Understanding Anxiety: Critical Analysis of a Central Character in the Movie, Parenthood

The emotion of anxiety is experienced by the youngest child to the oldest adult. To a healthy degree, anxiety is in fact critical to the learning process. Experiencing and dealing with the discomfort of anxiety allows the child to prepare for and cope with unsettling and often challenging life situations. Research indicates that some individuals experience a more chronic, constant state of anxiety in response to a wide variety of stimuli, whereas others have more infrequent bouts that tend to vary in both frequency and length. Utilizing the character of Kevin Buckman in the film Parenthood, the author examines the young boy’s pervasive sense of anxiety and the ways in which it manifests. Throughout the essay, the author highlights critical factors contributing to Kevin’s anxiety in order to more fully understand the behavior and emotional life of the character. Finally, the paper outlines potential treatment approaches to help alleviate and cope with the anxiety. Kevin is the oldest of three children in the Buckman household and turns nine years of age midway through the film. One of the beginning scenes consists of Kevin’s mother asking his father to attend a meeting with Kevin’s principal because “his teacher said he was making that face again.” The mother, Karen, continues to explain that it is not just the face, but the “crying, the nervousness…the fact that he cannot finish his work.” Karen then discloses the fact that the teacher had recently asked whether or not Kevin had ever received a psychiatric evaluation. During the meeting with the principal and the child psychologist (that has been observing Kevin over the past couple of months,) the principal suggests transferring Kevin to a special education school so that he can join a class for children with “emotional problems.” From the very onset of the film, it is apparent that the anxiety Kevin experiences impacts his day-to-day life and the ways in which others perceive him. Kevin’s