Ordinary People Movie Analysis

Although the film Ordinary People (1980) was made thirty-eight years ago, I still found myself enjoying the movie. I was sucked into the movie and the story it told. “Ordinary People” archives the Jarrett Family and how they respond to the death of their son Buck. The death was caused by a boating accident. Beth (the mother) and Calvin (the father) seem to be a loving couple. The couple have many friends and their home that they live in is beautiful. They seem to live a very ideal life. Their son Buck was even what some would call a perfect child. The movie seems to introduce Buck in flashbacks. In the flashback we can see Beth laughing and smiling as she spends moments with Buck. However, in present time the mother seems to be in …show more content…
Then there is Conrad, the little brother of Buck. Conrad seems to also be in quite a bit of emotional pain. However, unlike his mother his pain is worn on his sleeve and can easily be seen. As the movie continues, we soon learn about Conrad's attempted suicide. His father, Calvin, sees that Conrad is having trouble with his emotions, and soon gets Conrad to go see a psychiatrist and was hospitalised for about 3-4 months, but eventually was discharged. The Dr was able to get Conrad to talk about the emotions that he was suppressing. The sessions with Dr Berger reveal that Buck, the “perfect” child, was always his mother’s favourite. It seems that the mother didn't give Conrad enough attention compared to buck. As a result this caused Conrad to feel emotionally neglected. Unfortunately This feeling of not being loved by his mother seems to have worsened since the death of Buck and the movie displays proof to support this view. Conrad slowly starts to express his feelings about the boat accident and his brother’s death. Conrad begins to recover as he starts dating girl from school but an unexpected event threatens his improving mental state. He turns in crisis to Dr Berger …show more content…
Obviously the movie was about loss.However, the loss is about more than the loss about the eldest child. It is also about the loss that the family members continue to experience throughout the movie. I started to think about Conrad's development in the film. As a result, I started to examine Conrad's development from the perspective of Erik Erikson's stages of psychosocial. As an audience member I wanted to see how Conrad's social environment affected his development. “ According to Erikson, the ego develops as it successfully resolves crises that are distinctly social in nature. These involve establishing a sense of trust in others, developing a sense of identity in society, and helping the next generation prepare for the future” (McLeod,