The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button

Benjamin Button

“My name is Benjamin Button, and I was born under unusual circumstances. While everyone else was aging, I was gettin' younger... all alone.”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” is a film that was inspired by the 1920s novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It begins with an elderly lady, Daisy, lying in a hospital bed as her daughter reads to her from the diary of Benjamin Button. Benjamin is a boy who is born with the characteristics of a man in his eighties, yet he has the abilities of an infant. The unusual thing about him is that he ages backwards. Shortly after Benjamin was born, his mother died. His father, a man of envious financial and social status, picked up the child and began to run with him. He didn’t
want anyone to see how horrifying the baby looked. He was afraid of how this would affect his image, so he abandoned the child on the doorstep of a nursing home. This shows that the male’s in society at that time were more concerned about their image than they were about nurture. This also symbolizes the weakness of human character which shows that the father is not mentally prepared to take the responsibility of caring for another person’s life. In my life, society has shaped my role as a female, yet it also has given me “tomboy” characteristics. When I was young, I was given dolls to play with and was dressed in skirts and sandals. These things were obviously identifiable with girls. As I grew older, I began to enjoy hanging out with my uncles. They were into things like fishing, dirt bikes, making forts, and bonfires. I really enjoyed doing those things with them. I put my own worm on my fishing lines, chopped wood for fires, and loved to ride dirt bikes. Being raised by my grandparents, they frowned on these things. They thought that I showed act more “lady-like”. I was constantly being told to sit up straight so that I had nice posture, and to take my dirty jeans off. Society may have certain aspects of controlling the role of a person’s gender, but in my case I am more of a product of my environment. I made my own decisions. A black woman by the name of Queeny found the baby and took him in.
Queeny was a black woman that cared for the elderly. The black people in the film are portrayed as servants and caregivers. This was a role in society during a time period (1918) that the elderly were familiar with. She told the people of the nursing home that he was her sister’s child and that he had an awful disease which caused him to be white. She also stated that he didn’t have much time to live (according to the doctor’s report). By claiming that the baby was “white due to disease”, Daisy made it appear more socially acceptable to believe that the child was actually a member of her family and not a stranger. Queeny took on the role of a mother, a natural role for women, and began to raise the child as her own. Benjamin’s life was quite different from normal children. He grew up learning that death was a natural thing that all people had to deal with. The movie showed how Benjamin handled life in a unique and positive way regardless of his extraordinary
circumstances.
By the age of 12, everyone became aware that the people around him kept growing “older” as he was growing “younger”. In the film, “age” referred to the number of years old a person’s characteristics are, and “aging” referred to a mental process. My personal view of the word “age” is that it represents the actual number of years old a person is. For instance, my age is 37 years old. When I think of the word “aging”, it represents getting old in terms of years.
Ben is well acquainted with everyone in the nursing home. He understands them and has compassion for them. At the age of 12, Ben meets the 6 year old granddaughter of one of the residents. Her name was Daisy. Later in life he comes across Daisy’s path at time when they are more comparable by age.
In the meantime, he meets a ship captain and takes a job with him. A friend of Ben’s told him that the captain never pays but Ben didn’t care. He was setting out to take opportunities and take advantage of the freedom. He always took time to visit his family and friends whenever the time was allowed for him to do so. Eventually Benjamin went with his captain to war even after he was not supposed to go. This showed that Benjamin was extremely loyal to people in his life, and that he is very trusting of strangers.
While he was out at sea, the captain asked him when the last time he was with a woman. Ben said “never”. The captain was amazed and decided to introduce Ben to a prostitute. This was an acceptable thing for common workers to do. Eventually Benjamin found himself having a lengthy affair with a married woman. She was rich; he was not.
Throughout life, Ben kept a close bond with Daisy. Even when he is out on the tugboat, he continues to send her postcards from everywhere he goes. The concept of loyalty runs deep with him.
In 1945, Benjamin learns that Daisy is 21 years old and a successful ballet dancer. That same year Tom Button, extremely ill, reveals to Ben that he is his father. When he died he left all of his riches to Ben. This shows us that over the years human character grows and changes. Thomas Button had a love and concern for Benjamin that must have been manifested within his character by human nature.
In 1957, Daisy was hit by a car, ruining her ballet career. When Ben found out, he goes to visit her. He brought a bouquet of flowers along with which is a common gesture for a man to do for a woman that he cares about. Daisy is amazed by how young Ben looks, but she has a boyfriend now so she tells him to leave. This was painful for him to hear but he respects her wishes and leaves. Ben was a man of very respectful character.
By a simple twist of fate, five years later Daisy returns to New Orleans where she and Ben first met. At this point in time, the two of them are more comparable by age. The two of them reunite and fall in love.
Daisy ends up giving birth to a girl, Caroline. When Caroline turns one year old, Ben decides to leave them. He does this in the best interest of both Daisy and the child. He believes that it wouldn’t be fair for Daisy to have to raise two people, and that the child would be better off with another, more socially acceptable man as a father figure. He sold off everything he owned and left Daisy and their child with everything. This showed how selfless Benjamin was and how he was willing to give up everything for the people he loved most. He was a real “stand-up” kind of guy.
Ben hopped on a motorcycle and once again set out to feel the cool breeze of freedom blow through his hair all alone.
In 1980, Ben returns to visit Daisy and their daughter which further shows us of the bond and concern that he has for them. Daisy is remarried now and introduces Benjamin (who appears to be a young man in his early 20’s) to her husband and daughter as a “friend of the family”. This shows us that considering the appearance of his age, it must be more socially acceptable for people to view him as a friend rather than an old lover. At the least, it made things easier to understand. Ben and Daisy shared a night of passion at his hotel later that night, and then parted ways.
When Ben resembled the age of 12, he was found alone and confused in an abandoned building. Social workers found Daisy’s name in his diary and called her. She was a widow at this time and decided to move to the nursing home where Ben grew up. Once again we see that the bond between Daisy and Ben is deeply rooted. It was now Daisy’s turn to take on the role of mother just as Queeny had done years before. A classic gesture of human character for a woman, she cared for him until he became a tiny infant and died in her
arms.
The movie explores the human condition that exists outside of time and age - the joys of life and love and the sadness of loss.