Kramer v. Kramer (1979) and Marriage Story (2019) reflect major shifts in the legal and social landscape around marriage, divorce, and child custody over the last four decades. Kramer v. Kramer, written and directed by Robert Benton, and starring Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, and Jane Alexander, captured the zeitgeist of its era, becoming the top grossing film of 1979 and sweeping the Oscars; Marriage Story, written and directed by Noah Baumbach, and starring Adam Driver, Scarlet Johansson, Laura Dern, Alan Alda, and Ray Liotta, offers a gripping depiction of the disintegration of a marriage in America today. We are joined by Solangel Maldonado, a professor at Seton Hall Law School and leading expert on family law in the United States.
Timestamps:
0:00 Introduction
3:28 What’s changed and what hasn’t since Kramer v. Kramer
6:46 The legal challenges for fathers seeking custody circa 1979
12:01 Why Ted Kramer lost the court case (the tender years presumption)
18:59 How Kramer v. Kramer captured the zeitgeist
23:47 Nicole’s (Scarlett Johansson’s) decision move to LA in Marriage Story
28:10 The role of the lawyers in Marriage Story
35:55 A failed attempt at mediation
40:52 Divorce lawyers see good people at their worst
42:00 How views of fathers and mothers have and have not evolved
45:05 Advice for Noah Baumbach: clarify the jurisdictional issues
Further Reading:
Asimow, Michael, “Divorce in the Movies: From the Hays Code to Kramer v. Kramer” 24 Legal Studies Forum, 221 (2000)
Breihan, Tom, “Four decades before ‘Marriage Story,’ a quintessential divorce drama swept the Oscars,” A.V. Club (Feb 7, 2020)
Eggert, Brian, “Kramer v. Kramer,” Deep Focus Review (Sept. 12, 2019)
Emery, Robert E., Op-ed, “How Divorced Parents Lost Their Rights” N.Y. Times (Sept. 6. 2014)
Maldonado, Solangel, Cultivating Forgiveness: Reducing Hostility and Conflict After Divorce, 43 Wake Forest L. Rev. 441 (2008), http://wakeforestlawreview.com/wp content/uploads/2014/10/Maldonado_LawReview_4.08.pdf
Gordinier, Jeff, “Noah Baumbach Had to Live and Love Before He Made ‘Marriage Story,’” Esquire (Dec. 6. 2019)
Rebouché, Rachel, A Case Against Collaboration, 76 Md. L. Rev. 547 (2017), https://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/mlr/vol76/iss3/2/
Searles, Jourdain, “‘Kramer v. Kramer’ v. ‘Marriage Story,’” N.Y. Times (Nov. 12, 2019), https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/12/opinion/marriage-story-kramer-vs-kramer.html
Tobias, Scott, “’Kramer vs Kramer’ at 40: a flawed film that remains a deserving classic,” The Guardian (Dec. 11, 2019)
Law on Film is created and produced by Jonathan Hafetz. Jonathan is a professor at Seton Hall Law School. He has written many books and articles about the law. He has litigated important cases to protect civil liberties and human rights while working at the ACLU and other organizations. Jonathan is a huge film buff and has been watching, studying, and talking about movies for as long as he can remember.
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