then create some controversy as to why should a Muslim women be represented in this way as to say this is just normal and therefore, we should except it and move on. Another way family is represented within this movie itself is when the daughter runs away and her mum runs after her through the crowd. The mum running after her daughter shows the love and commitment she has for her daughter whereas, her father didn’t really care and just said she will come back. This is very specific as the mum compared to the dad always has that maternal instinct within her no matter how old her children get and therefore, always tries her best to make them feel loved although you’re in the wrong. This is shown through such symbols as the traditional clothes that they were both wearing while running through the city and also the body language between the mum and daughter as the impact of the hug showed to the audience that the main concern for the mum was having her child back safe and sound. Therefore, showing to us as the audience that the word family itself comes in many different forms in today’s society.

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