Social Psychology 2017-2018 Name: Popsarut Akkho (Nut)

Quarter Project ID: 5961076

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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2004) Movie Analysis

Section 1: Nature & Nurture

Benjamin Buttons nature was very different from kids his age because he was borned old, his
nature however, was very similar to other kids because his mind is that of a child and he didnt
grow up as a feral child because he was raised up by someone. As a baby, he had many diseases
that old people have such as cataract. His body was very weak compared to people his age, due
to having a body of an old man on the verge of death when he was borned. Like other newborn
babies, he couldnt move, see, breath or eat properly, but the reasons was different though, other
kids couldnt because their bodys not develop enough, but Benjamin couldnt because he have
all of the disease that an old man would have and also a dying body that an old man would have.
His nurture however, was very similar to kids his age because only his body was borned old. For
example, theres one scene in the films, that even though Benjamin looked like an old man, but
he wanted to move the wheelchair down the stairs to go exploring, an old man wouldnt do that,
only a kid would. Like other babies, he was born knowing nothing and the person that adopted
him also raised him up like he was her own child, so even though he look like an old man, his
behaviour is that of a kid his age. Thats also the reason why Benjamin didnt grow up to be a
feral child. His mind or brain is that of a child, so he could still learn language and other things a
child would learn. He also was raised up and was taught by someone, which is the number one
thing that feral child lack.

Benjamins biological and foster parents parenting style affecting his cognition are uninvolved
and permissive, respectively. His biological parent is using uninvolved because right after he was
borned, he was abandoned by his father at a young age. His foster parents however, use
permissive style because they allow Benjamin to grow up freely and they failed to supervised
some of Benjamins behaviour such as when he went outside for the first time with or the time he
went to the brothels. His biological fathers parenting style affect his way of thinking about
raising a child. If his father didnt abandoned him, then he mightve stay with his wife and
daughter and didnt just left them without saying anything to them at night like his biological
father. His foster mom however, let him grow up to be whoever he wanted to be because she
gave quite a lot of freedom to Benjamin due to her having to take care of other oldmen and
oldwomen as well.

Like everyone else Benjamin went through the 4 stages of Gradual Development; Maturation,
Gaining experiences, Social transmission and The process of equilibrium. Maturation happened
when Benjamin was left on the stairs, when Queenies boyfriend stepped over him he cried and
thanks to that people noticed him. If he couldnt cried then he would have been left to died due to
nobody noticing him. He gained experienced when he was raised up by Queenie. Social
transmission when he observed Queenie and other people. He was also taught to do many things
by Queenie for example when he first tried to walk, he know how to because he saw other people
did it all the time, so he tried to walk by himself when he was encouraged by the father. Lastly,
the went through the process of equilibrium when people react to him as if he was an old man,
Social Psychology 2017-2018 Name: Popsarut Akkho (Nut)
Quarter Project ID: 5961076

but deep inside, he know that he was a kid. For, example when Daisy brought him to go out at
night, he go along and play with her. If he was an old man, he probably would stay sleeping or
told her to go to sleep. Even if people react to him like an old man, deep down, he knows that
hes a kid.

Section 2: Understanding about Genders and Conformity

Benjamin Buttons perception towards genders changed over time in the movie. It first started
when he first met Daisy. Even though on the outside hes old, on the inside hes young and
because of that he didnt feel anything for an old lady he always met. He described the time that
he first met daisy as seeing the most beautiful woman in the world. However, at that time I
believed that his view toward woman didnt change that much from the time he havent met
Daisy yet because he was still inexperienced with these sort of feeling like other kids his age and
also the fact that parents tends to hide things about sex until their kids got older and some parents
dont even teach their kids about sex at all, so thats probably why we didnt see him trying to
flirt with Daisy. I believed that peoples view on something tend to change when people learned
about something that they didnt know before, so I believed his perception to the opposite sex
take a major leaps when he went to the brothel with Captain Mike and have sex for the first time.
He learnt what men and women are suppose to do to have babies and having good time because
his foster mom didnt tell him about it due to him being too young. Another important things that
happen to Benjamin that caused his perception towards genders change is when he have an affair
with Elizabeth because before, he just have sex with women for pleasure but not love, however,
he first learnt what love is when he starts dating/having an affair with Elizabeth. We see that it
was the first time in his life that he deeply cared or loving(romantic) someone for the first time.

Like everyone, Benjamin has experienced or accepted groupthink or conformity. Benjamin first
experienced groupthink or conformity when he was told that he didnt have much time to live
due to being born an old man with many diseases and very weak body. His mother was told that
Benjamin didnt have much time to live and some creatures arent meant to survive. by the
doctor, she accepted that fact and told everyone about it. As Benjamin grow up, his mom told
him that he didnt have much time left to live and everybody in the retirement home also thought
that, which is why he accepted the fact that hell died soon. However, that thought didnt last
forever because as Benjamin grew older his time never came and people that he knew started to
died before him one by one. His parents both biological and foster, then started to think or
accepted the fact that Benjamin grow young instead of old, so he also believed that as well.

Section 3: Adulthood, Old Age, and Death

Benjamin experienced the same Season of Life of what other people go through, but in reversed
because of his body was that of an old man. The first stage of life that Benjamin experienced was
retirement stage. He couldnt do anything due to not being strong enough and he required people
to take care of him, the scene where he used wheelchair to go around the retirement home was a
good example of that because he couldnt do work and can only live without doing any hard
work. After the retirement stage, he faced the Late Adulthood stage. This stage is where most
people prepare for old age or retirement age, but it was the opposite for Benjamin, he was
preparing for Middle-Adulthood stage by learning how to work with Captain Mike. Even
Social Psychology 2017-2018 Name: Popsarut Akkho (Nut)
Quarter Project ID: 5961076

Though, he was old and didnt have lots of energy, he volunteered for the work and earning
income for himself for the first time, but like other people at this stage, he couldnt do works that
required lots of energy that young people usually do. Then he experienced the Middle-
Adulthood, in this stage after he was done with the sailing life he had with Captain Mike, he
went back home. This showed that he finished with the preparation and decided to adjusted his
life and settle down, instead of sailing around the world. However, when he decided that his wife
wont be able to take care of both him and his child in the future, he decided to sell everything he
possessed to make sure that his wife and child have a good life and go on a self-discovery
journey around the world by himself. This is where he entered the Early-Middle Adulthood
period because he experienced with many lifestyles around the world and learned stuff he
couldnt before. Lastly, he faced the Early-Adulthood period, at this stage after he came back
from his journey he transit from Adulthood to Teenage, we see this at the end of the movie as he
grew younger, he could do less and less things due to becoming a child and losing his memory,
when he was an adult.

Benjamin Button went through the stages of grief and reached the Acceptance stage. He knew
that as he grew more and more, hes getting younger, so hell died as a toddler. We see him
going through some of the stage of grief, for example he reached the depression stage, when he
discussed it with his wife, Daisy, he sounded upset about himself growing young and wont be
able to be his daughters daddy, he then reached the acceptance stage when he decided to left
behind his wife and daughter to go traveling around the world, so that they wont have to take
care of him, when he became a baby, he also sold all his possession to save money for his wife
and daughter in the future, so that they wont have that much of a hard times, when he was gone.
However, the film didnt show Benjamin in the first few stages of grief though, we started to see
him thinking about it, when he was already at depression stage. His wife reached the acceptance
stage, when she was taking care of Benjamin when he became a kid and keep forgetting things,
such as how to walk, speak, etc. and also when she was taking care of Benjamin before he died
remembered who Daisy was.