That's How the Ice Breaks

That’s How the Ice Breaks

         In watching the 1997 drama, The Ice Storm, certain parallelisms can be made between two people, two groups of people, two objects, two themes, or even two general ideas. In saying such, there is a need to point out that, while parallelisms are similar to symbolism, parallelism is a connection between two or more objects in any work of art. Unlike parallelism, symbolism uses an object to define an implied meaning . Parallelisms are typically placed into the work of art by subtle means to emphasize particular distinctions. For instance, the movie in question contains multiple distinctions that needed emphasizing. The setting and the theme, and the parents and the children are just a couple of the parallelisms that can be mentioned when discussing this classic movie. The mentioned parallels are the simple subtleties made by the creators of the movie to add interesting tidbits that demands a viewers full attention.

         One of the first parallelism that a viewer notices is the parallel between the setting and the theme (or subthemes with a certain scene). As most parallelisms, or so I would assume, these two particular parts of the movie seemingly run side-by-side for the majority of the film. In example, there was a moment when the family is near the verge of breaking apart, and the couple behave coldly towards one another.  During the moments of this dysfunctional families way of life shattering, there is an ice storm that violently blast outside. A cold family breaking is paralleled by a cold environment filled with ice. As with the ice, if there is any false step, the family will break and everything will fall to pieces. By creating this setting, the makers of the movie effectively portrayed the families dire situation. In fact, there is, without a doubt, more numerous accounts of events that take place in the ice storm that could be tied back to either one of the families. Perhaps the boy bouncing on an ice covered jumping board over the swimming pool, or even the branch falling and shattering when the unfaithful couple slip and slid down the sidewalk, could be seen to parallel what was taking place.

         Another, and possibly an infinitely more disgusting, parallel that can be made is between the parent and children. As we often see in the modern day world, children desire to be like their parents in some fashion, and this movie displays this desire in a very brutal manner. As the movie progresses, the viewer notices that the parents are wholly unfaithful to their spouses, and then the viewer is forced to notice that the children are being unfaithful also. There is a section in the movie, or perhaps throughout the entire film, where a girl throws herself at a younger boy, Sandy, when she is apparently committed to Sandy’s older brother Mikey. The makers of this film obviously used such parallels to make the viewer realize that the indiscreet actions of an unfaithful spouse affects much more than just a marital relationship, but the children also.

         Whether it is right to claim that this movie stepped out of many social boundaries or not, this film gave viewer a wealth of information and plenty of situations to ponder. The parallels between the parents and children, and between the setting and themes, creates an understanding between the message of the movie and the person watching. With just a little extra attention, any viewer that watches this movie can see these parallels that I mentioned, and many more.