The making of a teenager: Allison (The Basket Case)

The goal of this project is to consider how family relationships helped shape the characters in some of the most beloved films about teenagers from the 1980s.

Blue dotted line = distance

Blue dotted line = distance

Therapist Comment:

(From the script)
ANDREW: My God, are we gonna be like our parents?
CLAIRE: Not me... ever!                           
ALLISON: It's unavoidable, it just happens.

  • If Allison is correct, what family dynamics contribute to children turning into their parents? Also, is this process unavoidable? If it is not, what would one have to do to develop their own principles/thoughts/feelings separate from their parents?

  • Who has it worse… Claire for being anxiously focused on, or Allison for being ignored by her parents?

Up next:: Andrew (The Athlete)

To learn how to create and understand your own family diagram, see Chapter 7 in Takes More Than Love by Dr. Aliza Israel & Avrum Nadigel, MSW.

For a general introduction to family diagrams see Monica Mcgoldrick’s “Genograms”

** The Breakfast Club (19856) was written and directed by John Hughes

Avrum Nadigel