SINK OR
SWIM (1990)
In the interview between Scott MacDonald and Su Friedrich, entitled
"Daddy Dearest," Friedrich speaks about her experiences with
her father growing up, as well as their relationship at the time Sink
or Swim was produced. The format of the film consisted of twenty-six
short stories modeled on the alphabet, starting with the letter Z and
going backwards. This was a choice that Friedrich made mainly because
her father was a linguist. Friedrich also made the unusual choice of
writing the text for the film in third person. She found that by choosing
to write in third person, she felt she could express herself more freely:
Writing them over in the third person wa quite liberating.
The distance I got from speaking of "a girl" and "her
father"
gave me courage, allowed me to say things I wouldn't
dare say in the first person, and I think it also lets viewers
identify more with the material,...The point of the film is
not to have people know about me; it's to have them think
about what we all experience during childhood, in differing degrees
(29).
Even though Friedrich's stories were of a very personal nature, she
wanted the audience to identify with them. By hearing the film being
told in third person, the audience could disassociate the stories from
Friedrich's own experiences, and thereby come to identify more with
the material that the stories presented.
A key concept that Friedrich touched on in Sink or Swim, was that abuse
has context to it. An example of this concept is found in two stories
which Friedrich linked together. The first story tells of how Friedrich's
father's younger sister drowned and he felt he was to blame. The second
story, which follows the one above, tells how Friedrich's father punishes
she and her sister for fighting by holding their heads underwater for
too long. In telling the story of her father's drowned sister, Friedrich
wanted to convey that the root of the abuse in the second story was
already well established within her father's own past:
One of the most painful things to realize in making the film
was that we all inherit so much sorrow and hurt from our parents.
We aren't the product of perfectly balanced adults; we are created
by people who have a legacy of their own, which goes back through
each family line (31).
Sink or Swim not only dealt with the emotional baggage that parents
can give to their children, but it also addresses the issue of parents
projecting their hopes and fears onto their children:
(Sink or Swim is)...about the damage that either parent can do
when they're trying to shape their child in their own image....They
have a lot of ambition for themselves and, consequently for their
children. They force their children into activities or try to instill
certain ideas in them that are not good, not natural for the child (30).
Three prime examples of a parent's hopes and ambitions being projected
on a child in the film are: Toward the beginning of the film, a poem
by Friedrich's father is read. It is written from the perspective of
a hopeful and happy young father who imagines
throughout the poem wht his daughter will be like as she grows. The
last line talks of how finally there is someone to replace the father's
drowned sister. Right from the start Friedrich was expected to be someone
else.
Another example of a projected hope/fear is when Friedrich tells of
the time her father throws her into a pool in order to teach her how
to swim. Perhaps her father did this because he needed to see his "drowned
sister" swim again, or maybe he wanted to put
himself into a heroic position by being present when his daughter learned
to swim. He couldn't save his sister, but he could save his daughter
if she needed assistance.
A story involving a chess match between Friedrich and her father showed
how her father wanted her to be a champion; to be able to beat anyone
she played. But when Friedrich beat her father at chess, he refuse to
play her after that. Perhaps her father saw his defeat at chess as some
sort of assault on his position of power within the household or even
an attack on his masculinity.
Through making Sink or Swim, Friedrich was able to deal with family
issues; to sort through emotional baggage that had been past on to her
through her father. In some sense, this film was used as a method of
healing for Friedrich. She was able to recognize the reasons for her
father's abuse and estrangement towards her throughout her life, and
accept him for who he is anyway. She was able to make peace with him
and herself by making this film.
In the interview between Scott MacDonald and Su Friedrich, entitled
"Daddy Dearest," Friedrich speaks about her experiences with
her father growing up, as well as their relationship at the time Sink
or Swim was produced. The format of the film consisted of twenty-six
short stories modeled on the alphabet, starting with the letter Z and
going backwards. This was a choice that Friedrich made mainly because
her father was a linguist. Friedrich also made the unusual choice of
writing the text for the film in third person. She found that by choosing
to write in third person, she felt she could express herself more freely:
Writing them over in the third person wa quite liberating.
The distance I got from speaking of "a girl" and "her
father"
gave me courage, allowed me to say things I wouldn't
dare say in the first person, and I think it also lets viewers
identify more with the material,...The point of the film is
not to have people know about me; it's to have them think
about what we all experience during childhood, in differing degrees
(29).
Even though Friedrich's stories were of a very personal nature, she
wanted the audience to identify with them. By hearing the film being
told in third person, the audience could disassociate the stories from
Friedrich's own experiences, and thereby come to identify more with
the material that the stories presented.
A key concept that Friedrich touched on in Sink or Swim, was that abuse
has context to it. An example of this concept is found in two stories
which Friedrich linked together. The first story tells of how Friedrich's
father's younger sister drowned and he felt he was to blame. The second
story, which follows the one above, tells how Friedrich's father punishes
she and her sister for fighting by holding their heads underwater for
too long. In telling the story of her father's drowned sister, Friedrich
wanted to convey that the root of the abuse in the second story was
already well established within her father's own past:
One of the most painful things to realize in making the film
was that we all inherit so much sorrow and hurt from our parents.
We aren't the product of perfectly balanced adults; we are created
by people who have a legacy of their own, which goes back through
each family line (31).
Sink or Swim not only dealt with the emotional baggage that parents
can give to their children, but it also addresses the issue of parents
projecting their hopes and fears onto their children:
(Sink or Swim is)...about the damage that either parent can do
when they're trying to shape their child in their own image....They
have a lot of ambition for themselves and, consequently for their
children. They force their children into activities or try to instill
certain ideas in them that are not good, not natural for the child (30).
Three prime examples of a parent's hopes and ambitions being projected
on a child in the film are: Toward the beginning of the film, a poem
by Friedrich's father is read. It is written from the perspective of
a hopeful and happy young father who imagines
throughout the poem wht his daughter will be like as she grows. The
last line talks of how finally there is someone to replace the father's
drowned sister. Right from the start Friedrich was expected to be someone
else.
Another example of a projected hope/fear is when Friedrich tells of
the time her father throws her into a pool in order to teach her how
to swim. Perhaps her father did this because he needed to see his "drowned
sister" swim again, or maybe he wanted to put
himself into a heroic position by being present when his daughter learned
to swim. He couldn't save his sister, but he could save his daughter
if she needed assistance.
A story involving a chess match between Friedrich and her father showed
how her father wanted her to be a champion; to be able to beat anyone
she played. But when Friedrich beat her father at chess, he refuse to
play her after that. Perhaps her father saw his defeat at chess as some
sort of assault on his position of power within the household or even
an attack on his masculinity.
Through making Sink or Swim, Friedrich was able to deal with family
issues; to sort through emotional baggage that had been past on to her
through her father. In some sense, this film was used as a method of
healing for Friedrich. She was able to recognize the reasons for her
father's abuse and estrangement towards her throughout her life, and
accept him for who he is anyway. She was able to make peace with him
and herself by making this film.