Kramer vs. Kramer

The film Kramer vs. Kramer tells the story of one man's character development—the main character, Ted Kramer, overcomes his traditional masculine identity, defined primarily by career accomplishments, and discovers the simple satisfaction of being a loving father. In this 1979 film, adapted from a 1974 novel by Avery Corman, a father must assume the day-to-day caretaking of his son and his household when his wife decides to leave her unhappy marriage and relinquish her parental responsibility. Set in the late 1970s, the film reflects the rigid attitude prevalent in many social contexts that defined and limited the man's role in the family to that of breadwinner. At the same time, however, Kramer vs. Kramer reflects the agenda of an emergent men's movement in its challenge to restricted, gender-defined family roles.

In the beginning of the film, Ted, played by Dustin Hoffman, struggles with having to repair a rather distant relationship with his six-year-old son, [Page 259]Billy, when his wife of eight years, Joanna (played by Meryl Streep), decides to leave the family. The film follows Ted's growing devotion to fathering his son, and then his emotional effort to maintain custody of Billy when Joanna returns to reclaim their son. The film also dramatizes the discrimination Ted experiences as a single man raising a young child—Ted is fired from his job because his boss feels that Ted's fathering is interfering with his ability to devote his undivided attention to his occupation, and he ultimately loses custody of Billy to Joanna because the judge decides that a young child should reside with the mother.

In the late 1970s the father's role in the family was being re-evaluated due to several social changes prompted by feminism, including the increasing number of women employed outside of the home and the growing divorce rate in the United States. Kramer vs. Kramer drew attention to new conceptualizations of fatherhood by presenting a heart-felt story of a man's success in becoming a competent, devoted father. Additionally, the film addressed emerging legal controversies and reform impulses involving single fatherhood in domestic and workplace contexts, and it anticipated several significant legislative initiatives regarding fathers' rights (e.g., paternity establishment, custody laws, parental leave) that were enacted during the last quarter of the twentieth century. Custody decisions favoring fathers' post-divorce involvement with their children became much more common, while legislation such as the Family and Medical Leave Act (1993) awarded both mothers and fathers up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave from work to care for newborn or adopted children.

The film Kramer vs. Kramer challenged family roles and conventional notions of fatherhood in the 1970s by recounting one man's personal transformation into a capable and emotionally involved father. As the diversification of the paternal role in the family has also been the focus of later films, such as Mr. Mom (1983) and Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), motion pictures have aided in portraying a more flexible and inclusive view of the masculine identity.