Course Details

Using the movie, Whales of August (with Bette Davis, Lillian Gish, Ann Southern, and Vincent Price), we will learn about the range of feelings—the ambivalence—aging siblings feel towards each other. This film is an excellent presentation of the love of siblings—the last of their family—as well as the underlying resentments and conflicts from more than 70 or 80 years. We will see excerpts of the film demonstrating the theme of loyalty, frozen images from when they were little, their family-assigned roles as children, and how they negotiate and deal with anger (and sexuality) in their senior years. You will be warmed, charmed, and made to think!