The Mitchells vs. the Machines
Celebrating the insanity of family.
In just a matter of weeks, my oldest child will be graduating from high school. In a couple of short months, her absence will become our family’s new normal.
An extra chair at the dinner table. More elbow room in the Yukon. A spare room for the remaining children to fight over.
Family is such a beautiful and chaotic thing.
While the chaos might lessen a tad as we go from five children to four on a daily basis, there’s plenty of souls in our home that will gladly fill any chaotic void created from this new dynamic. And, if none of my children are willing to fill the chaos, my own soul will take care of that. This is why I’ve grown to really appreciate a movie like, The Mitchells vs. the Machines.
The Myth of the Perfect Family
As with any movie, this one has plenty to critique and even some aspects that are off-putting. The frenetic pace can be a bit hard to settle into. The opening scenes are jarring and seem to be aimed at a generation with ever-decreasing attention spans.
For me, I almost instantly wrote this movie off on my initial viewing. Not only did it seem like a bunch of middle schoolers hopped up on Red Bull created it, I also thought it was going to be another copy-and-paste of a buffoon father figure. I was only partially right on that one, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
One thing I love about this movie is that it mocks the myth of the ‘Instagram family’ that so many aspire to be, and the rest of us wish we were to varying degrees.
In the film, ‘The Posey Family’ serves as that ideal family that always looks perfect and succeeds at absolutely everything; only magnifying the Mitchells’s imperfections by contrast. Without getting into too many spoilers, the film clearly displays what a myth this is and celebrates the beautiful mess families are behind closed doors.
Ultimately, that’s my favorite aspect about this movie. It’s a movie that celebrates family.
Family, as messy and challenging as it can be, contains so much beauty. This side of heaven, those beautiful moments are fleeting but The Mitchells is a movie that captures them well. As zany and far-fetched of a story that it is, the accuracies surrounding family contain a sincere realism.
The Failure of Fathers
The narrative arc that serves as the heart of the movie, and the one that understandably resonates with me, is that of the father, Rick (Danny McBride), and his daughter, Katie (Abbi Jacobson).
Even though the movie may be a bit heavy-handed in its portrayal of Rick, the story highlights redeemable aspects of his fatherly love as well.
As a father, I quickly become defensive over any fatherly portrayal that’s painted in a negative light. Not only am I biased as a male viewer, but I also know the entire concept of family is an institution God established, meaning that it will be one the world mocks. Therefore, my antenna is up to the opposing messages the world may be offering.
If I’m honest, I think that some of my defensiveness of Rick is due to the fact that I see myself in him. I fail more often than I want to admit. I say foolish things, am insensitive, can be overly-critical and react out of my own fears and insecurities, just like Rick.
Sure, the portrayal of Rick is taken to the extreme in this extremely insane movie, but, there’s plenty of truth that should resonate.
The longer I live as a parent, the more beat up I feel. Don’t get me wrong, parenting is an amazing privilege and I understand that there may be some readers who long to be parents, so I don’t want to dismiss that pain. I also don’t want to paint my own children in a negative light as I talk about the struggle of parenting.
What I mean is this, parenting exposes a lot about my own heart that I’d rather not see. In other words, the challenge in parenting is my own selfish heart.
I like to think I’m more patient than I am. I like to think that I’m more wise than I am. I like to think that I’m more understanding than I am. Just like Rick, I’m a flawed father. Just like Rick, I have some good intentions that are reckless at times.
Every parent messes up, but we don’t need to miss the aspects worth celebrating and, The Mitchells vs. the Machines, doesn’t miss them either. If you missed this movie, I’d encourage your family to check it out - especially if you have one headed off to college. Just be sure to grab some tissues.
Note: There’s some very subtle LGBTQ messaging in the film. While it isn’t overt and most younger viewers will miss it, I wanted to give parents a heads up. You may want to view it first.
I really enjoyed this movie and watched it when it first came out on Netflix. My girls listen to the song "On My Way" almost every morning. Thanks for the article.