The Family Unit in "The Great Santini"

Paper Summary:

Analysis of the makeup and dynamics of the family unit porgrayed in the 1979 movie. Discusses consequences of dominating father's military view of family life; setting up a rigid chain of command in his home that recreates the order & discipline of his life in the Marine Corps. Conflict that arises from imposing his vision on his son. Uses theories of social scientists to illustrate the family system in the film.

From the Paper:

"The family in the movie The Great Santini (Carlino, 1979) is dominated by the father, Bull Meecham, who is himself ruled by the military and by a military view of life. He sees things in terms of a hierarchy. In the military, he has his place in the chain of command. At home, he is the top of that chain, the ultimate arbiter. He has certain precepts by which he lives and by which he expects his children to live, most notably his son, who he sees as a developing version of himself without any concern for the vision the boy might have of himself. He is most in his element in the opening scenes of the film, when he is in the air and unwinding in a bar after the mission. At home, he tries to recreate the order and discipline that marks life in the Marine Corps.


Satir (1988) describes how the married couple are the..."

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