The Relationship Between Psychology and Movies

The relationship between Psychology and Movies

Movies are most of the time related to a human being’s life. Movies apply psychology to their plots. For example, movies like the StepMom directed by Chris Columbus, and Good Will Hunting directed by Gus Van Sant show us that psychology is part of our lives in a day to day base. It could go from a divorce to a person who is scared to take a step in life. The textbook, Psychology: Core Concept, by Philip G. Zimbarbo, Ann L. Weber, and Robert L. Johnson, utilizes examples from these movies. We are going to see how these movies relate to the core principles of psychology.

In Chapter four, we see how psychology starts all the way from the beginning of our lives. It shows how we as organisms change over time. We go from being a zygote to an embryo and then to a fetus. Then we go into behavior performance since we are born until we die. We start with little things like responding to sounds, recognizing our moms, moving from side to side, walking, talking, playing, and so forth. One big aspect of our life is learning to talk. We start out babbling, and then go into our one- word two-word stage, until we are able to learn grammar. Another aspect of our life is cognitive development. This is where our thinking changes. This theory comes from the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget. We start out by assimilating information. We assimilate through out our lives. Then there are stages we go through from birth to adulthood. The first stage is the Sensorimotor Stage which is from birth to the age of two. In this stage, the child relies heavily on innate motor response to stimuli. (pg.133.) Then there is the stage call Preoperational Stage which is from the age of two to about seven years. In this stage we learn to use our language in a well developed mental representation. (pg134.) Then there is the stage from seven to eleven years this is call the Concrete Operational Stage. In this stage, is capable of understanding conversation but still is incapable of abstract thought (pg.134.) The last stage is the Formal Operational Stage. This stage is from about 12 years and on. This stage is when our abstract thought appears. Then it continues to social and emotional development. This is where they child develops a theory of mind which is an awareness that other people’s behavior may be influenced by beliefs, desires, and emotions that differ from one’s own (pg. 137.) This makes up a person temperament, socialization and attachment. This part of the chapter is where the example from the movie StepMom directed by Chris Columbus is relevant.

In this movie there are two children named Anna and Ben. They are the children of Jackie and Luke who are divorced. When a new woman comes in to the life of the father the kids can not cope with it. The new woman was a successful photographer named Isabel. In the movie we see a problem with socialization when Isabel has different behavior patterns, values, standard, skill, attitudes and motives then their mom Jackie. These affects the kids’ ways of being brought up correctly because they are not able to distinguish which is the correct way. Even though she does her best to treat the kids in a way that makes them still feel at home when being with their dad. Another way that the children are affected is through attachment. Since they are born they had been with their mother and know they have to make room for another mother figure. They are confused whether it is all right to love Isabel and whether by loving Isabel, they do not love their mom. The kids do not want to replace their mom with Isabel. Jackie’s fears that she will be overshadowed by Isabel in Anna and Ben's lives make this matter worse. Jackie battles to win the love and respect of her children from Isabel. This led to a back and forth argument between Isabel and Jackie.

The problems between Jackie and Isabel do not end here. Jackie believes that Isabel is incapable of taking care of her kids because Isabel loves her work and does not plan to give it up. Isabel is very self-centered, so it's hard for her to care for Luke's