The Poker House

In July 2022, I watched The Poker House for the first time on the television set. The drama was released in 2008 and was done six years later in Japan. It was scripted and directed by Lori Petty. It was also based on Petty's experiences in her middle teens. Jennifer Lawrence stars it. Chloë Grace Moretz also acted in it.

It depicts one day of the life of Agnes who used to live with her violent father, lives in a brothel with her mother and two little sisters, and have harsh experiences with her sisters.

My father always threatened my families with his physical strength and employed brute force against us in a bad mood without hesitation, so I had always thought of myself as unhappy, however, one day I knew that the father of my friend in my high-school days was like my father. Then I gradually realized that a lot of children were more unhappy than me after I left my families, started to live myself and heard various stories from people who I met and the mass media reporting about actual child abuse cases. Moreover, I knew Agness who is the oldest of three sisters in the movie. Considering that she was in the middle of her youth, it was really sad that she was raped but her mother did not even console her just after that, what was worse, she coldly handle her daughter. Nevertheless, Agnes grew without being corrupted afterwards. What a wonderful young woman! 

I believe that announcing a true story like that is a good thing. Parents who cannot love their children surely exist. It is risky to blindly believe that every parent loves their children from the bottom of their heart. Many children cannot say what they want to do in reality due to the belief.

Jennifer Lawrence passionately and wonderfully performed the role of Agnes whose character is based on the experiences in the youth of the director, Lori Petty. As for Sarah, Agnes' mother, considering that a human's true colors show when the worst happens, she was bad because she did not really care for her oldest daughter, though she deserved some sympathy, for she could not help selling herself for money and indulging in alcohol and drugs.

Frankly speaking, I watched it because I wanted to see Chloë Grace Moretz. She was really lovely as Mindy and Hit-Girl in Kick-Ass that was released in 2010 in the United States. Although she was really pretty especially when she was shaking her head to the rock music in the cars in the 2008 flick, yet the charm and presence of Jennifer Lawrence was more overwhelming patly because Chloë then was just a child.