In this film Benjamin was born with
the body of an old man and grows physically younger as time passes. This work
covers the emotion of great romance and the tragic inevitability of a life
story. In relation to study of man, Benjamin Button still possesses the
character of being a unique individual who can think, can decide and has a
sense of control.Benjamin Button is
also concerned with the different approaches of man such as atomistic approach
in which man is viewed as an organism composed of different organ system and
holistic approach in which man is viewed in all aspect of his behavior.Despite of the circumstances during his early
years, he was able to surpass all of these because of natural motivation.
Benjamin Button’s life doesn’t
chronologically follow the psychosexual theory development of Freud and
Erickson, Piaget’s four stages as well as Kohlberg’s stages of Moral
Development. According to this film, age is much more than just a number. Not
only does it state our physical condition but our behavior and disposition as
well. Benjamin isn’t just born with the body of an old man-he’s born with the
mind and tastes of an old man. As he gets younger, it’s not just his body
that’s more vigorous, but also his social interests and passion for life. Age
plays a big part in Identity and “US” as an individual is going to change as we
get older and that’s just the way it goes. What makes Benjamin miserable and
depressed in this film is having to pretend he’s in an age that he isn’t.
Upon watching this film different
questions popped into my mind such as: “Is it possible that certain individual
won’t be able to undergo sequentially the theory of development?”“If everything in Benjamin’s life is
predetermined does he have a free will?”According to study of man: “ Man as a spiritual being has two components
in the power of transcendence, which are “Intellect” (in which it allows man to
look for the truth but even though he can perceive his surroundings he can’t
still find the answer why he was under that circumstance of growing younger. )
and “Will” (in which man’s own wishes, desire or longing to do what he has set
his mind to do is express; it gives him the power of conscious and deliberate
action or self-control in initiating or terminating human activity but because
of that unusual circumstance of growing younger, Benjamin wasn’t able to do
certain human activity of a normal individual of his age.) Benjamin wasn’t even
given the chance to have the power to direct his life in a normal development
as stated in different theories and moral development. Lastly, In life and existence, There is a
certain image of ourselves that we hold and sooner or later that image is no
longer an accurate representation of who we are. Learning to adapt to who we
have become is hard, I suppose by nature we want things to stay the way they
are if they’re good. Sometimes you know or experience too much, you longed for
what “once was” – yet all these experiences come together to form who we are and
this is an indication that we are living. The story shows that the best part of
your life doesn’t in fact come at the beginning. You’re as helpless and
dependent as a child as you’re as an old person. However, there is a certain
“golden period” for most of us that we look forward to as children and then
look back upon longingly as senior citizens. Depending on individual
experiences, this may vary greatly. But it’s safe to say that it doesn’t come
towards either the beginning or the end.