Character Development in Last Holiday - Movie Review Example

This essay will explore how Georgia Byrd, played by Queen Latifah, in the film Last Holiday, exhibits many of the developmental traits that are discussed in Erik Erikson’s “Psychosocial Development Theory”. This theory contains eight distinct stages of human development and most of these stages are shown by Georgia over the course of this film. While her development does not follow the exact order or Erikson’s theory, since she realizes stage eight first, it is possible to see how underdeveloped she was in each stage as the film begins. The viewer is then able to follow her development through these stages, where she eventually learns to how be happy. Erikson’s view is also contrasted with the view of B.F. Skinner, who would argue that Georgia’s lack of development is a direct result of her fearing the possible consequences of her actions. The character Georgia Byrd, in the film Last Holiday, exhibits many of the developmental traits that are discussed in Erikson’s psychosocial theory. This starts with stage two of this theory, which is autonomy versus shame and doubt. She has had shames develop in the self-conscious over the years, which could be why she denies herself any enjoyment. She does not feel as if she should be allowed to enjoy life, even as she cooks meals for her neighbor and Grandfather, while only eating Lean Cuisine herself. This is common in adults, as Erikson noticed that “step by step they go together: moralism with moral obedience, fanaticism with ideological devotion, and rigid conservatism with adult ethics” (Hoare, 2002, P. 74). This doubt is the direct result of her belief that every has something behind it that has its own rules. This is also the reason why she has not done any of the things in her Book of Possibilities, as she would feel too much shame if she were to accomplish these things at this point in her life. The third stage of this theory is initiative versus guilt, which is also present within Georgia. Someone with initiative would plan things out and then carry out the task at hand, but Georgia does not go through with her plans. She will continually dream about how things would be if she were to fulfill her goals, but she does not have the initiative to do so. She feels guilt over having these goals because they appear selfish to her. This includes the feelings she has for Sean Williams, as she forces herself to repress them. Erikson would argue that this occurred because she has repressed her ego, which has caused her to become inhibited, all but paralyzing her ability to seek out the things that will make her happy. This causes her moral sense to restrict her actions, as she feels guilt whenever she pursues anything that will ultimately makes her happy. This leads to a negative picture of herself, as Erikson discusses in his article “The Problem of Ego Identity” (1956). Stage four of this theory is industry versus inferiority. Georgia clearly has an inferiority complex that pulls her into isolation. She feels as if she is supposed to be alone, since that is the way her life has played out. This is another reason why she does not pursue Sean, as she feels inferior to others and, therefore, destined to be alone. She also does what others tell her to do and never stands up to her bosses, or anyone else in her life. She begins to lose the hope that she will ever achieve the successes in her Book of Possibilities, and becomes resigned to her current life, allowing herself to be exploited and taken advantage of by others. The fifth stage of this development is identity versus role confusion, which is when the individual attempts to determine where he or she fits in. For Georgia, this has always been a source of confusion, as she was not working where she wanted to work or accomplished what she wanted to accomplish. She has decided that who she is, is who she will always be, despite the dreams that she has. She is confused by the occupation that she has because she dreams of one day being a chef, but does not have the motivation to go out and accomplish this goal. She has not accomplished any of the things that she dreams of for this very same reason. The sixth stage is intimacy versus isolation and it is obvious that Georgia has a fear of intimacy as well. She avoids situations where she could possibly be faced with ego loss, which leads to her abandoning her goals. She loves Sean and her Book of Possibilities implies that she could see herself marrying him, but she will not allow herself to pursue him because of the rejection that could follow. She becomes isolated because she would rather be along and have her dreams to hold onto than to take the chance of rejection, which is a form of self-abandon. She is always ready to destroy any chance of intimacy, as she subconsciously believes that she will damage her essence. This fear of intimacy is the cause of many of her problems, as it inhibits her development as a whole. The seventh stage of Erikson’s theory is generativity versus stagnation. Georgia does not appear outwardly concerned with eventually being able to have children, even though it is probably on her mind, because she is too worried about the rejection that could proceed it. Also, she always puts things off as long as possible, so she would probably wait until it was too late for her to have children before actually going through with it. She is not capable of guiding the next generation in the form she was in at the beginning of this film, so she is stuck in stagnation. The eighth and final stage of development is ego integrity versus despair. Ego integrity comes when the ego is assured that it has reached its capacity for order and meaning, as Erikson believed that an individual fulfilled his/her life cycle finding terminal clarity, and that a final existential identity emerges from the culmination of one’s psychosocial development (Hall, 1983). When Georgia learns that she is about to die, she realizes how many things she has not accomplished in life. This initially causes her some despair, but eventually acts as the trigger she needs in order to accomplish something with her life. She has a fear of her own death because of how little she has accomplished, but still fear eventually motivates her to begin her development, which completely changes the outcome of this film. Once Georgia learns of her imminent death, she begins to develop in many of these areas, as wisdom is “ the detached and yet active concern with life itself in the face of death itself, and that it maintains and conveys the integrity of experience in spite of the disdain over human failing and the dread of ultimate nonbeing“ (Erikson, 1979, P.60). For example, she approaches her boss Adamian about her medical condition and when he does not listen to her, she suddenly becomes self-assertive. This shows that she has developed from feeling inferior into feeling industrious. She now feels like she can stand up to people because she has nothing to lose. She still, however, remains isolated, as she rejects Sean’s invitation to a basketball game and does not tell him what is occurring in her life. Instead, she runs away from the people who care about her, finally taking a dream vacation. This is an important step in her development because it means that she has conquered her shame, doubt, and guilt. She now feels as though she deserves to do this, as she has not done any of the things that she had put in her Book of Possibilities. While on her vacation, Georgia is able to begin to open herself up to other people, which is her first step towards accepting intimacy into her life. Her kindness and generosity inspire a great number of people while she is in the Czech Republic, and this is how she realizes the type of person she was truly supposed to be. Georgia’s development continues on when she decides to spend her final days back in New Orleans with her friends and family. This is significant because at first, she ran away from them and the comfort that they would have supplied her with. An avalanche, however, prevents her from reaching the airport. This is a stroke of good luck that furthers her development, as Sean was on his way to visit her upon finding out about her feelings for him. As Georgia is at the hotel, attempting to convince a greedy businessman not to kill himself, a fax comes in informing her that there was a problem with the CAT scan that diagnosed her illness and she, in fact, will not die. This is the final stage of Georgia’s development, as she now has the choice to revert back to her former self, or continue on in her life and do the things that make her happy. She chooses the latter, as eventually opens up a restaurant and it is assumed that her and Sean live happily ever after. This shows that she has now overcome the character issues that she suffered from before, with the most important being her fear of intimacy, and is now able to live her life in a fully developed form. B.F. Skinner, on the other hand, would argue that this change in Georgia was not simply her natural development, but is a direct result of the positive and negative reinforcements that had occurred at various times throughout her life, as according to Skinner “the environment stays where it is and where it always has been - outside the body” (Skinner, 1976, P. 81). This means that each of her actions was a direct result of what she felt the consequences would for. For example, perhaps she felt that the gourmet meals she had been preparing would make her too fat, and that is why she refused to eat them. Also, her failure to enjoy life was based on what she felt the side-effects could be, such as lost savings or a possible accident. Skinner would argue that each and every thing that Georgia did was a conscious decision that was based on what she believed the end result would be, rather than an internal development that she needed to occur. This is somewhat problematic, however, as “the immediate problem with Skinners rejection of internal causes of behavior is that it allows no place at all for mental qualities” (Bell et al., 2001, P. 121). This paper has shown how Georgia Byrd developed psychosocially over the course of this film, as she went from a person who was filled with shame, doubt, guilt, inferiority, intimacy problems, stagnation, and despair, into someone who achieved her goals and lived a happy life. Early in the film, it is possible to see how she had failed to develop in many of these areas and, therefore, it is possible to follow her development along as she reaches her end goal. While B.F. Skinner would argue that she made choices based on possible consequences, Erikson’s view that would be that this is a case of psychosocial development and in the end, she was able to develop. Sources Bell, Philip; Staines, Phillip; and Michell, Joel. (2001). Evaluating, Doing and Writing Research in Psychology: A Step-by-Step Guide for Students. Sydney, Australia: Sage Publications. Erikson, Erik. (1956). "The Problem of Ego Identity". Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, Vol. IV, No. I, PP. 58-121. Erikson, Erik. (1979). Reflections on Dr. Borg’s life cycle. In D. D. Van Tassel (Ed.), Aging, Death, and the Completion of Being, 29-67. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. Hall, E. (1983). A conversation with Erik Erikson. Psychology Today, 17(6), 22-30. Hoare, Carol Hren. (2002). Erikson on Development in Adulthood: New Insights from the Unpublished Papers. New York: Oxford University Press. Laurence, Mark; Rapke, Jack. (Producers) & Wang, Wayne (Director). (2006). Last Holiday. DVD. Hollywood, CA: Paramount Pictures. Skinner, B.F. (1976). About Behaviorism. New York: Vintage Books. Read More