The Gift

The film The Gift begins with Simon and his wife Robyn looking to buy a home to move into. Simon has a new job and they are hoping to start a family soon, their life together is perfect. One day while shopping they run into one of Simon’s old friend from high school. His name is Gordo and seems to be a little off; he is socially awkward, but very friendly. Gordo finds out where Simon and his wife live and begins to bring them small gifts as well as going to their house while Simon was at work and Robyn was alone. Robyn feels that Gordo is a very nice guy for bringing them all the gifts and talking with her, while Simon does not like it at all. He tells his wife that in high school they would call him “Gordo the weirdo” and that he did not want him coming over to their house anymore. One night Gordo invites them over for dinner at his house; this night Simon talks with Gordo and tells him to stay away. Robyn feels horrible about this, but Gordo does stay away for months. Eventually Robyn gets pregnant and at her baby shower she asks Simon’s younger sister about Simon’s relationship with Gordo. She tells her that in high school Simon saved Gordo’s life. Gordo was being molested in a car by an older guy and Simon had helped him. This event turned into a huge deal and Gordo eventually had to move away
He considers it a 3) phobia of his and does not what anything to do with them. A phobia is a type of anxiety disorder that is marked by a persistent, irrational fear of a specific object (Meyers, 2014, p. 513). In the film there is a scene where Simon is forced to watch a video Gordo film wearing a monkey mask. Although Simon is frightened he has to watch it because his wife is in it and Gordo is making him believe that he is going to hurt her. The film has a good representation of what a phobia is and it shows what happens when one is forced to come in contact with this