The Bottom Line
The movie The Evolution of Dad focuses on fathers' changing role: no more the sole breadwinner. Told in the context of filmmaker Dana Glazer's experience as a stay-at-home dad, The Evolution of Dad intersperses expert interviews with perspectives from real-life dads and children.
In a well-paced documentary narrative with intelligent interviews, The Evolution of Dad gently points out the serious obstacles to this societal change: inflexible workplaces, gender stereotypes and mothers reluctant to give up their gatekeeper role. In review, The Evolution of Dad movie is an earnest, heart-warming look at modern fatherhood.
Pros
- Engaging look at a real societal change: contemporary fathers owning their role as parents
- Interviews academics and thought leaders on the evolving role of dads
- Heart-warming comments from real-life fathers and children on the often-conflicted relationship
- Nice pacing, structure and consistent documentary film production values
- Gives voice to a group that often doesn't make the mainstream media: stay-at-home dads
Cons
- Can be a bit sentimental, with little focus on the exhausting, day-to-day of hands-on parenting
Description
- Movie about modern fatherhood, with an emphasis on stay-at-home dads
- Interviews national experts on work-life and parenting, as well as everyday people
- Filmmaker Dana H. Glazer is the father of two young boys and former stay-at-home dad (now a work-at-home dad)
- Running time: 94 minutes/color/digitally mastered/stereo
- The film costs $19.95 for private use, available at companion Web site www.evolutionofdad.com
Guide Review - The Evolution of Dad Movie Review
There's no doubt that fathers today are hugely different than a generation ago. Filmmaker Dana Glazer ably documents this societal change in The Evolution of Dad, interweaving his own experiences as a stay-at-home dad with expert interviews and comments from real-life fathers and children. The well-paced film is enjoyable to watch and never confusing, although some of the material will be old ground to those who have done some thinking (or reading) about changing gender roles and women's increased labor force participation.
Glazer honestly talks about his own feelings of being less of a man because he was responsible for the daily care of his children, and questions how American society came to a place where so many fathers could be absent or unknown. You might argue that in 2010, this is no longer the case for many families, but certainly it's a reasonable question to pose. The Evolution of Dad then presents a brief history of the industrial age, with some fabulous archival footage, and documents the growth of the career-oriented father who was often absent.
Some of the most poignant scenes in The Evolution of Dad revolve around father loss. Stay-at-home dad Dallas Hayes talks about his first memory of his father being lifted up to see him in prison, and then his father's death when Dallas was 9. Another young man, unnamed, simply never knew his father, a flat comment that Glazer effectively lets linger.
The Evolution of Dad points out the contradiction in our belief systems about fatherhood. Glazer interviews people saying that fathers should be present for their children, but when he asks about stay-at-home dads, they almost universally express disgust or disdain for the arrangement. It also highlights some interesting scientific findings about hormonal and brain chemistry changes in new fathers.
Ultimately, the movie The Evolution of Dad reviews the established research on gender roles, parenting and our work culture and adds an important voice to the debate. Perhaps if enough voices like Dana Glazer continue to question conventional stereotypes, we as a society will finally live up to the values we say we want: involved parents, equality at home and at work, and a truly democratic society where anyone can achieve both a successful career and satisfaction as an engaged parent.
