Week 10 - Hunt for the Wilder People

Hunt for the Wilder People

Plot 

This film follows Ricky Baker and Hector as they were running away from the people of Child Welfare Services after soon after the person who took them in, Bella, has passed away. A manhunt began after finding out that the two of them went missing.  

Ricky Baker 

Ricky is a city boy who has been to several homes assigned by the Child Welfare Services. After being abandoned as a child, he was taken in by the CWS, and he has had some history with crime and bad behaviors, and because of that, he had been labeled as "a handful" and "a real bad egg". 

Labeling and Identity

When we label the child instead of targeting to alter the behavior, the child may feel like he IS a bad child, a handful, or even a real bad egg. Once a child assumes the identity, it becomes a core part of them, and they act accordingly. If they don't, then cognitive dissonance of one's identity will happen and anxiety comes in. 

If the child thinks :"I should behave well and take care of others"  

But still assumes the identity:

"I am a bad egg"

Then there will definitely be cognitive dissonance there. What's important is that the child is loved and cared for unconditionally, and that we do not label them. Instead, we should experience them wholly as a person and allow ourselves to discuss about their behaviors with them.

Abandonment

Any child who has been abandoned by their parents without a good reason, be it physically or emotionally, will experience psychological confusion or pain. Parents are supposed to be the people whom a child trusts the most, and if that trust is broken, then there would be strong but inaccurate beliefs that arise from this experience. 

Beliefs are personal representations on how an individual see the world, which may be true or false. For a child, abandonment may cause them to have beliefs such as :

"I'm not good enough"

"Nobody loves me" 

"I'm not important"

"Nobody cares"

In the case of Ricky, being labeled and also being treated like he's unwanted, it reinforces the beliefs that he has about his own self-worth and value. 

"Child Welfare Services shouting at Ricky and threatening him."

Beliefs cause dissonance as well, if one thinks "Nobody loves me" and someone happens to come along and provides him with love and caring, he may be confused or resistant against that love.

One would have two courses of action, which is that one might want to defend his belief, and this can be done by discounting the love that was given. 

"It's just that the person pities me, she doesn't really love me"

"Actors, actors everywhere"

"It's just a one time thing"

This could be the case when Ricky first set foot into Bella's farm. He was greeted with such love and enthusiasm, but did not care much to respond. This may be his inner monologue as he was experiencing that moment.

"Ricky walked around and went back into the car, ignoring Bella"

One could also adopt a new belief, such as "People love and care about me" slowly growing and reinforcing it, replacing the old belief.

"It may be one person, but she cares about me"

"I deserve love as well"

"I'm worth caring for"

In the case of Ricky Baker, he met Aunt Bella, a loving lady with the heart of gold.
Even though he would try to run away, ignore her, and behave how a "bad egg" should, Bella still gave him unconditional love. She told Ricky on the first night that he came into her life :

"I can't imagine what you've been through.. but you're here, this is home."

Bella gave Ricky a home, a room, books, a warm bed, and even a birthday song just for him. For someone who was taken in and abandoned over and over again, this would be love that he had likely never experienced before. 

"Ricky singing along to Bella's birthday song for him."

Slowly but surely, we see the walls Ricky had put up slowly crumbling down and he's actually just like any other child who wants to be loved. This represents how no child is actually a "bad egg", but rather, children are also human beings with their own valid life experiences. 

As adults and psychologists, we should do all we can to support them as they grow up, proper parenting, love and affection can build a strong foundation for a child, and raising them up to be secure and loving children is worth the effort. 

Week 9 - Grace is Gone

Grace is Gone

Plot 

This film follows Stanley Phillips as he tries to break the news to his daughters about their mother's passing and portrays the grief that comes along with mourning a loved one.

Stanley Phillips

Stanley is an army veteran who loved serving the country, now he is the manager of Home Store, who supports his two daughters by himself as his wife is serving in Iraq. One day, there was a knock on the door and we see two army men. Stanley knows all too well what this means.

After receiving the news, he was in shock and still has not come to terms with the sudden news yet. If feels like the shot of the living room below seems metaphoric for Stanley being alone after his wife's death on the battlefield, and portrays the vastness and emptiness that Stanley is feeling.

The empty living room.

Coping with Death of a Loved One

Stanley then proceeds to wander around the house, peeking into their room, then he enters his daughter's room and lies down on the floor. Maybe because that he and Grace had had many memories with their daughters in their room, as he mentioned in the support group that they tucked their daughters in bed before she left to serve in the army. 

Then there is a video montage of different parts of the house, and this shows that he's going through the entire house doing the same thing, remembering the moments that they had together. We also see many things in the house, and some of the items might belong to Grace, and this shows that bits and pieces of her are still here with us, scattered around the house.

The four chairs in the dining room.

The phone with her voice in the answering machine.

The place where they had their family time.

The bed they slept in.

Next, his daughters come home and brings in food left by the door by someone whom may have heard the news. He told them to not eat it, and took it away from them. He proceeds to bring them out for dinner at 4pm.

After hearing the news, he has began to take more spontaneous actions with his daughters. He asked if they wanted to go somewhere and Dawn wanted to go to Enchanted Gardens, and Heidi was thinking about school and homework. Stanley told them to not worry about homework and that they only have one life to live. He ditches his work as well, maybe this is when he realizes that life is more than just school and work.

After riling the girls up about going on the spontaneous trip, they were confused at first but was happy and excited, we can see and hear all of them laughing and giggling. 

We can see Heidi laughing in the picture below, but Stanley's smile was gone. 

This portrays that the death of his wife is still on his mind and he isn't sure how he is going to break the news to his beloved daughters, right now, he's just making decisions on the go and seeing what will happen. In a way, "Is there anywhere you would like to go" could also portray that he's trying to escape from the truth, the reality that he will no longer see his wife and neither will his daughters.

Maybe he was trying to teach Heidi how to be more spontaneous, because there is more to life, and we just have to grab the opportunities and create our own moments. Heidi says there's nothing that she wants to do, and so Stanley drives out into the field and starts doing doughnuts. 

He also drops by his mother's house as they were on the way to Enchanted Gardens, maybe he was looking for someone to console him, and who do most of us think of first if we ever need comfort, ever since we were young? Our mothers. 

She wasn't home, but Stanley's brother was, and he took his daughters out for lunch. Stanley was finally alone again after spending the entire time driving with his daughters, and he broke down as he slept on his old bed. Maybe this could be interpreted as a portrayal of the defense mechanism of regression, or it may not be because it wasn't shown clearly. 

When his brother finds out about the news, he confronts Stanley, and Stanley goes into an outrage, telling him it's none of his business and to stay out of it. 

He then proceeds to head to Enchanted Gardens, but his brother asks hims to stay and wait for their mother so they can be there for him, which is very important as people who are grieving need as much support as they can get, but this only happens when they're ready to accept it. 

He also calls his house phone occasionally to "update" his wife about how they are doing, and at one point, ask her for advice because he doesn't know what to do, even though he knows that he won't get an answer from the answering machine. 

He also apologizes to Grace through the answering machine, because they got into a fight before she left, and he was angry because he was ashamed that he wasn't the one going.

When they reach Enchanted Gardens, they went on rides, visited the museum and had a blast with each other. He gave them an enjoyable trip before he broke the news to them, maybe he thought that this would help them take in the grief a little better. When they were heading home, Stanley turns into the beach, sits his daughters down and informs them about their mother.

I'm not sure if there is even a right way, but there sure is no easy way. I can feel it from the army men as they broke the news to Stanley, and I can feel it when Stanley broke the news to his daughters.

Grieving families do eventually accept the fact that one of them has passed, and they move on for each other. It doesn't mean that they forget their loved ones that are gone, but rather live on with the memories that they have with them. 

This film also reminds us all to live life purposefully, to create more amazing and loving moments with the ones around us, be it strangers, close friends, or family members, because one day, we too, will pass. 

Week 8 - Experimenter

Experimenter

Plot 

This film revolves around the true story of Stanley Milgram, an experimental psychologist who is famous for his Milgram experiment, where he tests subjects on their obedience to authority. We follow his life story and the effects of his controversial study on him. 

Stanley Milgram

In the beginning, we see Milgram, a social psychologist, conducting his famous obedience to authority experiment behind the scenes, where he is observing the participants and making accurate observational notes. His team, consisting of both the experimenter and a confederate rehearse the same script every time the experiment is run. 

His study aims to discover why the genocide and extermination camps by the Nazis would be possible, because on his own past experience. Even though the confederate sounded like he was in great pain, most of the participants didn't stop the experiment because the experimenter told them to. 

Many people who did not participate in the experiment believed that they would be different and that they would not go all the way in shocking the participants, but the results were controversial and surprising as almost all the participants went up to the highest voltage. 

"Participants who were in shock about their own actions."

Stigma

Psychologists

The stigma around psychologist is that we all work with people who face difficulties with mental health, which isn't true at all. In the movie, Milgram said that her daughter had to explain that her father was an experimental psychologist who conducts experiments, not someone who talks to people lying down. 

This stigma around psychologist indicates that we still have stigma around Psychology and mental health in general. We still need more understanding and exposure to the public to reduce this stigma. This way, prejudice and discrimination against those who have mental health issues can be reduced and we can have a peaceful and supportive society that seek to help each other out. 

Ethics

"Milgram explaining the nature of his experiment to his class."

Milgram used deception but calls it an illusion, for us, our Ethics Review Board (ERB) would still consider it as deception,as if he were upfront with his study, the results will definitely be skewed and unreliable. He is interesting in studying his participant's reactions, and no actual physical harm has been done. What was argued to be unethical was the plausible psychological shock done to the participants, though most participants were not harmed or traumatized, but actually glad to participate in the experiment.

"Milgram defending his experiment in front of his Ethics Board"

After labeling Milgram's experiment as unethical, people started labeling Milgram himself as an unethical experimenter. The news and many people who do not know about the actual study contort the facts and spread rumors of what kind of person Milgram is. This reminds us to not label the person, because a person's behavior is not the person. If we label someone, we won't be able to experience him as a whole.

When Milgram informed the class about the assassination of President Kennedy, they believed it to be one of his experiments. This is how stigma may rob and blind us of the truth, and why we should experience people as they are. 

Rosenhan Experiment

This brings us to the Rosenhan experiment where confederates applied to psychiatric hospitals by acting that they have been hearing voices, and were told to act normal after a certain time frame and tell doctors that they were fine. The controversial results were that doctors did not believe them, but the actual patients in the ward were the ones who recognized that they were fake patients. 

Again, this brings about the topic of labeling instead of experiencing the person as he or she is. It is important to note that with correct labeling, it may actually benefit the patient and future patients as it makes the challenge easier to solve as they have a reference, but with improper labeling, it may actually do more harm than good.

So what we can do is to train professionals who are able to take the proper steps in diagnosing and labeling the symptoms instead of the patient, as the patient is not his symptoms.

Bonus: Social Experiment 

The bystander effect and the diffusion of responsibility happens in the presence of others. What happens if an isolated individual was faced with a situation what is unjust? Similar to the elevator conformity scene from Candid TV, what happens if we implant a scenario where sexism, racism, harassment or bullying happens in an elevator and see what an individual (the actual subject studied) does? 

Would things be different because they are in an enclosed space with no where to run? 

What if another confederate was added, a stranger to the person and the confederate acted as though nothing had happened?

What if the confederate took action and spoke up against the unjust?

What if instead of a confederate they had someone they care about with them in the elevator? A friend, a loved one, their child, their parent? 

How different would they behave?