The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button Film Studies Essay

In 2008, the short story was adapted to fit the big screen and unlike the short story the movie adaptation ran for almost three hours (“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” n.d.) . Most people could read Fitzgerald’s version three-four times over in that amount of time the movie took. The basis of both the book and movie was simplistic yet versions told the fictional life story of a man living and experiencing life as he is developing physically backwards and cognitively forwards.

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” is a rarity because normal Hollywood/story adaptations lack well developed variations of the story in their respective ways. They both are designed to force the reader or movie goer to self- reflect on their own life experiences. Benjamin Button’s life was an incredible account of events and relationships that were discovered, created, built and lost throughout his life-span. However, while he accomplished so much he was unable to live a life in the normal development pattern, but it allowed him and the reader/movie goer to view life from a different perspective.

However his love of life is always strong and he spends a lifetime experiencing events on the opposite side of the spectrum dealing with the frustrations and hardship of being different (DeFilippis, Weir, Cornell, & Fitzgerald, 2008). “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” demonstrates developmental stages in reverse in such detail that one might believe it is not a completely fictional story. The story demonstrates the life experiences and development in a graceful depiction of life, love, and the events we expect to happen but never absolutely occur in exact linear progression.

Benjamin Button’s journey starts off with his birth at a hospital, during a non-traditional period where hospitals were unusual settings for birth (DeFilippis, Weir, Cornell, & Fitzgerald, 2008). This depicts the framework for the awkward experiences ahead. A hospital delivering babies was not a American societal custom in the 1860’s. It was assumed that children were better off being born in the home in a safe environment even if the environment did not include a doctor.

The intrigue of what is different about Benjamin is generated as the story builds, the doctor and the nurses at the hospital are depicted as rude and cruel towards the parents and newborn child. The doctor states that his “professional reputation” is damaged along with the odd reactions of the nurses (DeFilippis, Weir, Cornell, & Fitzgerald, 2008). The narrator describes apprehensive and petrified behaviors after the delivery of Benjamin Button, but the narrator does not mention why the hospital staff are reacting through trepidations descriptions.

When the peculiarity of Benjamin is finally explained, it leaves one to ponder the developmental process Benjamin will go through. Benjamin’s father is mortified, with the circumstance of his son’s condition and development. He even states that his son as an “appalling apparition” and expresses concern about the views of society and his culture will have when they meet Benjamin (DeFilippis, Weir, Cornell, & Fitzgerald, 2008). While his father struggles to process the situation.

The question his parents struggle with is trying to decide what stage of development Benjamin is developing in. As Erik Erikson’s theory states, Benjamin should be in a basic needs stage and learning about parental trust (Berk, 2012). Erikson defines trust as a critical openness of believing in the compassion that your parents will provide you with fundamental basic needs, and building a sense of one’s own trustworthiness of themselves and others. In normal case of development an infant depends on parents providing care and nourishment. Erikson’s theory places a high significance on the mother, providing an environment of nourishment and safety (Berk, 2012).

Benjamin’s development was not occurring in a trust or mistrust stage and not developing the need of parental influences, associated with basic trust and mistrust theory (Berk, 2012). Benjamin’s father demonstrated distant and apathetic feelings towards his son (DeFilippis, Weir, Cornell, & Fitzgerald, 2008). If Benjamin was developing normally, his father’s behavior would severely impact Benjamin’s ability to develop trust in people close to him. A child’s relative understanding of the world and society are largely modeled through parental interactions with their child. Benjamin’s mother was warmth, affectionate and loving towards Benjamin even though her son was very different (Berk, 2012).

Benjamin’s father acts with detestation about the condition of his son’s development (DeFilippis, Weir, Cornell, & Fitzgerald, 2008). . Benjamin is in a stage of later life cognitive thoughts and his emotional stage is one of slow physical productivity and exploration of reflections of a life accomplished tasks and self-integrity determines (Berk, 2009). Benjamin did not have these experiences, but he was portrayed through the story as living a happy, productive and meaningful life (DeFilippis, Weir, Cornell, & Fitzgerald, 2008). While his father develop a sense of despair and internalized his son’s condition as a failure of his own life, he believed this lead to constant internal disappointment in himself and his son. Mr. Button was not intrinsically motivated to help his son achieve and did was not demonstrating a content parental attitude and was not happy about providing his son with basic needs. If Benjamin was a normal developing child his father’s lack of providing parental support, learning opportunities and experiencing would severely impair Benjamin (Berk, 2009).

Mr. Button finds a costume suit, that he wants Benjamin to wear as normal clothes, Benjamin rightfully complains about the attire. Mr. Button is ferocious in his reply to his son and tells him he embarrassed him with his presents. Benjamin replies to his father in what could only be a learned response of offensive remarks towards his father and breaking the tension with a comical imitation of loving discourse towards his father (DeFilippis, Weir, Cornell, & Fitzgerald, 2008). .

His parents were still trying to feed him warm milk through bottles and he would joylessly shake his rattle to appease them. His parents were so confused about how to introduce him to socially appropriate activities, so they went with activities that were with children the same age as him. But Benjamin was establishing a taste of Havana cigars which he stole from his father, as he read the encyclopedia (DeFilippis, Weir, Cornell, & Fitzgerald, 2008). His parents pushed his peer interacts even though his condition placed him in a much advanced development stage. Benjamin was starting to transition into a new stage as he digressed from late life development levels to middle age stage behaviors and thoughts associated with cognitive thought processes displayed in late and middle age stages (Berk, 2009).

Benjamin would still try and appease his parents though age related behaviors such as breaking a window or break something to continue the age related behaviors that made his father happy (DeFilippis, Weir, Cornell, & Fitzgerald, 2008). Benjamin and his grandfather became good friends and were able to relate and they spent much time together. However, Benjamin was sent to kindergarten when he turned five and fell asleep so often that he was removed. Benjamin knew where he was in the developmental stages and felt childish not being able to wear long pants. When he asked that he be allowed to wear long pants, his father replied with needing to wait until he was fourteen. So, Benjamin feeling the need to advance his ability to leave a positive impact on society applied and successfully enrolled at Yale. However, he was unable to color his gray hair and was thrown out of Yale because they felt that he posed a threat. Benjamin was still frail in stature, but they decided that not understanding him was a danger. Benjamin went to Harvard and became a Harvard graduate instead (DeFilippis, Weir, Cornell, & Fitzgerald, 2008). .

Benjamin returns from war in 1880, as a twenty year old in a fifty year old body. His father looks more like a brother and their developmental cogitation parallel each other. Benjamin met Hildegarde Moncrief during a dance and reacts to her physically beauty, company and social equalities with instant adornment (DeFilippis, Weir, Cornell, & Fitzgerald, 2008). She felt just as strongly because she assumes he is in his fifties. She and Benjamin are engaged within six months. Benjamin is in the early stages of middle age and in the late stages that play a role in one’s quest for intimacy with a partner or being isolated due to rejection of intimacy (Berk, 2009). Benjamin and Hildegarde are at or around this development stage, neither one wants to be isolated from the affection of another. Both have established age related identities, and developed the ability to be in a long-term relationship, because they have formed intimate, mutual relationships that can include sacrifices and compromises needed in a healthy relationship require. Both of the characters understood this because of their cognitive development and knew what the other wanted (Berk, 2009). This could explain the lack of time it took Benjamin to ask for Hildegarde’s hand.

Benjamin and his wife have children and over the years he starts to appear younger. His interest in his wife is a losing battle along with his marriage, but he regains an interest in rejoining the army when war is declared (DeFilippis, Weir, Cornell, & Fitzgerald, 2008). . Benjamin leaves to fight in the Spanish-American War of 1898. Benjamin is moving from a development in the the Intimacy vs. Isolation confliction stage to a late stage development of commitment. Benjamin is starting to develop a confusion of identity. This may explain Benjamin’s desire to re-join the Army and go to war, and lose interest in his wife.

When Benjamin returns he finds his wife aging quickly and her development is taking place in the later stages of life, her hair is gray and he realizes that he is developing younger behaviors while she is developing in the opposite direction. They have a son and Ten years after his son graduates, from Harvard Benjamin goes to Harvard to play football and when he plays against Yale, he single handily scored seven touchdowns and fourteen field goals as a freshman athlete (DeFilippis, Weir, Cornell, & Fitzgerald, 2008). .

Benjamin development starts demonstrating the competence stage and at fifty-seven he enjoys reading stories and playing with age related peers, and he is considered a playful child (Berk, 2009). His son Roscoe is disgraced with him and is made that he is no longer a man but a child (DeFilippis, Weir, Cornell, & Fitzgerald, 2008). His son has a baby and he is a grandfather but they are attending kindergarten on the same day and in the same development level demonstrating autonomy abilities and feeling shame and self-doubt.

Benjamin slowly develops into the infant that his parents long ago wish he was and tried to raise him as and slowly developed into nothing dying peacefully as an infant(DeFilippis, Weir, Cornell, & Fitzgerald, 2008).