A Look Inside the Tenebaums

A Look inside The Tenenbaums

Wes Andersons The Royal Tenenbaums was a visually captivating film. Like all of this other films it is sort of off, but there is a reason for all of this. His use of setting and his use of costumes or what the person is wearing heavily influences that the characters personality. In The Royal Tenenbaums this is especially seen in every character but I am going to focus on Richie Tenenbaum. His outfit and his personality really shows through his back-story and how he is throughout the movie.

All of the Tenenbaum children suffer from not having a true childhood. They were rushed into adult situations when their father left, and this gives all of them a sense of lost reality. They never were given the opportunity to be kids, and the problems they encounter with depression are increased. Also, there was never a specific closure given. Royal left one day, and the family was expected to continue without an explanation. This leaves reason for much of the anxiety the children have. You see Richie in the opening scene being a great tennis player and being the apple of his father’s eye, it seemed like Royal favored him over the other children because he brought him along to shot dice when the others were left behind. Richie was on top of the world, but then his father left and everything changed.

Richie’s costume really reflected his personality and that is exactly why I picked him to write this paper. When he was younger he was always wearing tennis gear especially the headband that sticks out the most. When he got older he wore a suit, sunglasses, and of course the headband. He keeps in him the suit and headband it shows he is a washed up player still trying to cling to whatever success he once had, arguably clinging to when his father was still there.

He wore sunglasses as mask to hide his true emotions. It was a way that he was disconnected from the world. There was almost a theme of redemption in the movie and it is shown through...