A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis of ‘The Kids Are All Right’ by Nancy Fox
The Kids Are All Right is the story of lesbian couple Nic and Jules Allgood, both in their 40’s, and their children, Joni (18) and Laser (15), conceived via artificial insemination with sperm from the same donor. The film — co-scripted by Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blomberg, directed by Cholodenko, and performed by Annette Bening and Julianne Moore as Nic and Jules, Mark Ruffalo as Paul (“donor dadâ€), and Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson as Joni and Laser – explores the multifarious ways that the family is disrupted by Laser’s desire to bring his “donor dad,†Paul, into the otherwise female context he inhabits.