Father March, Little Women

Father March, Little Women

In the 2019 film Little Women, directed by Greta Gerwig, the audience watches the March family; however, there is one March family member that is barely in the film. Father March or also known as Robert March, is the father to Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy. Robert seems to be mentioned and name-dropped more times in the movie than his actual screen time, in which he is only in a handful of scenes. Mr. March has been fighting in the Civil War and finally comes home near the end of the movie because of an injury. The actor who plays Father March is Bob Odenkirk, best known for portraying Saul Goodman in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul; because of his notoriety of that character, his character in Little Women could be considered a small cameo. Even though Breaking Bad was/is popular, it is still considered a cult show, just like Little Women, with how large and prominent the ensemble is (Mathijs, pg. 89). One of the main parts of having Father March mentioned in the film is to (somewhat) give the main characters a drive or conscious of doing specific tasks or actions, like a little voice in the back of their mind. For example, in one scene during Christmas, the four girls and Marmee are about to dig into their meal; however, Marmee asks the girls if they can give the Hummel family (poor german immigrants) their meal as a Christmas present. The girls are hesitant at first, but then Beth speaks up and says, “Is this where you say that Father would want us to?” (Little Women, 29:13). Another reason for having the Father in the Civil War is to give some happiness or hope to the four girls whenever they get a letter. An example of this is around the 32minute mark of the movie; the family gets a letter from Father March at Christmas, the girls rush over to see what it says. Also, having Marmee or one of the girls read the letter instead of a voice-over makes Father March feel more excluded from the main cast and more of a minor character. Overall having Father March as a minor character drives the main character’s morals and actions based on what he would want them to do and provide hope and happiness through his letters (and in-person) to his four daughters.

Sources:

Gerwig, G. (Director, Writer). (2019). Little Women [Film]. Sony Pictures

Mathijs, E., Straw, W., Kenaga, H., Williams, M., Keathley, C., & Read, R. J. (n.d.). Screen Volume 52 issue 1 : Free download, borrow, and streaming. Internet Archive. Retrieved March 10, 2022, from https://archive.org/details/Screen_Volume_52_Issue_1/page/n119/mode/2up?view=theater 

Youtube. (2020). Little Women (2019) – Beth’s Last Christmas Scene (5/10) | Movieclips. Retrieved March 12, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPqBVU22fRs.