Introduction to Psychology Chanisorn (Minnie)

Movie Analysis Essay 1 5761018

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Movie Analysis

Time never returns, but for him, his time reversed. Benjamin Button, the main

character of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) undergoed a genetic disorder that

make him started his life with an old age. His unluckiness forced him to live abnormally, but

only the appearance. He lived his life as wonderful as others did. The Curious Case of

Benjamin Button showed the complexity of ones life consisting of different psychological

factors.

Although his appearance was contrasting to any other child, his mind was as young as

others. Since Buttons infancy, Queenie, his foster mother, brought him up in hospice.

According to Fetal Development, Buttons biological factors influenced his appearance; he

looked old ever since he was born. However, in environmental factor, he had been

well-treated by Queenie and also everyone in the hospice.

When he became a toddler, his babys capacity, mental and physical ability, formed.

For example, he recognised the spoon and its role, and he also could hold his spoon even

when he was in the stage of infancy. It also showed his cognitive development on being able

to remember the object and know its usage.

His childhood had been influenced by living in the hospice where there were only

elderly people. Based on Social Learning Theory, environmental factors shape ones mind to

act. In result, Button observed the people around him and from time to time, he imitated them

which contributed to his behavior. He thought he was an elder and conformed the social

norms in the hospice. He also attached to his foster mother and always obeyed her, but when

her mother gave birth to her real child, her mother took care of the new child more than him.
However, he didnt feel any loss or depressed because he was familiar with all the people

there. By that, he became an secure child in which he can maintain his mothers relationship

even when her absent.

Until his late childhood, he met Daisy, the first youngest girl he ever met. As Frueds

Theory of Psychosexual Development stated in phallic phase, the child learns to realise the

differences between males and females. This phase can clearly seen in the first time Button

met Daisy in which he was interested in her and also drawn to her.

There are major transitions in both social and physical happened in his adolescence

stage that started to shape his life in the future. Button confused about who he was due to his

body transition; his hair started to grow from all the parts of his body. He started to have

spermarche-period during which males achieve first ejaculation. His mind set changed from

being attached to mother to seeking for independence. His first action was when he left the

house with his friend and able to come back home by himself. Later, he left home for a longer

period of time and seeking for a job. At the time, his age was quite young, but in spite of his

appearance, ageism occurred; people in the society discriminated his age. Eventually, he got a

job, working on a boat, and resocialized into new society. He was able to accompany with

people on the boat; it showed that he was an adaptive person. This was because of the

authoritative parenting styles he was brought up with. The overall of this stage, he underwent

both the physical changes and environmental changes of new society.

In his adulthood, he had all the control of his life which he chose his own path of

living. He permanently left the his home and joined WWII fight on a boat. He formed some

companions which introduced him new understandings. This was an example of

Developmental Friendship where his friend forced him to reexamine his basic assumptions

and adopt new ideas. After some time, he visited home and reunited with Daisy. They fell in
love and lived together. According to Levinsons Seasons of Adulthood, Button experienced

the season of transition where he had to adapt his lifestyle to fit in his wifes lifestyle.

Not only he had to adapt to a new way of life, but he also needed to choose. He

formed an Autonomy in which he was be able to take care of himself and make his own

decisions. The most significant choice was when he decided to leave his wife and child for

the sake of his childs future. He went to different parts of the world. After he left Daisy for

several years, Stagnation, a discontinuation of development and a desire to recapture the past,

formed. He missed his wife and child, but he cannot anything about it.

During his dying stage, even though his appearance reversed back, common aging

disorders still occurred. Though, he was old, but acted like a kid. As seen in one scene that he

climbed up to the roof and did not want to come down. However, there was also time that he

acted like an elderly. In the film, Buttons forgot the person he used know best, Daisy. The

activities he did in a day tended to be forgotten such as forgetting that he already eaten

breakfast. This was the result of Alzheimers disease, which occurred in old people. Until the

last moment of his life, he became an infant in which he cant talk or recognised anyone.

Although it seemed that he was not aware of dying in that time, he already thought

about it ahead of time. When he chose to left his family, he knew that at last he will die as an

infancy. As explained in Kulbler Rosss stage of dying, he was in the acceptance phase; he

understood his life consequences and was inevitable.

Buttons bizarre life consequence made him extraordinary, but he never aliened

himself from the society. Instead, he lived a happy and healthy life throughout. Both

environmental and biological factors mainly influenced him. It was also because of the way

he brought up and how he choose to live, regret and miserable, or live the way he wanted to.