In the movie East is East there are numerous different relationships throughout the Khan family. The mother and father, Ella and George have one of the most complicated relationships within the family. For the first half of the movie, they seem to have a very loving marriage. Ella can tell George when he is out of line, and they are affectionate with each other. This changes drastically half way through, when George hits Ella. They go from a loving relationship, to Ella being scared him, and not standing up for herself.
George’s relationship also changed half way through with the children. Although throughout they saw things very differently, with the arranged marriages, and eating meat, they still loved each other. It changed because George threatened, and even hit his kids. They did not agree with all of his beliefs, and he could not accept that. Ella had a good and strong relationship with her children. They could talk to her about everything, and she helped them hide things from their father. She also found the perfect balance of love and discipline. The Khan family had seven children. The relationship was as normal as any other family; a lot of fighting. In almost every scene throughout the movie, one of the siblings was fighting with each other. Even though they fought, they worked together to hide things from their father. Throughout the movie, many different relationships are seen.
The sociological framework that suits the Khan family best is the developmental theory. The developmental theory is an approach that describes the patterns of life, and to describe the growth or changes in human behaviour through their life. It follows a certain pattern which includes marriage, then childbirth, and then children moving out to start their own family. Since George is so traditional, he wants his children to all do the same, and follow the proper pattern. The stages that he wanted would be the exact same, except an arranged marriage would be forced upon them. George wanted his children to live the traditional Pakistani way, but most of the children were against it. Most of all they wanted to live by making their own decisions. Their father was all about doing everything his way. This is why the development theory best describes the Khan family. Even though the children tried very hard to break from the normal cycle, George was always there to put them back in line.
The overall health of the Khan family was very mediocre. An example of this is that they would get just enough of everything, and never get an abundance of anything. The children were always clean, and got enough food, but did not have many luxuries. And the family would be civil with each other, but not all happy and lovey-dovey. Since there were so many children each child did not get a lot of attention from both parents. Therefore the Khan family`s overall wellbeing was usually good, but never great.