Movie Review - the Kid

The behavior of Russ, the main character in the movie, can be described by using four different theories of development. Firstly, we can describe Russ’s behavior by Psychoanalytic Theories. In this case, Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory will be used to explain the behavior of Russ. According to Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory (Cherry, 2011a), there are eight stages of human development and people will experience a conflict that serves as a turning point in each stage of development. People who had overcome the conflict in each stage will develop a psychological quality whereas those who could not overcome the conflict will fail to develop that quality. In the movie, Russ did not overcome the conflict in sixth stage, which is intimacy vs. isolation. For example, as Russ did not have a good relationship with his father when he was small, end up he turns out to be a man who being isolated, as he did not get marry or even own a dog. This is because he did not develop intimacy since small. He did not know how to commit himself to another person.
The next theory that can be used to describe Russ’s behaviour is The Information Processing Theory. This theory is use to analyse the way of how people learn something new. (Thadani, 2010). It is a three stage theory of memory, which is sensory memory, short-term or working memory and long-term memory. In this movie, Russ experienced the short-term memory. For example, he almost forgets his childhood memories.
Besides that, Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory can also be used to describe Russ’s behaviour. This theory proposed that people can learn new information behaviours through a process called modelling (Cherry, 2011b). Russ realizes that there are many things that he can learn from Rusty. For example, through modelling the everyday behaviour of Rusty, Russ had learnt to become a more caring person.
The last theory that can be used to describe the behaviour of Russ is Ecological Theory. According to this theory, environment plays an important role in personal development (Ryan, 2001). Russ’s behaviour after he had grown up can be related to the surrounding environment when he was still small. Although Russ is very successful in his career life, his is considered as a failure in his life. For example, before he knows the little Rusty, he is unable to hold onto a marriage, or even to have a pet dog. This has to do with his growing-up environment. When he was still small, he did not get too much love from him parents. He did not develop a good relationship with his father. This end up causes him to become a person who does not know how to care for other people.
The psychoanalytic theory, which is first described by Sigmund Freud, stated that mind can be divided into two main parts, which are the conscious mind and the unconscious mind (Cherry, 2011c). In the conscious mind of Russ, he is a successful man in his life. He is a wealthy L.A. image consultant who lives in a big and high-security house. However, in his unconscious mind, he is actually a loser in his life. This is because, most of the contents in his unconscious mind are unpleasant. Hence, this causes him to become a loser in his life when he grew up. For example, he is a man who nears forty years old, hasn’t got marry, have no friends or even have his own pet dog. He had forgotten all his dreams when he was still a kid. He even has no memories of his childhood. Next, we talk about Rusty. Rusty is actually Russ himself at age eight. Consciously, Rusty is a loveable and direct. He has a lot of dreams. For example, he dreams of having a dog when he grows up, fly jets and getting married. However, under his unconscious mind, there are girls’ characteristics hiding inside him. He is actually coward. For example, he did not stand up for his rights on the playground. This eventually draws him to become a geek child and hence grew up to be sour old Russ. As conclusion, Russ’s new found friend, Rusty is actually he himself who is hiding deep inside his unconscious mind.
If I was Russ’s parents, sibling, teachers, or friends, I will give him more loves and concerns. I will teach him way to have a good communication skills and hence develop a good relationships with the people around him. Next, I will also help him to overcome the conflicts that he faced throughout each of the developmental stages.
Overall, “The Kid” is a warm-hearted and effective movie. This movie actually provides us the knowledge and information about how the personalities develop in a person through Russ and Rusty.

References:
Cherry, K. (2011a). Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development: Psychosocial development in infancy and early childhood. Retrieved April 9, 2011 from http://psychology.about.com/od/psychosocialtheories/a/psychosocial.htm
Cherry, K. (2011b). Social learning theory: An overview of Bandura’s social learning theory. Retrieved April 9, 2011 from http://psychology.about.com/od/developmentalpsychology/a/sociallearning.htm
Cherry, K. (2011c). The conscious and unconscious mind: The structure of the mind according to Sigmund Freud. Retrieved April 10, 2011 from http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/a/consciousuncon.htm
Ryan, J. (2001). Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory. Retrieved April 9, 2011 from http://pt3.nl.edu/paquetteryanwebquest.pdf
Thadani, R. (2010). Information processing theory. Retrieved April 9, 2011 from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/information-processing-theory.html

References: Cherry, K. (2011a). Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development: Psychosocial development in infancy and early childhood. Retrieved April 9, 2011 from http://psychology.about.com/od/psychosocialtheories/a/psychosocial.htm Cherry, K. (2011b). Social learning theory: An overview of Bandura’s social learning theory. Retrieved April 9, 2011 from http://psychology.about.com/od/developmentalpsychology/a/sociallearning.htm Cherry, K. (2011c). The conscious and unconscious mind: The structure of the mind according to Sigmund Freud. Retrieved April 10, 2011 from http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/a/consciousuncon.htm Ryan, J. (2001). Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory. Retrieved April 9, 2011 from http://pt3.nl.edu/paquetteryanwebquest.pdf Thadani, R. (2010). Information processing theory. Retrieved April 9, 2011 from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/information-processing-theory.html