3. Royal Tenenbaum in The Royal Tenenbaums
The Royal Tenenbaums is the 2001 indie classic by Wes Anderson, co-written by Owen Wilson. The film follows the lives of three siblings, all gifted and successful in their youths but due to being abandoned by their eccentric father they suffer great disappointment and failures. Our douchebag dad Royal is played by Gene Hackman. Royal Tenenbaum sucks for several reasons including the fact that he purposefully shoots his son Chas with a BB gun, he unexpectedly switches teams and takes a shot. Royal constantly reminds his daughter Margot that she is his adopted daughter and enjoys imposing a hierarchy amongst his kids hell take Richie to dog fights (not a great place to take a child in the first place) whilst excluding Chas and Margot. Royal then decides, after years of being estranged from his family to make peace and return, mainly because hes broke, has nowhere to live and he wants to stop his ex-wife from remarrying so what does he do? Fakes stomach cancer. There are glimpses of sympathy displayed by Royal at the end of the film but its not enough to redeem his un-fatherly ways.
Maggy van Eijk
Contributor
I am a recent graduate with an MA in Writing for Stage and Broadcast Media.
Top 3 films: City of God, 21 Grams, Brick
Top 3 televison shows: In Treatment, Project Runway, Parks and Recreation
Top 3 books: Mysterious Skin, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Great Gatsby
Top 3 facts: I'm Dutch, I love sloths, I can do a cool trick with my shoulders
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Maggy