Social Psychology 2017-2018 Name: Jirat Prasertmak

Quarter Project ID: 5861035

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2004) Movie Analysis

Section 1: Nature & Nurture

As I watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button movie, I have seen the relationship
to Social Psychology as follows:
Nature is a thing that humans were born with and influenced by biological factors.
Benjamin Button who is the male protagonist had his own individual differences due to his
unique genetic factor. Benjamin was born with condition of prematurely being senile in both
appearance and physique, but his mind was still young. The recessive characteristics made him
different from others. Moreover, he lived with old-age abilities and unusual circumstances
meaning that he did not ought to live in community of the old due to his young age which is
elderly care, so he may be nurtured among old people. Furthermore, he learned and adapted to
be adult in order to fit with his appearance such as the situation that his friend told him to walk
back to the nursing home and he could do it. As it is mentioned, Benjamin was not only
surrounded by peoples contact but he also got a good care from his stepmother, Queenie
Weathers, so it may not cause him become a feral boy.
According to the movie, Benjamins father, Thomas Button, abandoned him to the
nursing home because his father thought that he was a monster. Luckily, Queenie found and
took care of him like her own child. The stepmother brought up Benjamin with authoritative
parenting style which she put a lot of effort and taught consequences of dangerous things and
what he should avoid. He was so special to her because she cannot have a baby at that time.
Moreover, she used to take care of and work with other people due to her job, a caregiver at the
nursing home in New Orleans, the United State of America, so she may know the ways to
foster. For instance, he could not bathe and Queenie helped him due to his disabilities in doing
some routine. Queenie also set rules, and disciplines, and enforced him to follow because she
realized to Benjamins safety risks; however, she explained consequences.
According to Jean Piagets Principles of Gradual Development, there are four stages
which are mentioned as follows: the first one is maturation stage, Benjamin uses facial
expression and body language to express what he felt such as when he smiled, he showed how
happy he was. In the stage of gaining experiences, he learned to do things and helped himself
as he grew up such as when he learned to go back home by himself after he hung out with his
friend. Moreover, he leaned to talk more with the teenage girl, Daisy, whose grandmother lived
in the nursing home and played with her. The next stage is social transmission, he learned to do
a new things from his circumstances which are mostly for adults. For example, his father,
Thomas, took him to a bar and he started drinking alcohol, and that may be normal for his
society. He might be taught that cigarette is not good and insisted not to smoke any of them,
and that showed how he was nurtured since he was young age. However, he might think of and
accept different ideas in the stage of process of equilibrium.
Social Psychology 2017-2018 Name: Jirat Prasertmak
Quarter Project ID: 5861035

Section 2: Understanding about Genders and Conformity

Benjamins comprehension and perception towards genders had changed over time in
the movie due to his surrounding people. Since he was born, he was taught everything but
couples love which he should learn by himself. Nevertheless, he really felt good to talk with the
first girl, except his stepmother, who is Daisy; furthermore, it seemed to be more than friendship
but Benjamin did not know what the relationship it was. He knew just female was the beautiful
gender. He had his thought of kids until he met his chief, Mike Clark. When Benjamin got a job
in Mikes ship, he met many people and experienced new things. Once, Mike asked him if he
had been with any girls and how many and he said no. After they finished work, Mike brought
him to a brothel, that is the first time for him to have sex with girls and learned how male and
female are different in physical terms. It seemed like he really enjoyed and had sexual desire.
The main protagonists statement demonstrate the symptoms of groupthink that he
experienced in the movie which can be classified as belief in group morality, direct pressure,
shared stereotypes. In the scene when Benjamin talked to Daisy about their child, he insisted
that he could not raise someone up and be a father because he was continuously getting young
in his physique; therefore, it shows belief in group morality. Finally, he reasonably refused to
take care of his child and abandoned Daisy and his daughter. Direct pressure was revealed in
the scene at his work, Benjamin had to decide to leave home and join the war with U.S. navy
while enemies closely moved towards the country. Moreover, his actions of making decision
exhibited the shared stereotypes in the scene of when he and his colleagues decided to kill
enemies in order to save the country while they were on risks.

Section 3: Adulthood, Old Age, and Death

Benjamin Button went through Levinsons Seasons of Life Theory which has five stages
of adulthood. The first one is early adulthood which is the transition from teenager to adult, he
learned to seek independence and the other side of the world. He began with getting a job of
crew on Mikes boat and he started new things as well as explored the possibilities of adult living
such as drinking and making love. In early-middle adulthood stage, he seeked for more freedom
and together with career development; thereby, he was promoted to be a full-time crew and his
father will to Benjamin with his company and estates. He had stable financial status and went
back to the nursing home. Furthermore, he started saving and leaving money behind Daisy in
order to have budget to bring up Caroline when he was not there with them due to his reverse
aging. In the late adulthood stage, he started with new life goal and traveled around the world
after he left the family. He was getting younger but his mind was opposite to the body.
As he used to live in community of the old, he always realized that everyone is going to
reach the end of lifespan. According to Kubler-Rosss Stages of Grief Theory, Benjamin got to
the acceptance stage when he knew that one day he will die as an incapable baby by
understanding his own condition. Throughout his life, he knew that he was born with reverse
aging appearance as well as he lived with that condition and saw how it had changed; in
addition, his body was getting younger continuously while his mind was old as others in the
same age. Furthermore, that was the reason why he left their family because he did not want
Daisy to not only raise Caroline up but also take care of him. He could accept what he was and
Social Psychology 2017-2018 Name: Jirat Prasertmak
Quarter Project ID: 5861035

he enjoyed his life by traveling abroad. For Daisy, she realized and changed the point of view
that Benjamin was dying and she ought to take care of him as much as she can do her best in
order to prolong to stay with Benjamin after she did not understand Benjamins reason of his
desertion.