A Relationship Revolution: Child-Centred Parenthood in Contemporary Children’s Cinema

The social norms and codes regarding children and childhood in a society largely determine how adults interact with children. In 1979, Sweden was the first country in the world to abolish corporal punishment on children and this, argues the chapter, has laid the foundation for the Nordic way of child rearing. By starting from the personal experience of moving from France to Sweden and drawing on childhood studies, the author discusses the child-adult relationships in the films Cloudboy (2017) and Mini-Zlatan and Uncle Darling (2022), demonstrating what has been referred to as a ‘child-centred parenthood’. The child is here in the center of attention and an individual who is to be respected, which creates a will to cooperate with children instead of scaring them into fear. Both films tell stories about children with somewhat complicated relations to their parents. The protagonists Ella and Niilas are deeply affectionate but also rebellious, sensitive but also headstrong, and to be able to grow into harmonious persons, they need understanding adults who really listen to them and treat them with goodwill and respect. By portraying child rearing as a learning process for the adults to the same extent as for the children, the films depict the ‘relationship revolution’ that has taken place in the families of the Nordic countries. Finally, the author reflects upon the significant differences between Swedish and French society when it comes to notions of children and childhood, concluding that her homeland could learn from the extensive experience and the large knowledge base in the North.