The Other Sister Essay, Research Paper

The Other Sister, produced by Mario Iscovich and Alexandra Rose was a romantic comedy. The characters staring in this film were Carla Tate (Juliet Lewis), who was a slightly mentally challenged young woman. The overprotective mother Elizabeth, played by Diane Keaton. Carla?s father was played by Tom Skerritt. Last, but certainly not least, there was Daniel, who was Carla?s boyfriend (Giovanni Ribisis). Carla had spent years of her in a special education program at a private boarding school. This was a very hard decision for her parents to make. Her father was a drunk and did not know much of anything that was going on. Elizabeth, her mother, was the one who had made the decision to go ahead and send her daughter Carla off to boarding school. That night that Carla had gone to boarding school was the last night that her father had a drink Elizabeth thought that this would be the best thing for Carla, because there would be other children at this school who were also mentally challenged.

Carla had returned home after several years with a lot of goals that she had set for herself. The most important thing to Carla was her need for personal fulfillment begins to express itself in ways her mother is unable to accept. When Carla fall in love for the first time with a boy from school by the name of Daniel, she wants to prove to her mother that just because she may appear to be different on the outside she still has the ability to be a responsible adult, worthy of loving and being loved. Carla was going to take a journey and discover herself. Carla and her boyfriend Daniel do this together and find some of the tough answers to life?s challenges which the two of them come across together, and to be able to prove that sometimes a plain life can be something so amazing if there is someone that you care about helping you through it.

The Tate?s family life was nothing that was original. For one thing, the father was a drunk and the mother was very overprotective of her daughter Carla. There was her oldest sister who was engaged to be married and she lived a pretty normal life. Then, going down the line there was the second daughter who was a lesbian. This daughter had a girlfriend who she had been with for a couple of years now. Elizabeth never wanted to meet her daughter?s girlfriend. I personally think that she was just uncomfortable with the situation. Whenever there was a family event her girlfriend was never invited and Elizabeth never wanted to talk about her. Then, there was Carla who was mentally challenged. Elizabeth never thought that Carla was capable of doing anything on her own.

When Carla had gotten back from boarding school and went to a public school she had met this boy by the name of Daniel. He also happened to be a mentally challenged boy just like Carla was. They became good friends and started to hang out after school. Daniel brought Carla to where he worked at the school and she went to visit him at his other work at the bakery.

Halloween was coming up and Daniel had asked Carla if she wanted to go to this dance with him at school. Carla asked her mother if it would be okay if she would go to the dance with Daniel. The night had finally come and the doorbell rang. It was Daniel. Elizabeth kept on saying that this ?boy? was going to take advantage of Carla and why would someone want to go with her. Daniel was all dressed up for Halloween. He was a

dog. Elizabeth asked him if he had a face, because he was wearing a costume that had a mask. He took off his mask and said hello to Carla?s mother. Once Elizabeth saw that Daniel was also mentally challenged she was okay with the fact that Carla liked this boy and he was taking her out.

A couple days later it was Carla?s birthday and she was talking about how all of these kids at school had there own places. She thought that it would be a great idea if she got her own place. Her sisters thought that it would be a great idea and of course, Carla?s overprotective mother said, ?No way.? Elizabeth?s reason for her answer was that she thought Carla could not take care of herself. Elizabeth was thinking, what if she left the door unlocked or the oven on. In her mother?s eyes it just was not a good idea. Carla was saying that she was going to take out the garbage and do other things that were responsible. Things that she would do if she had her own apartment. That night at dinner, Carla?s mother decided that she could get her own place. So, they watched some video tapes on different apartments. Finally, Elizabeth saw an apartment that she loved and would be great for Carla. A couple of weeks later Carla moved into her very own apartment.

This just shows how Carla?s mother thinks that just because she is mentally challenged that she can not do things for herself. Carla proved her mother wrong. She showed her that she was able to take on responsibilities. Just because Carla is different does not mean that she should be looked at differently. This movie relates to the book Freakshows that was to be read for class. I think this because all of the ?freaks? were looked at differently because of the way that they looked or acted. I disagree with that a tremendous amount. I have a cousin that is mentally challenged and handicap. No one looks at her or treats her differently.

It was time for Carla?s sister?s wedding and Daniel and Carla had broken up. The second daughter?s girlfriend was not invited to the wedding. During the ceremony Daniel came back and asked Carla to marry him in front of everyone. Elizabeth was embarrassed, stood up and apologized for the disruption and said the ceremony would now continue, and it did. It amazed me that Elizabeth was not happy for Carla and that she found someone to love and that someon left unfinished. Carla kept on explaining to her mother that she was old enough to get married. She was saying that she loved Daniel. Elizabeth reused to believe Carla and told her that she does not know what love is. Carla was telling her mother how she hated the wedding that she had made for her older sister and that when her and Daniel get married she was going to make the wedding all by herself. With that comment coming out of Carla?s mouth, her mother went back inside and Carla walked away in the distance.

Carla and Daniel decided that they were going to get married and that they were going to do everything by themselves. So they did. Carla wrote out the invitations to everyone who her and Daniel wanted celebrating their special day. When Carla?a second oldest sister received her invitation, she called Carla very excited and thanked her for inviting her girlfriend. The day had finally come and Carla was going to be married to Daniel. Carla?s father was getting ready to go to the ceremony, and Elizabeth was just sitting on the couch. She was not going to the wedding, because she thought that what Carla was doing was wrong.

Carla?s father arrived at the wedding with a huge smile on his face. He was going to see his little girl get married. His house was going to be empty. After Carla and Daniel said their vows, Carla turned around and saw her mother walking into the wedding. This made Carla so excited to see that her mother cared and was willing to be apart of her life even though she did not agree with everything that she did.

In The Other Sister, the settings were always so bright and cheerful. I believe that this was done for a special reason. I think that the film was mostly always so bright, because Carla was an outgoing girl. She was always looking for something to do or how to make herself be a better person. She would get upset when people would begin to laugh at her. She wanted to be able to do things for herself and not have other people do them for her. Carla wanted a future, and that future she wanted was going to be with Daniel. The only time in the film that it was dark was when Carla and her mother went to the park and they were talking about relationships, boys, and Carla?s apartment. Elizabeth was telling Carla how she did not think that it would be a good idea if she had boys coming over to her apartment. Her mother had to face reality and know that Carla was a young woman now and she was going to have boyfriends and boys coming over to her apartment. Carla was a very bright woman and would never do anything to hurt herself in anyway. It was time that Elizabeth would let go of her daughter and allow her to grow up and see what the real world was like.

By the end of The Other Sister, Carla had overcome the obstacles that she was facing. She never thought that her mother would approve of anything that she would do. Carla never thought that the day would come where she would be looked at like a normal young woman instead of a mentally challenged young woman. As hard as it was for Elizabeth to let go of Carla, she knew deep in her heart that it was the right thing to do. Carla was not her ?little? girl anymore. She was all grown up and married. She was going to live the life that she thought she was never going to have.

Carla started out life going away from her family, not by choice, to a boarding school for mentally challenged teenagers. Once she had returned home, Carla was able to go to a public school and try to do what ?normal? teenagers were doing. Carla soon realized that she had passed her classes in ?normal public? school. She knew that

whatever she would put her mind to she would be able to do. For Carla, it was such a feeling of accomplishment to have succeeded in a short amount of time

The Other Sister, is a film that no one should miss. It shows how even though Carla is mentally challenged she is still able to do anything that she strives for. Her mother is very overprotective and does not want her to move out of the house or get married. Elizabeth disapproves of pretty much everything that Carla does. Carla proves to her mother and the rest of her family that she is just like everyone else. She is able to do things for herself without the help of anyone else. Carla wants to be on her own and free from all of the rules that held to be true in her parent?s household. She proves that sometimes a plain life is something so amazing if there is someone that you care about helping you through it.