Kramer

Reaction Paper on Kramer V.S. Kramer

If it's not hard enough to launch a lawsuit aganist someone- say, a business partner who messes up- how much more strain would it cause to sue your own spouse?

It's already a sordid matter to deal with relationships; taking it to legal matters raises it's level of mess and emotions such that everything fits in perfectly for an award-winning drama. From the beginnig to the end, my eyes were glued to the flux of emotions surging through every scene of the movie. I personally felt attached to the characters since I had my share of domestic drama too.

Ted Kramer's character has at firsed held me at awe of hi masculine instinct of providing for his family. But one thing that can be translated from his personality is that he was workaholic. He did his best- yet at many points, pushed his limits- just to be the kind of father that his family would ever need; not knowing, though that he would soon lose them in his valiant efforts.Joanna Kramer on the other hand wounds my heart at the thought of her character. It may be fairly said that at some points, her leaving due to her frustration from the quality of relationship that her husband was giving. But still, stepping back from the then falling out marriage was no more than a act of self-centeredness for me. I felt that no matter how hard situations would be, the decision(s) that a parent should do is not the ones that may jeopardize the child(ren's) welfare in the long run. Quite expectedly, Billy got affected by her mom's walking away from the scene. It was a good thing that their sympathetic neighbor helped them at their darkest hour.

When Joanna came back for Billy, I felt both bemused and hopeful. The court hearings for the custody battle left me gaping at the screen as powerful surge of emotions and character assanations by the parties' lawyers launched accusations fit to derange the parental capacity of their oponent's clients. Joanna wins at last. I was disheartened. But when she decided that Billy should stay with Ted, all my prejudiced views on Joanna faded into the background of that elevator scene. It wasn't exactly a “happy ever after” story but it sure did bring me through a domestic jungle that can happen in real life. It taught me to look at life in the eyes of someone who would love sacrificially for what it's worth. Trully, it's one thing to fight an external battle but the one inside can change everything.#