As tabulated by Collins (1998:64) "The traditional family ideal projects a model of equality. A well-functioning family protects and balances the interests of all its members – the strong care for the weak, and everyone contributes to and benefits from family membership in proportion to his or her capacities." This statement is appealing to any family, but certainly is an ideal. Not all families can be seen as equal, which impacts the relationships within them. .
The role that friends play isn't typically considered when thinking about a marriage or intimate relationship, but is in fact very important. Emotional investment, common interests, trust, and influence (Allan 1992:41) can carry a lot of clout a relationship decisions. Not only are friendships outside of the relationship influential, but also having a friendship with your intimate partner is vital. The final concept that's unfortunately significant in the socialization of marriage and relationships is domestic violence. Domestic abuse is physical, emotional, or sexual violation, or most typically a combination of all three (London, Myers and Scott 2002:883). Both men and women are equally likely to carry out small acts of violence (McDaniel and Tepperman 2011:245) while varying past experiences make some more likely to be abusive than others. In exploring these findings, examples from popular culture are useful in understanding them. Two films that provide antithetical views on marriage and intimate relationships are "Gone Girl" (2014) and "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" (2002). .
"Gone Girl" is a dramatic film that was created after the novel written by Gillian Flynn. It is the story of a suspicious disappearance of the brilliant and jealous character, Amy Dunne, on the day of her wedding anniversary to husband Nick Dunne. Throughout the film we are shown flashbacks of manipulative behavior and domestic abuse, eventually leading us to find out that Amy intentionally planned the entire disappearance.