Exchanging Symbolic Patriarchy for Narrative Patriarchy in The Royal Tenenbaums

Abstract

This essay critiques the ideological basis of the conventional family unit by dissecting the presentation of patriarchy in Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums. The film’s portrayal of patriarchy is analysed through reference to deeply embedded cultural attitudes that permeate societal structures through storytelling. The prevalence of Christianity within American society is acknowledged to justify both situating Tenenbaum’s narrative within a predominantly Judeo-Christian tradition and referencing the Old Testament as a key influence upon standards of patriarchy. The research of biblical scholars is consulted to outline the various privileges afforded to Hebrew patriarchs within the thirteenth century B.C.E., revealing that the standards of patriarchy within this era informed the archetype of idealised patriarchy within the Old Testament. The attitudes of Royal Tenenbaum are recognised as acquiescent with the expectations of the idealised biblical patriarch, close analysis of the film revealing the ways in which he exhibits such entitlement. Analysis reveals that whilst the removal of Royal’s conventional privileges occurs within the film, this reduction and realtering of his position as a father-figure allows for a subliminal patriarchal privilege to emerge. The film exposes the narrative privilege allocated to the patriarch in conventional storytelling, such that the portrayal of growth and redemption within the father-figure is heightened and glorified, and the patriarch is privileged as the focal point to the viewer’s narrative catharsis. The film exposes the functioning of this process on an ideological level.