The Character of Benjamin Button - Essay Example

Benjamin Button
The movie “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” is a film based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story about a man who ages backward.  Benjamin Button was born in 1918 at the close of World War I with an octogenarian’s face and bodily structure.  He was abandoned by his father when his mother died from childbirth.  He was then taken care of by Queenie, a black woman working at the nursing home. The film shows Benjamin’s life from the 20th century to the 21st century.  The movie unravels his happy and sad experiences as he lives his life aging in reverse.  He dies as an infant.  The movie shows the audience how Benjamin tackles the problem of reverse aging and how he confronts each situation given his extraordinary state.
Several aspects of human growth and development were demonstrated in the movie.  Benjamin’s physical development was shown from the time he was a wrinkled baby with clogged arteries and arthritis to the time when he was bald, with sight and hearing problems and needing a wheelchair to move around, to the time when he died as an infant when he was 84 years old.  As he grows old, he appears younger.  His physical developments have an immense effect on his relationship with people, specifically Daisy, the love of his life.  
A relevant relationship portrayed in this movie is that of Benjamin and his foster mother, Queenie.  One sees the importance of a mother’s love for his son, accepting him totally.  The movie shows the audience the significance of Queenie’s love for Benjamin despite his uniqueness, treating him as if he was his real son.  Queenie emphasizes to Benjamin that each individual is different but each one has to face life.  Queenie’s acceptance of Benjamin’s individuality has a great impact on Benjamin’s acceptance of his own situation.  If Queenie did not let Benjamin feel that he is loved despite his quirks, then Benjamin would have difficulty too of accepting who he is.  It would have been hard for him to learn to love people who are different from him.  One observes how Benjamin has become very open to learning from the people he meets along the way particularly Elizabeth and the Captain.  The way Benjamin is able to socialize with other people despite his abnormalities is quite impressive. 
Benjamin’s life in a nursing home, with residents similar to him in physiology has somehow made the problem of adjustment easier.  Living with old people has taught Benjamin how to deal with death.  Through Mrs. Maple, Benjamin learns that one has to lose the person he loves so that one may realize his importance.  This part of the movie shows the effect of the environment on a person’s development.     
Benjamin’s relationship with Daisy, the granddaughter of one of the tenants of the nursing home, exhibits the difficulties he encounters as a result of the problem of having to grow in reverse directions.  Benjamin met Daisy when he was 12 and with a body of a 70-year-old while Daisy was just a six-year-old girl.  Their emotional development of Benjamin centered on his relationship with Daisy.  Throughout the movie, Daisy plays an important part in his life, peaking at a time when they were both in the same physical age.
Benjamin’s growth into manhood is further illustrated by his relationship with Elizabeth Abbott, a married, upper-class English woman.  One however does not see any emotional attachment between the two as compared with that of Benjamin and Daisy.  Although the relationship between Benjamin and Elizabeth was not as deep as that between Benjamin and Daisy, it is through this connection that Benjamin learns about sex and desire.
The real world was introduced to Benjamin when he joins the crew of a tugboat.  He is also initiated into the pleasures of the flesh as he visits the brothel.  
  One life lesson given by Benjamin in the movie is the advice he gives his daughter when he said that one can be whoever he wants to be and that there is no time limit.  He also talks about how a person’s life is defined by opportunities, those which one may take advantage of or those which one may miss. In the movie, Captain Mike also talks about letting go when one reaches the end of the line.  These are lessons that have an impact on a person’s view on life and may be relevant in the growth and development of an individual’s personality.
The movie gives the audience a glimpse of life’s happy and sad moments through the presentation of Benjamin’s life from birth to death.  It shows the moviegoers the importance of love and how it will see one through life’s various struggles and difficulties.  The film gives a lesson on acceptance, acknowledging one’s strengths and weaknesses and eventually learning to adapt to one’s environment given the qualities that one possesses.  Throughout the film, the audience is shown their coping abilities of Benjamin in dealing with his abnormal physical changes and his physiological development. Read More