41 lines
3.6 KiB
Plaintext
41 lines
3.6 KiB
Plaintext
as any sociologist will attest , your childhood and the types of parents that you have will heavily influence your happiness as an adult .
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parents that are supportive and environments that are nurturing will yield children who will embrace the values and norms that can allow them to live healthy and productive lives .
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but if your upbringing is marred with violence , hate and dysfunctionality , then your journey towards a happy adulthood will be saddled with psychological obstacles almost too great to overcome .
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`affliction' explores how a man never truly escapes the grip of an unforgivingly nightmarish childhood .
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the man in question is wade whitehouse ( nick nolte ) .
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here is a man who is like any other citizen on the surface .
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he is a productive member of the community and goes about his daily routine much like you and me .
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but as you scratch beneath the surface , something scary and evil begins to rear its ugly head .
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we see that he is a mean-tempered person .
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he has a hard time taking control of his emotions , which usually gets the better of him .
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he is quick to apologize for his actions and wants to be a gentle person , but something is sparking a tendency towards violence .
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he also has tremendous problems with relationships .
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he is divorced and his only connection to love is his daughter .
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but his bearish persona and stature alienates her .
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he is visibly shaken by her rejection even though she says that she loves him .
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his demeanor also puts his relationship with a local townsgirl ( sissy spacek ) at risk .
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she tries to remain true to him and supportive , but for women unlucky enough to attach themselves to this kind of person , relationships will ultimately end like sentences ending with an exclamation point .
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finally , he is spiteful and vindictive .
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as a rejected father , he initiates a custody battle that seems hopeless .
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as the town's only police officer , he issues a speeding ticket to a man whose father has just died .
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we can see that this is a man that is both afflicted and living with pain .
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he is a prisoner and a slave to it .
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he is moving towards a level of madness and insanity that defies comprehension .
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what kind of force can move a man to the edge of his emotions and beyond the reach of people who genuinely care for him ?
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we learn that the answer is his father ( james coburn ) .
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this is the kind of father that every son would be ashamed to have and that any woman would be afraid to meet .
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he is an overbearingly misogynistic and frequent drunk who rules with an iron fist .
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we see his tyrannical behavior through flashbacks .
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to heighten the father's churlishness , the flashbacks are shown as home video footage taken by a very frightened person .
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very effective .
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today , wade's dad is quite elderly , but still manages to instill fear into a grown man .
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the influence that the father possesses is inescapable , and its unsavory effect clamps down hard on the tortured wade .
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the result is every son's nightmare ? becoming like the father that one has always dreaded to be .
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this is a terrifically presented piece of psychological drama , and nolte turns in a strong performance as a man whose pain seems to become a detriment as well as a necessity .
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he's a hulking person who is still reduced to whimpers when in the presence of his father .
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coburn displays heft as the bitter dad .
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but , it's most certainly not saturday-night-friendly fare .
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there's nothing light or fluffy about this film .
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that may turn many moviegoers away .
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but it's certainly worth noting that this is a well-acted drama showcasing nolte's and coburn's raw acting talents .
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