Whenever my wife, kids, and I have a free Friday night, we like to sit down as a family and watch a classic movie. We get the living room all comfy and grab a variety of snacks to enjoy while we take in that night’s feature presentation. Last weekend, we chose The Parent Trap (1998 remake starring Lindsay Lohan), a movie neither my wife nor I had watched since we were kids. It was fun, but there was something that bugged up. Like, a lot!
This is not me breaking down the various plotholes or things that don’t make sense about the summer camp sequence. Nor is it me not being able to figure out how the girls were able to master English and American accents in such a short period of time. Instead, it has to deal with the whole arrangement the girls’ parents made years earlier. You know, the whole splitting everything in the divorce arrangement…
How Could You Split Up Your Kids Like That?
In case you haven’t watched The Parent Trap in years (or at all, for that matter), identical twins Hallie Parker and Annie James (both played by Lindsay Lohan in the 1998 remake) go the first 11 years of their lives not only not knowing their their mom or dad but also being oblivious to the fact they have a twin out there in the world. On the surface, this leads to a great comic premise and some hilarious moments, but me being me, I made the mistake of thinking about this way too much.
I mean, I understand splitting a movie collection or your assortment of paintings or even a pair of dogs, but kids? Come on, man! This is messed up on so many levels. First, not being a part of your kid’s life and being able to continue on knowing they’re somewhere out in the world is just something I cannot comprehend.
Then there’s the whole issue of keeping a major secret from your child, essentially giving them major trust issues. It’s a Disney movie and the tone is light, but this is seriously all kinds of messed up and some bad parenting.
I am aware that Nick Parker (Dennis Quaid) and Liz James (the late Natasha Richardson) thought they were doing what was best for their daughters so that they wouldn’t have to constantly be uprooting themselves and flying across the pond. However, having no contact, not checking in, and pretty much pretending their child exists is something I just can’t wrap my head around. It’s bonkers!
Though I sing a different tune when it comes to the final days of winter break and the even longer summer break before my kids go back to school, I miss them dearly when they’re not around. I cannot imagine going 11 years having no contact with them whatsoever. Sure, that’s a lot to put on a kid, but Nick and Liz could have at least written letters to one another saying things like “Hallie is a killer poker player” or “Annie sure does love Oreos and peanut butter.” Even contact with the grandparents or nanny/butler would have been better than no contact at all.
I guess this whole parenting situation is just something that I overlooked as a kid or didn’t fully understand as I wasn’t a parent or an adult when this movie came out back in 1998. That said, this was a great Nancy Meyers movie and one of the best experiences I’ve had with my Disney+ subscription in a while.