The Movie ' Mommie Dearest '

In the movie Parenthood (1989), many developmental stages can be observed. With that being said, one character that can be observed is Gil who is middle-aged adult. Gil has a beautiful wife and 3 children. In Santrock (2016, pp. 362-363) security, love, loyalty, and emotional interests are important during middle adulthood. Both Gil and his wife (Karen) believe that they have raised their children the correct way, but it can be seen that some people in his family think otherwise. He also has 2 sisters and 1 brother. In addition, he has a mother, father, nieces/nephews, and a brother-in-law. According to Santrock (2016, p. 342), during middle-aged adulthood adults normally reach peak position at their jobs, but in this case the promotion that Gil wanted was given to someone else, so Gil struggled with this concept of not moving up. Also, his household seems to be hectic and not perfect, but somehow he pushes through (Parenthood, 1989). According to Santrock (2016, p. 354), Erickson’s developmental stage that pertains to Gil is generativity vs. stagnation. In this stage, adults feel a sense of wanting to leave their legacy when they are gone (generativity), but at the same time feel as though they have not done anything for the next generation (stagnation). In the movie Parenthood (1989), Gil can be seen exhibiting this developmental stage in various scenes, but there is one seen in particular that stands out. Him and his wife are called to school for a meeting with the

Psychological disorder: According to the textbook, Psychology: Principles in Practices, they are behavioral patterns or mental processes that can cause personal suffering. With that being said, wouldn’t that mean that if a person had a psychological disorder, they would have a disturbance within them, or more importantly, their brain? A psychological disorder, by definition, are the behavior patterns or mental processes that cause serious personal suffering or interfere with a person’s day to day life or routine. In contrast, a personality disorder is characterized as patterns of inflexible traits that can cause a disturbance in the afflicted person’s personal life and may cause distress. To fully understand disorders, psychologists

“No wire hangers!” What would be a normal thing to find in an average persons home is not accepted in Joan Crawford’s home. This posses the question why in the movie Mommie Dearest does Mrs. Crawford have a dilemma with wire hangers in her closet? Why does she have so many mental complications in general? Although to the public, Joan seems like a striving successful actress she obviously has some underlying issues. She has developed her personality disorders her whole life, but how she got them is a mystery. Most people develop personality disorders from their parents or how they are raised. This is most likely the case with Joan Crawford, but no one really knows since she is diseased. Joan has four major personality disorders within the movie; Obsessive-compulsive, Bipolar, Borderline, and Narcissistic personality disorder.

The movie ‘Her’ is the story about Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix), a man who develops a relationship with Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), an intelligent computer operating system personified through a female voice. At the beginning of the film, Theodore is completely inept when it comes to how to make relationship with person, specifically women. However, after he gets to know Samantha, an OS program, a feeling of true love develops inside of Theodore’s mind. Then he realizes how he was fatuous in his past. Throughout the film, the director (Spike Jonze) uses five distinct color schemes to correspond Theodore’s feeling and situation.

The film Sunset Boulevard (1950), directed by Billy Wilder, Norma Desmond exemplified a Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) by being demanding, intense and unstable. These behaviors that are consistent with the elements of abnormality include suffering, social discomfort, dangerousness, and irrationality and unpredictability. The first element that is consistent with Norma Desmond’s character is suffering. Desmond being one of the greatest movie stars in history suffers as she experiences the fall from stardom. She also suffers from identity disturbance as she reaches an unstable self-image notion. In one scene when Desmond recognizes for a moment about her age, she claims, “Look at me. Look at my hands, look at my face, look under my

In this book, one boy spends six hours a day washing himself- he suffers from the fact that he will never be clean. This woman continuously checks her stove hundreds of times a day to make sure she turned it off. Another woman in the effort to make sure that her eye brows are even she was eventually pulls out all her hair. There are other characters such as Paul, Arnie, and Morris. These people suffer from a common sickness called Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. This book is basically a go to guide to finding treatments, as well as lists of resources and references to treating OCD. This book brings the disorder to public attention, describing its symptoms and suggesting routes toward treatment. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is an anxiety disorder that’s caused by thoughts that also causes fear and or worry. By repeating the compulsion it causes the persons fear to lesson. In my opinion I feel as if this book is a great book it gives you true life

First, I will be talking about histrionic. People who are histrionic are often very emotional and seek constant attention. (Psychology Today, 2017). The cause of this is unknown but some saw it may have something to do with childhood events and/or genetics. Symptoms of this are seeking reassurance constantly, being self-centered, being very concerned with physical appearance, and having your opinions be easily influenced by other people. There are many times in the movie where Joan Crawford showed signs of histrionic. The first example I will be sharing is at Christina’s birthday party. (Mommie Dearest, 1981). It appeared to me that Joan adopted children just for the attention of it.

In the movie Mommie Dearest Joan Crawford shows many different types of personality disorders. Personality disorders are a deeply engrained or maladaptive pattern of behavior of a specified kind, typically they occur by the time one reaches adolescents and causes difficulty in personal relationships or society. Studying these psychological disorders can help us to identify and properly treat these abnormal functions that we acquire as we grow older. One way to learn how to identify these disorders is through movie analysis. When you are able to recognize these disorders through a movie they stick out in the real world much more. The disorders that I analyzed that Joan Crawford had were, Bipolar, Borderline, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and Narcissism.

In my opinion, the most predominate disorder within Joan Crawford is Histrionic disorder. This personality can be defined as a mental health condition that causes a person to be excessively dramatic and emotional. People with this disorder tend to seek out constant attention from others and are easily influenced by others. Although the exact cause of this disorder is unknown it may stem from childhood events or genetics. Joan Crawford shows symptoms of Histrionic disorder frequently throughout the movie, the first scene being when she throws her daughter Christina an extravagant birthday party. This scenario shows Joan taking away attention from her daughter in any way she can as she soaks up the light of the photographers. Another example would be when Joan filled in for her daughters position in a soup opera while she was sick without her permission. In these scenes, Joan is pushing her daughter aside to fill in the spotlight.

There are two different kind of disorders, personality disorders and psychological disorders. Psychological disorders are illnesses that an individual experiences as episodes. Personality disorders are enduring traits that are major components of the individual's personality (Rathus, 2010). No matter what kind of disorder a person may possess their lives are affected everyday by them, it takes over their body and consumes them as a person. Disorders are often misunderstood. You do not have the ability to make a split second decisions and then continue life without that disorder, it will take lots of counseling. While we are not trained psychologist everyone can learn or identify disorders in popular movies or television shows. In the movie, Mommie Dearest, directed by Frank Perry, Joan Crawford possesses several of these disorders including bipolar, borderline personality disorder, obsessive compulsive personality disorder and narcissistic.

Faye Dunaway’s portrayal of Joan Crawford in the movie Mommy Dearest (1981) exhibits many of the characteristics of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Her character also seems to suffer from antisocial narcissistic behaviors as well as histrionic personality and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. These disorders often occur together and are closely related mental health disorders, which result in a disruption in self image, relationships and regulation or control of emotions (Life on the borderline, 2014).

One personality disorder Joan Crawford demonstrated was bipolar. This disorder can be defined as periods of reckless behavior and hyperactivity that can change at any given second (Rathus, 2010). There are several occasions throughout the movie that show Joan suffering through this disorder, for example one moment she would be a cheerful, smiling mom and at a drop of a hat, it would change for the worst making her become an angry and aggressive toward her child Christina. This can be seen when Joan is kissing her sweet daughter Christina goodnight, and then looks through the closet where she finds a dress hung by a wire hanger. Joan’s behavior quickly becomes elevated, ripping all of the clothes and hangers out of the closet, yelling at Christina, which then leads Joan to beat her daughter with the hanger. Another example is in the scene

Obsessive compulsion disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder described by irrational thoughts and fears (obsessions) that lead you to do repetitive tasks (compulsions) (Obsessive Compulsion Disorder, 2013). When a person has obsessive-compulsive disorder, they may realize that their obsessions aren't accurate, and they may try to overlook them but that only increases their suffering and worry. Eventually, you feel driven to perform compulsive acts to ease your stressful feelings. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is often driven by a reason, cause, or fear for example, a fear of germs. To calm the feeling of this fear, a person may compulsively wash their hands until they're sore and chapped. Despite their efforts, thoughts of obsessive-compulsive behavior keep coming back. This leads to more ritualistic behavior and a brutal cycle of obsessive-compulsive disorder. OCD is the fourth most common mental disorder, and is diagnosed nearly as often as asthma and diabetes (Who We Are, 2012). In the United States, one in 50 adults suffers from OCD. Obsessive compulsive disorder affects children, adolescents, and adults. About one third to one half of adults with OCD report a childhood onset of the disorder, they felt these anxieties but were not diagnosed or felt no need to be diagnosed until the compulsions over whelmed them (Who We Are, 2012). The phrase obsessive compulsive has been used to describe excessively meticulous, perfectionistic, absorbed, or otherwise fixated person. While

Obsessions are unwanted ideas or impulses that repeatedly well up in the mind of a person with OCD. These are thoughts and ideas that the sufferer cannot stop thinking about. A sufferer will almost always obsess over something which he or she is most afraid of. Common ideas include persistent fears that harm may come to self or a loved one, an unreasonable concern with becoming contaminated, or an excessive need to do things correctly or perfectly. Again and again, the individual experiences a disturbing thought, such as, "My hands may be contaminated -- I must wash them" or "I may have left the gas on" or "I am going to injure my child." These thoughts tend to be intrusive, unpleasant, and produce a high degree of anxiety. Sometimes the obsessions are of a violent or a sexual nature, or concern illness. People with OCD who obsess over hurting themselves or others are actually less likely to do so than the average person. Obsessions are typically automatic, frequent, distressing, and difficult to control or put an end to by themselves. With these reoccurring obsessions continuously being played in the sufferers mind, they start performing repetitive acts that reassure them that their hands aren’t dirty, or the gas for the stove is turned of. This response to their obsession is called a compulsion.

Obsessive compulsive disorder also known as OCD, is an anxiety disorder. People who have this disorder have repetitive thoughts and behaviors that they cannot control. A chemical imbalance of the neurotransmitter serotonin throws off communication in the brain. According to the American Academy of Family Physicians (2015), it can also cause impulses that manifest through obsessions, ideas, and images. The next part of this disorder is compulsions. These are the behaviors that people who have this disorder perform in order to get rid of the uncontrollable thoughts and feelings.