Royal Tennenbaum is a character in the movie, The Royal Tennenbaum's (2001). He's an estranged husband and the father of three proclaimed genius children. For over twenty years he lives the high life in an upscale hotel prior to being kicked out due to non- payment. He is broke and has nowhere to live so he decides to fake a terminal illness in order to gain approval and refuge in his former home with his spouse. His adult children return home for various reasons and Royal takes to task mending his broken relationships under the guise of having cancer. Royal realizes he has missed out on his children lives and begins trying to make up for the lost time. The boyfriend of his spouse discovers his lie and tells the family to kick him out, which they do. From this point Royal obtains a job and continues mending his relationships and learning more about his family. In the end, Royal dies of a heart attack but not before he was able to make peace with his children, give's his wife the divorce she wants so she is free to marry her boyfriend and becomes a hero to his grandkids. .
Thoughts of Royal.
Royal Tennenbaum does not display a healthy adult personality as viewed by personality theorist Gordon Allport, (Schultz & Schultz, 2009). Although Royal's childhood is unknown, it is clear he lacks several healthy adult trait criteria such as; realistic perception of life, compassion and tolerance and also seems to lack a drive to future goals. Royal Tennenbaum does not show compassion or concern for his children and belittles their achievements at times when he should be congratulating them. He shows no excitement for his young daughter's accomplishment as a playwright and feel the need to down play her success. In addition, instead of lifting his son's spirits after a suicide attempt he recalls how his son let him down during a tennis match. He did not take his career as a lawyer seriously, which is shown by his disbarment after having been convicted of stealing bonds from his business oriented teen son.
