A sociological viewpoint of the book/movie The Great Santini. It views Bull Meechum as a terrible father and he is the opposite of what sociology teaches us a father should be like.
The So-So Santini
Bull Meechum may be called "The Great Santini" in battle and when flying his jet, but he is, as Maryanne said, more like "Godzilla" to his family. Not knowing how to be a father, Bull treats his children and his wife just as he would treat his crew. Taking things to extremes, when Bull says something, he expects it to be done. Additionally, he is still a child himself and cannot stand to lose. Competitive to an extreme, anything that is better than him or anything that represents him and is beaten is unacceptable. His first son Ben, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. He is gentle and just allows his father to dominate. However, after being trained his entire life to be just like his father, he desires nothing more than for Bull's approval and takes on a few characteristics of his dad. Unfortunately, there is no way that two Bulls can live under one house (already emotionally stretched as it is) and conflict erupts.
Bull is the epitome of an emotional straightjacket, the Boy Code, and "the mask." He is unable to express his true feelings and holds a portrayal of "toughness" to the outside world, even when he suffers silently on the inside, especially after the conflict where his entire family started beating him. He does not want any of his children to be soft and claims that Meechums "chew nails" while other kids chew cotton candy. He expects his children to be the best at sports, academics, and everything else. He is not available to be talked to, uses nothing but harsh language (such as calling his children "hogs" and "sports fans"), is not involved with his entire family, does not have the time to spend with them, and shares no personal stories. To his daughters, he hardly talks to them and merely calls in Lillian to deal with them, giving them a bad sense of their bodies and themselves. Bull is what every father should strive NOT to be like.
Of all of his children, Bull's eldest son Ben is treated the harshest. He is expected to be the greatest at basketball, yet should he become better than his father, there is trouble. Bull believes that Ben is "babied" too much and he desires him to have the Great Santini's "gift of fury." As shown in the basketball scene, his defeat enrages Bull into bouncing a basketball of his son's head, belittling and pushing his son farther away from him. Ben looks upon his father with utter hatred and cannot understand how his mother can love such a violent and almost bi-polar person. Although part of him still desires to take after and follow in the footsteps of his father, that is not who he is. Ben is gentle and finds another role model in the form of Toomer. Toomer shows Ben the things in life that we should all enjoy and teaches him about the way life is. Additionally, Ben also greatly loves his mother and cherishes the note that he gets from her for his birthday on how to be a man. Bull and Toomer and Lillian directly conflict in their ideologies and it leaves Ben with two sides to his personality. On one hand, he wishes to be tough and he wears his own mask, just as his father has taught him. On the other hand, he appreciates life and lives it the way he desires, just as his mother and his best friend has taught him.
Most interesting, however, is the rest of the Meechum family. Lillian, Maryanne, Karen, and Matt suffer greatly at the hands of Bull, yet they are not the focus of the movie. Lillian is both physically and mentally abused by her husband and despite all this, she defends him and covers up his mistakes. When Bull is drunk, she brings him in to make sure the neighbors do not know. Maryanne and the other children beg and desire their father's attention, yet despite their best efforts, Bull only pays any attention to Ben. Maryanne is literally stepped on when telling fibs just in order to get recognized, Karen's grades are ignored, and Matt's attempts to eat to impress him. All are ignored as Ben is smothered with Bull's attention.
In the end, a form of understanding and compromise begins to form between Ben and Bull. Additionally, order appears to be restored in the family. Ben realizes that Bull loves him and the entire family, just after the big fight and discovering him extremely drunk. A temporary harmony is created, but it is doubtful that too much would change. To ask Bull to suddenly stop his dictatorial rule over his family is far too great, for the Great Santini. However, even though it was only a small step that Bull took towards his family that one night, it is still a start. Unfortunately, he died before he could truly show his true colors and remove his mask forever.
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