Integrated Paper

Summary

The movie that this paper will analyze sociologically is, Garden State. This movie is mainly about a guy, Andrew Largeman, who is in his late twenties, coming to terms with his mother’s death and then consequently finding himself. After returning home to the Garden State for his mother’s funeral, he continually reconnects with old friends and their current lives. He then meets a young woman, Sam, with whom he becomes involved. He then discovers who he is through his interactions with Sam and reinvents his future by dealing with his past.

Analysis

Culture

When Andrew was about ten years old, he accidentally pushed his mother backward onto the open dishwasher door. This made her paralyzed for the rest of her life. Andrew was sanctioned for this act by being sent away to boarding school by his parents. This is because they thought he had emotional anger issues. The only part in the movie where the audience learns about this is when Andrew tells some of his friends near the end of the movie.

Earlier in the movie, Sam, breaks the informal norm of wearing a helmet when not on a motorized vehicle. She wears this helmet as a precaution because she has Epilepsy. The law firm she works at makes her wear it so she wouldn’t get hurt if she had a seizure while at work. It is a legal precaution for the firm.

Socialization

Andrew has to become resocialized when he finally accepts his past and learns how to move on with his life. This happens when he lets go of his emotions and tells Sam all about his relationship with his mother and his guilt from the accident. After this point, he realizes that his life has to change. He resocializes by living his new life in a way that leaves him more open to emotion and love.

Sam can be seen as a significant other of Andrew’s. She is a person who is important in his life and in Andrew’s development. Even though this development is happening again in his adult life, it is still important. Sam plays such an important role in Andrew’s life because he is the first person that he truly loves outside of his parents. They deeply care for each other and that is why Sam can help Andrew change.

Social Interaction and Social Structure

Andrew’s father, Gideon, experiences role conflict because of his two differing status positions of: father and psychiatrist. He abuses his achieved status as a psychiatrist, by treating his son for his assumed depression by prescribing unnecessary pharmaceutical drugs. Gideon shouldn’t be treating Andrew because he is Andrew’s father. In the scene where Andrew goes to see a Neurologist to get a MRI scan, Andrew tells him that his father has been prescribing him Lithium for his whole life. The Neurologist says, “He (Gideon) should know better.” And he should not be prescribing Andrew to take large amounts of the drug, Lithium, when Gideon is assuming that Andrew suffers from depression. He assumes Andrew suffers from depression because of the accident which included Andrew’s mother.

Groups and Organizations

On a Micro-level, Andrew belongs to an in-group which is made up of his friends. This is personified by the scene when Andrew is at a party with his friends. They are experimenting with various types of illegal drugs and alcohol while having a good time. Andrew has a sense of belonging with his group of friends and they have a lot of the same interests; such as partying and having a good time. At the party, they play spin the bottle and take a hit of the illegal drug, Ecstasy. They can also be considered a clique as an example of a type of in-group.

Also, Andrew is part of a dyad, which is made up of him and Sam. They form this two person group because they are dating each other. They share a special level of intimacy that Andrew doesn’t have within his larger group of friends. And although Sam is his friend also, she is more importantly, his girlfriend.

Deviance and Social Control

Andrew experiences the self-criteria of deviance because he feels guilt over his mother’s accident and resulting paralysis. He feels like it was his fault that she was paralyzed and had to be in a wheel-chair. His guilt is felt the