Family Collage

By

Josh Reinhold

Malcolm in the Middle

I didn’t really have any pictures of my own family, so when thinking of a

family to analyze the family from the show “ Malcolm in the Middle”,

immediately popped into my head.

In the show it never once mentions the families last name so I am simply

going to refer to them as the “Malcolm's.”

Story

LineAn offbeat, laugh track-lacking

sitcom about a bizarrely

dysfunctional family, the center of

which is Malcolm, the middle of the

two brothers who still live at home.

His eldest (and favorite) sibling,

Francis, boards at military school

because his parents believe it will

reform him and keep him out of

trouble. Malcolm often has a hard

time coping with his family life, but

he has more troubles to contend

with when he starts receiving

special treatment at school after

being diagnosed as an intellectually

advanced genius.

Characters

Malcolm- The “middle” genius child

Reese- The moronic older brother

Francis- rebel type oldest brother sent away to military school

Dewey- Youngest brother who is a free spirit and marches to the beat of a different drum

Lois- Crazy, short tempered mother who does her best to keep the family intact

Hal- Clueless Dad who is just trying to make his way through life

Family Type

The Malcolm’s are an example of

a two parent biological family.

I would guess that the parents

(Lois and Hal) have been married

anywhere from 15-20 years and

have 4 biological children.

Galvin, Bylund and Brommel

(2008) state that this is no longer

the most common type of family

Economic Issues

Having to support 4 kids and

working sub par jobs, the

Malcolm’s definitely suffer from

some economic issues.

“Economic pressures add

significant stress to the lives of

poor family members, and this

stress affects the ways family

members relate to each other.”

(Galvin, Bylund and Brommel

2008, pg. 15). This is definitely

true for the Malcolm's and it

portrays it in the show in comical

ways.

Communication Functions

The communication in the

Malcolm’s household is very open.

A lot of the time it consists of Lois

freaking about something and

yelling at the family, or a single

person for what they did or did not

do.

I believe that this develops a

meaning with the kids along with

Hal realizing that Lois runs the

show

Continued

Another communication process in

the family is Malcolm calling his

brother Francis (who is away at

military school) and talking

secretly on how to beat his

mother.

Francis being the not afraid to

stand up for himself rebel child

has never been afraid to go right

back at his mother and I think this

displays another meaning.

Family-of-Origin

Family-of-origin influences refers

to the family or families in which a

person is raised and is generally

be the earliest and most powerful

source of influence on ones

personality (Bochner & Eisenberg,

1987).

This is definitely true in the show

in the case of Francis, the oldest

brother. Although him and mother

clash, they are really the exact

same person.

Family Rituals

“Rituals contain a variety of meanings

and messages in patterned and

emotionally powerful forms; they serve

to remind members of who they are

and they reflect a family’s relational

culture.” (Galvin, Bylund and Brommel

2008, pg. 116).

Although there are not really any set

rituals in the family, the younger

brothers all look up to Francis

immensely. He teaches them all kinds

if different things, and they try to mimic

what he has done in the past. It is

kind of portrayed in the show as

passing down knowledge to another

generation.

Continued

One tradition that the

family does have is

that they always have

meals all together as

a family. Although it

is usually filled with

fights between the

boys, or Lois yelling

about something it is

a tradition

nonetheless.

Family Typology

“Consensual families are high in

both conversation and conformity

strategies with their

communication characterized by

pressure and agreement although

children are encouraged to

express ideas and feelings.”

(Galvin, Bylund and Brommel

2008, pg. 177)

This type is family is definitely the

case for the Malcolm’s. They talk

about everything but at the end of

the day Lois usually has the last

word. This, however is not without

backlash from the kids.

Family Conflict Types

The conflict in the Malcolm family,

usually occurs by Lois catching

the boys doing something wrong

and then punishing them.

Sometimes however she does

practice compromise in cutting the

boys deals to get them out of

trouble

Works Cited

Family Communication: Cohesion and

Change (Seventh Edition) by Kathleen

Galvin, Carma Bylund, and Bernard

Brommel, Pearson. 2008.