The Strange Thing About the Johnsons
The Strange Thing About the Johnsons is a 2011 short film drama about domestic violence, with satiric elements.
The film focuses on the eponymous Johnson family. Sidney, a successful poet. Joan, his wife. And Isaiah, his charismatic son who has just gotten married. However, this is where the film jumps into its true nature. Isaiah has been raping his dad since he was twelve and worse, his dad refused to confess to it in fear of how people around him will take it. At the start of the film, however, Sidney has finished his memoir confessing his story of the abuse, which he plans to publish.
Tropes used in The Strange Thing About the Johnsons include:
- Big No: Sidney when Isaiah bust open the bathroom door while he is taking a bath.
- Hannibal Lecture: Isaiah gives one to Sidney.
- Karmic Death: Isaiah is killed by his mother, Joan, at the end.
- Teens Are Monsters: Isaiah in spades.
- Look Both Ways: Justified, Sidney is so torn up by the aforementioned Hannibal Lecture he runs off in a daze and is hit by a van before he can get out of the way.
- Poor Communication Kills: Sidney fails to tell anyone what his son is doing to him in fear of his reputation. He finally decides to confess it in a memoir he plans to publish, but before he can, he gets hit by a car and is killed on impact.
- Parental Incest
- Rape as Backstory: Isaiah has been raping his father since he was 12.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Isaiah's wife is only seen a few times and is unseen the rest of the film.
- "What the Hell?" Dad: Isaiah's reaction to finding the memoir.
- You Monster!: Joan calls her son out for inadvertently killing his dad.