Ordinary People Movie Analysis

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The Academy Award winning movie, Ordinary People, shows the story of the Jarrett family. They have recently lost their beloved son, Buck, in a tragic boating accident. Their other son, Conrad survives, however struggles with depression after such a horrific event in his life. His father, Calvin makes strides to reconnect with Conrad, and shows empathy and love towards him. Beth, on the other hand, struggles to show affection or any type of connection towards Conrad after the accident. These factors contribute to a very dysfunctional home life for the family. Conflict soon arises and is handled quite poorly. From a psychological viewpoint, this family desperately needs help in conflict management, a process used to increase positive outcomes from everyday conflicts. Conrad, the subject of the movie, suffers intensely after the loss of his brother Buck. He feels guilt and sadness, and even tries to take his own life. This leads him to leave and stay in a mental hospital. As he returns home, this is when the family begins to clash. His mother, Beth, resents Conrad for his suicide attempt. She …show more content…

He struggles trying to maintain relationships between his wife and his son. Calvin loves Conrad, and wishes to support him, but has a hard time doing so when Beth is quite difficult to manage by being closed off and distant. For example, Calvin and Beth fight verbally on a golf course. This is revolved around Conrad, and Calvin lashes out about how Conrad thinks she hates him. This is a prime example of poor conflict management. Beth felt attacked and this accusation only worsened the circumstances. Instead of yelling accusations, Calvin should have established safety in the conflict, and made it clear that he sees how she loves Conrad, but he wants to understand why she has been so distant towards him lately. This would’ve been a much more beneficial way to approach the

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