Parenting
is defined as the rearing of a child or children, especially the care, love,
and guidance given by a parent. However, what differs from one child to another
is most commonly their upbringing, in other words, the parenting style they
were raised with. These different parenting styles play an integral role in the
development of a child’s social, cognitive, and psychological growth. This is
because children develop through a number of stimuli, interactions, and
exchanges, which surround them. There are four main parenting styles, including
the authoritative and authoritarian, which are the two most commonly seen
extremes.
Two films that perfectly highlight Asian cultures of
parenting are I Not Stupid Too and Taare Zameen Par. Both films display the
sociological imagination of the Asian family “At Home” and in the diaspora. The
movies expose a clear emphasis on race, gender, and class that is highlighted
in “Asian” Cultures of Parenting. They also trail the stereotypical mindset
followed by Asian families and hyphenated identities. I Not Stupid Too and Taare
Zameen Par (Like stars on earth) are problematic films that came about raising
awareness on an extremely emblematic part of society, by focusing on different
aspects of parenting styles, both films were able to speak about a common issue
in Asian culture.
There is a nuance in the plot of both movies, in the
sense where they present a difficulty. Director Aamir Khan of Taare Zameen Par presents his audience
in a sensitive drama centered on an eight-year-old dyslexic boy (Ishaan
Awasthi) who struggles to be understood by the people and world around him. The
film's storyline mainly focuses on the discovery of Ishaan. The director aimed
to raise awareness on the issue of disorders, which up until very recently were
taboo. Taare Zammen Par allowed
dyslexia to be spoken about. In a very clever way, the director distracted the
viewers from Ishaan’s disorder and instead highlighted the greatest qualities
Ishaan possesses. In I Not Stupid Too
the director chose to focus on different age groups by following two brothers
Tom and Jerry living in Singapore. The film follows the struggle young children
have with their parents and the difficulties that come with being misunderstood
and overlooked. Different styles of education, and parenting are articulated by
these films, however both movies deliver the same message. Everyone has a
certain individuality to unleash. Cultural parenting is put into question in
both movies; the interrogation is centered around the challenging methods of
parenting and how each movie tackled the issue.
Taare Zameen Par and I Not Stupid
Too examine the approach certain parents choose to take when raising their
children. The aforementioned authoritative parenting style is about setting
limits, by being both responsive and demanding to emotional needs. Parents who
use this approach teach their children to be independent while at the same time
controlling their actions. Authoritative parents understand their child’s
emotions, and teach them how to control their feelings. The purpose of looking
into parenting styles is understanding how children respond to the way they are
emotionally brought up. There is a direct association between how children
interact with parental figures and the manner in which they react in life
situations. Authoritative parenting is a common approach in middle class
settings throughout the world, and is linked with extroversion. There is an
evident contrast between this parenting style and the childrearing approach in Taare Zameen Par and I Not Stupid Too. Both movies tell the
story of children who are introverts and afraid of being themselves. Ishaan,
Tom and Jerry are representing children who lack confidence; searching for a
way to express themselves. The message in both films is that the directors are
attempting to understand the issue behind particular parenting styles, by
paying close attention to the response of children.
Most commonly associated with Asian cultures,
authoritarian parenting is known as being a strict parenting style. The central
characteristic of this style is that parents expect their children to comply
and conform to every rule. Similarly to Tom and Jerry’s parents, authoritarian
parents require their children to follow set rules without any explanation of
why rules and limits are set. This parenting style is characterized by little
open communication between the parent and the child, and is the most apparent
style of parenting in both movies. The directors chose to accentuate the
controversy over the way education is seen in eastern cultures by using authoritarian
parenting as stereotypical reference to issues in the education system.
Authoritative and Authoritarian are the most commonly seen styles of parenting
used in movies stirring towards the theme of education and parenting in films.
By illustrating the most familiar parenting styles both movies manage contrast
the pressure in societies obligated to comply with rules.
These movies make space for creativeness in cultures that
are based on academics and excellence. Aamir Khan breaks the obsession with
status ranking and treats particular issues such as dyslexia that were not
previously spoken about, leading the way to understanding Indian culture and
the way education had been viewed up until the release of the film. The films
were carried out in a way that treated a particular purpose: Opening with the
story of a child that was academically misunderstood; near the end of the
movie, Ishaan Awasthi unleashed his distinctiveness and integrated himself into
society. With a moral of the story that emphasizes the importance of
appreciation and understanding, I Not
Stupid Too takes a deep look into parenting. The film illustrates what is
lacking in societies when it comes to childcare. Tom and Jerry highlight an
essential part of the plot, their characters deliver the message about how
parents tend to forget they bear the primary responsibility in the upbringing
of their children. Both movies successfully dove into a sensitive aspect of
society and delivered marking performances that have allowed one of the most important
aspects of society to be approached and critiqued.