Hell of a Trap

I think the earliest memory I had of learning about separation in marriage was when I watched the Parent Trap. It was a movie produced in 1998 so I was about 6 years old at that time. In 1998, I probably did not think that the situation presented in the movie was somewhat destructive. Instead I found it entertaining that it was possible to do some camera tricks and make Lindsay Lohan appear to have a twin. Oh, and she was cute back then! I still watch it until now—I’m already half way done with my 18th year—and it is definitely one of those movies you don’t get sick of. Although I have watched it several times, I always forget how it ends. I think that is because the movie is not so much about the ending, after all, we do know that the twins’ parents would eventually get back together to make a happy ending. You’ll love the movie because of what goes on the ‘middle’. But yesterday, when I watched the movie again, I took on a different perspective. I decided that it was one of those movies that I could write about and relate to the theme of this blog.

The movie begins with two girls, Hallie and Annie, who are sent to a summer camp whose paths eventually cross. They practically looked like identical twins—which they really were—and discovered that the parent they were living with; Hallie with her dad in California and Annie with her mom in London, were actually married once. In conclusion, they were twin sisters. They decided to switch places and get to know the parent they were separated from for 11 years of their life. Since eventually they would have to be exchanged again, it would mean their parents had to meet again after swearing never to do so. But there was a little bump on the road when their father gets engaged but thankfully, it does not work out with Cruella de Vil. Hallie and Elizabeth journey back to London thinking their family will remain broken but they are astonished when they arrive home seeing Annie and Nick. The parents get married and they live happily ever after.

When I was a child, all I thought about was how amusing Hallie and Annie’s “friendship handshake” was to the point that I tried learning it, that their mother was a wedding gown designer and the British accent was just amusing to hear. It was called The Parent Trap because the twins trapped their parents in a situation that would try to reunite their family. But last night I thought, the 11 years of ignorance and separation could also dub the movie “The Children Trap.” Upon further reflection, I thought what a selfish trap their parents put them in. They could have never met and never thought they had a sibling, and see their parents in the flesh. Their parents separated and vowed not to see each other ever again just so that they could get out of each other’s hair. Separation and divorce may be about the couple at first, but when children are involved, the situation can definitely trap and scar them. Lucky for the twins, their once-reckless parents who took things too fast got married again in the end. But more often than not, a lot of children in sticky separated families do not get the happy ending they want.

Everyday, we make decisions in life that could change our lives forever. And marriage is one of those because marriage is a commitment to share the remaining entirety of your life with someone and eventually conceive children. And when you bring out life to this world, it is the couple’s responsibility to protect them from any emotional and physical harm. But what if you fell in love in a month? Got married 3 months after your 1st date? Conceived a baby way before your marriage? Decided to separate because it just does not work anymore? Have you not already made a major decision that could turn around a child’s supposedly good life?