“What would you do if you were me?” asked Matt King, who was
searching in Kauai for the man with whom his wife was having an affair.
“How would you handle my daughters? How would you handle the
situation of this guy we’re looking for?” With nobody else to confide in, King
had awakened his daughter’s 17-year-old friend, Sid. “I’d put his nuts on a
dresser and beat ‘em with a spiked bat,” said groggy Sid, sleeping on a
couch.
As depicted in the 2011 film, The Descendants, King is one of the
wealthiest land owners in Hawaii. But he was going through the roughest
time of his life. His wife was in a coma and dying after a motorboat
accident, and as a result his 10 and 17-year-old daughters were acting out
at school. King, a prominent lawyer, considers himself a “back-up parent,
the understudy.” He has no idea how to help his daughters through this
crisis.
King is forced to absorb a string of constant indignities while
striving to keep his composure for his kids. His wife has been cheating on
him. His daughter’s teachers critique his parenting. His dozens of broke
cousins try to manipulate him to fill their pockets. One daughter
misbehaves constantly. The other ignores him. His father-in-law blames him
for his wife’s accident.
Though surrounded by a large family and group of friends, King
can’t confide in them as he does not want to reveal his wife’s infidelity, and
as he is the sole trustee of the family business. Ultimately, useful guidance
comes from two unlikely sources. First, muscle-bound Sid reveals he is
helping King’s daughter by intentionally avoiding discussing her mother
dying, and instead is spending time with her so she can deal with her grief
in her own way.
And, secondly, when King confronts his wife’s lover, Brian, he tells
King the affair just happened. “Nothing just happens,” King replies.
“Everything just happens,” says Brian. And King realizes for the first time
that unlike in law or real estate, in relationships there is much outside our
control.
King transforms from absentee parent to absolute rock for his girls.
It is a beautiful portrayal of a parent who learns how to be a strong role
model for his kids yet allows them freedom to process the world on their
own terms.
