The Theme Of Nature Vs. Nurture In We Need To Talk About Kevin
Nature vs. Nurture
One of the largest debates in psychology is nature vs. nurture. Those who believe strongly in nature are referred to nativists, as they believe that all behaviours in humans can be genetically explained, through evolution. On the other side of the spectrum is empiricists, which are those who believe that behaviour is entirely manifested by the environment. It is said by empiricists children are born as a “blank slate,” and that throughout their lives the various situations that they are faced with shape the various traits that they adopt.
A movie titled We Need To Talk About Kevin focusses strongly on this ongoing debate. It follows a troubled young child from the time he is born until the time he is convicted of murder while in high school. His mother is clearly mentally unstable, and after Kevin (the protagonist) grows into a psychopath she becomes a social recluse, and is ostracized by the small town that she resides in.
It is clear from the beginning of the movie that Kevin is a difficult child to raise, which is indicated in a scene where the toddler refuses to speak despite knowing how. This movie was directed in a form that it allows the viewers bias to indicate whether the mother was at fault for the sociopath that she raised. While many of Kevin’s peculiar actions are construed as purposeful, it could also be argued that …show more content…
The amount of crying he did as a baby could easily be overlooked as being exaggerated by the mental inhibitions of his mother, as it was evident throughout the movie that she was unable to deal with her anxiety in healthy manners. There was a scene where Kevin’s mother throws him out of frustration, causing his arm to be broken. This was arguably turning point in the story; though there are no more violent incidents such as this, it still represented the broken household that Kevin was living
One of the largest debates in psychology is nature vs. nurture. Those who believe strongly in nature are referred to nativists, as they believe that all behaviours in humans can be genetically explained, through evolution. On the other side of the spectrum is empiricists, which are those who believe that behaviour is entirely manifested by the environment. It is said by empiricists children are born as a “blank slate,” and that throughout their lives the various situations that they are faced with shape the various traits that they adopt.
A movie titled We Need To Talk About Kevin focusses strongly on this ongoing debate. It follows a troubled young child from the time he is born until the time he is convicted of murder while in high school. His mother is clearly mentally unstable, and after Kevin (the protagonist) grows into a psychopath she becomes a social recluse, and is ostracized by the small town that she resides in.
It is clear from the beginning of the movie that Kevin is a difficult child to raise, which is indicated in a scene where the toddler refuses to speak despite knowing how. This movie was directed in a form that it allows the viewers bias to indicate whether the mother was at fault for the sociopath that she raised. While many of Kevin’s peculiar actions are construed as purposeful, it could also be argued that …show more content…
The amount of crying he did as a baby could easily be overlooked as being exaggerated by the mental inhibitions of his mother, as it was evident throughout the movie that she was unable to deal with her anxiety in healthy manners. There was a scene where Kevin’s mother throws him out of frustration, causing his arm to be broken. This was arguably turning point in the story; though there are no more violent incidents such as this, it still represented the broken household that Kevin was living