Posted by Josh Lipovetsky in 
In every parent/child relationship, the child wants one thing, while the parent wants another. In College Road Trip, James wants his daughter Melanie to go to a specific college of his choosing (Northwestern University), while his daughter wants to go to the college of her choosing (Georgetown University). As you would expect, a battle ensues, and both James and Melanie only want their opinion to come true. Through the arguments, James wants to manipulate Melanie to go to Northwestern, while Melanie wants trust from her father that she is making the right decision to go to Georgetown. In the end, James gains trust for Melanie, and she goes to the university of her choosing.
For James to manipulate his daughter, he needed to have his reasons. One reason to manipulate someone is to gain personal comfort. James knew that if his daughter would go to Northwestern, she would be very safe there, and be close to home. It would be ‘playing it safe’. Comfort also relates to the second reason for manipulation, which is fear. Fear of change, both for himself and his daughter. He feared that she would not be able to succeed living far away from home. The fear ran his life, and it showed through the actions that he took. The only way to stop the manipulation, was for James to gain trust in Melanie.
Trust is a very important emotional gift that you can give to someone. It is mainly towards a family member. Melanie wanted to go to Georgetown, knowing that her father did not approve. She needed to find a way to gain his trust. Whenever James tried to manipulate her, she took the proper actions to prove her responsibility. It is very difficult for her to convince her father, but she eventually gains his trust. The things that they go through to gain this trust may have been quite extreme: pigs crashing weddings, losing the car, and skydiving. But the result was what Melanie wanted. Trust is one of the most sacred gifts that you can give to somebody.
Eventually, everything worked out for James and Melanie. She goes to the college of her choosing, and he approves of it. Ultimately, it is the driver who makes the final decision, not the passengers.
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