MovieChat Forums > Revolutionary Road (2009) Discussion > why are the kids always absent?

why are the kids always absent?

posted 6 years ago by [deleted]
3 replies | jump to latest

For a movie that emphasizes the mundanity of suburban family households, it sure seems weird that their kids are so rarely seen in the house. I recall like maybe, two or three scenes of the entire family standing under one roof. So what gives?

It can't be because they're at school, considering how often we see Frank stay home without them during the day. Those were his weekends, I presumed. But even on a weekday morning (I'm referring to the scene where Frank and April have breakfast), they are still nowhere to be seen! It can't be because the kids have already gone to school, since Frank says "It's been a long time since we've had breakfast without the kids." Which implies that they usually get up and go to work/school around the same time.

Did I miss something here? Did kids just never stay home during the 50's, even on weekends? And where's their TV at?

Discuss...

[–] Otter (24464) 6 years ago

I believe it's a movie about people who ignore their kids. Certainly the director could have felt free to ignore them, because they're uninteresting.

A lot of movie children are like that, rarely seen and/or perfectly behaved when glimpsed, because the story is about their parents and not them. And you can't make a coherent story about someone who happens to have kids if they're always underfoot and interrupting like real children, you've got to create room for dialogue to flow and for relationships to develop, without someone coming in to scream "BOBBY LOOKED AT MY DOLLY!!!" or "HEY LOOKA MY NEW SKATEBOARD TRICK".

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

That's fair, but I think it would've made the scene of them having breakfast together a bit more impactful if we saw them with their kids more often. As it stands, that line he gives about how nice it is to have breakfast just by themselves for once rings hollow since they were never there that much anyway. Also, when you take into account that other line April gives about having their second child to prove the first wasn't a mistake, it really makes her seem rather cold and icy towards her children.

[–] Surpriseiiime (96) 6 years ago

The kids were probably imaginary. .. all their scenes were between the two of them. .. never siren in front of anyone else as far as i remember