Raising ‘The Descendants’
Ashley Jo Will

Earlier last fall, “The Descendants” began under the radar and played in select theaters with a limited release. Due to its popularity, accolades and five Academy Award nominations, including best picture, this film has been spreading to more theaters, including Rock Springs. Based on a book written by Kaui Hart Hemmings, “The Descendants” tells a story of a father becoming closer to his children amid unfortunate circumstances.

Matt King is a descendant of King Kamehameha of Hawaii. This ancestry has caused him to be the trustee of a large area of pristine Hawaiian land. Matt, unlike many of his cousins, has been conservative with his inheritance. While some of his cousins are nearly broke, Matt only uses the earnings of his law practice. Matt says that he believes in having enough money for his children to live but not too much money to live on. The trust is set to expire in less than a decade and Matt’s cousins have been discussing what to do with the land, leaning toward a buyer. The debate concerning the virgin Hawaiian land leads to controversy in the newspapers since a large amount of the public do not want to see the natural land turned into commercial properties.

The stress of making a decision about the land is not the only thing weighing on Matt’s mind. His wife, Elizabeth, was recently in a boating race and had an accident. She is now in a coma and her future does not look optimistic. Matt is often gone on business and hadn’t talked to her for a few days before the accident. He tells himself that when Elizabeth wakes up, he will become a better husband and spend more time with her. Many readers may relate to Matt’s situation; his time has slipped away and wishes he could fix the broken relationships surrounding him.

Matt’s family is like an archipelago: one family, but not close to each other. He has two daughters, Alexandria and Scottie. Alexandria is 17 and attends a boarding school on a separate island. She is an unruly teenager and is found drinking on school premises when Matt arrives to take her home in order to visit her mother. The last time Alexandria had seen her mother was over Christmas break and she had a huge fight with her. Alexandria declared she no longer wanted anything more to do with her mother but now it may be too late to recant that decision. Scottie is younger than Alexandria but is just as much trouble as her older sister. For example, she brought pictures of her comatose mother to school and caused other children to be distraught. She also has been teasing her peers for various reasons. Raising his children is a tough challenge for Matt to be thrown into since he hasn’t taken care of them by himself since they were toddlers.

Matt urges Alexandria to put aside whatever caused her argument with her mother during Christmas break. Alexandria then spills her mother’s secret that she had discovered. Elizabeth had been having an affair without any suspicions by her husband. This revelation sets the mood for the rest of the film as Matt figures out what to do with this information. Him and Alexandria begin to bond as they search for the man who captured Elizabeth’s heart in order to question him and tell him about Elizabeth’s current condition. Alexandria begins to see how hard her father is trying to deal with his situation even if others do not realize it. Scottie has learned a lot of her bad behavior from her older sister. Alexandria must change in order to become the motherly figure that Scottie needs while her mother is unresponsive.

In the beginning of the film, Matt does not have a close relationship with his family, both physically and emotionally. The pristine land that Matt planned on selling is also connected to his family in an unforeseen way. To the dismay of many cousins, this connection leads Matt to reconsider his options. Although “The Descendants” is a sad tale of an unexpected boating accident, Matt and his daughters’ relationship is tested and strengthened during this time. True to life, sometimes it takes the darkest moments to become closer than ever before with family and to forgive any past wrongdoings. Matt is a descendant of proud caretakers of Hawaiian land and is given a choice of what to do with his gift. Matt is also raising his descendants with the best intentions. I would like to raise “The Descendants” to a level so that more of the public sees this touching bittersweet film about the importance of having a close relationship with family and the power of forgiveness.