Developmental Psychology in the Movie Big Daddy
Binyomin Levy
Baltimore City Community College
How Developmental Psychology is Portrayed Big Daddy
Plot Summary The movie Big Daddy begins with a phone conversation between the main character, Sonny Koufax and his father (Giarraputo & Dugan, 1999). The conversation portrays Sonny as an adult who does not take on adult responsibilities. Sonny, who works once a week as tollbooth attendant is having relationship troubles with his girlfriend Vanessa, who wants a partner that behaves as adult. Vanessa goes out of town in order to rethink her relationship with Sonny. While Vanessa is out of town, Sonny attends a goodbye party for his roommate, Kevin, who is leaving to China for work.
The morning …show more content…
This means that a young adult must find a life partner to share his or her life with or face isolation from society. Researchers have found that in order successfully resolve the crisis of intimacy versus isolation, one must first resolve the identity versus confusion crisis. A successful resolution of the identity versus confusion stage involves one having a clear understanding of who they are and what they want to do. In the beginning of Big Daddy, Sonny is accurately portrayed as an 32 year old man who has not resolved his identity versus role confusion crisis (Boyd & Bee, 2014). As a result of this Sonny was also unable to resolve his crisis of intimacy versus isolation. The fact that Sonny works once a week as at a tollbooth without having career plans shows that Sonny does not have a clear sense of identity (Giarraputo & Dugan, 1999). Additionally, 32 years old Sonny does not have a stable partner with whom he can engage in a supportive relationship and share his feelings with without fearing the relationship will end. This is shown when Sonny argues and lies to his girlfriend which leads to them breaking …show more content…
It simply shows Sonny as individual who has resolved in intimacy versus isolation crisis one year, three months, and six days after his court case. Additionally, it would be interesting to see Sonny as an adolescent in order to better understand what thoughts and behaviors caused Sonny to be unable to resolve his identity versus confusion crisis. While Sonny’s psychosocial crises were accurately portrayed, how Sonny resolved them was not shown. The film Big Daddy was about Sonny Koufax's experience raising Julian, a five year old boy who showed up on his doorstep (Giarraputo & Dugan, 1999). Sonny originally uses a permissive parenting style however he shifts to an authoritative parenting style after receiving complaints regarding Julian's behavior. Julian displays aggressive behavior behavior possibly due to modeling and reinforcement from Sonny or due to the neglect that Julian experienced (Boyd & Bee, 2014). After living as a very immature adult, Sonny successfully resolves his psychosocial crisis of intimacy versus isolation at the end of Big
Binyomin Levy
Baltimore City Community College
How Developmental Psychology is Portrayed Big Daddy
Plot Summary The movie Big Daddy begins with a phone conversation between the main character, Sonny Koufax and his father (Giarraputo & Dugan, 1999). The conversation portrays Sonny as an adult who does not take on adult responsibilities. Sonny, who works once a week as tollbooth attendant is having relationship troubles with his girlfriend Vanessa, who wants a partner that behaves as adult. Vanessa goes out of town in order to rethink her relationship with Sonny. While Vanessa is out of town, Sonny attends a goodbye party for his roommate, Kevin, who is leaving to China for work.
The morning …show more content…
This means that a young adult must find a life partner to share his or her life with or face isolation from society. Researchers have found that in order successfully resolve the crisis of intimacy versus isolation, one must first resolve the identity versus confusion crisis. A successful resolution of the identity versus confusion stage involves one having a clear understanding of who they are and what they want to do. In the beginning of Big Daddy, Sonny is accurately portrayed as an 32 year old man who has not resolved his identity versus role confusion crisis (Boyd & Bee, 2014). As a result of this Sonny was also unable to resolve his crisis of intimacy versus isolation. The fact that Sonny works once a week as at a tollbooth without having career plans shows that Sonny does not have a clear sense of identity (Giarraputo & Dugan, 1999). Additionally, 32 years old Sonny does not have a stable partner with whom he can engage in a supportive relationship and share his feelings with without fearing the relationship will end. This is shown when Sonny argues and lies to his girlfriend which leads to them breaking …show more content…
It simply shows Sonny as individual who has resolved in intimacy versus isolation crisis one year, three months, and six days after his court case. Additionally, it would be interesting to see Sonny as an adolescent in order to better understand what thoughts and behaviors caused Sonny to be unable to resolve his identity versus confusion crisis. While Sonny’s psychosocial crises were accurately portrayed, how Sonny resolved them was not shown. The film Big Daddy was about Sonny Koufax's experience raising Julian, a five year old boy who showed up on his doorstep (Giarraputo & Dugan, 1999). Sonny originally uses a permissive parenting style however he shifts to an authoritative parenting style after receiving complaints regarding Julian's behavior. Julian displays aggressive behavior behavior possibly due to modeling and reinforcement from Sonny or due to the neglect that Julian experienced (Boyd & Bee, 2014). After living as a very immature adult, Sonny successfully resolves his psychosocial crisis of intimacy versus isolation at the end of Big