Late Adulthood
The Bucket List
Movie Review
Rhea F. Dahilig
PSYCH-320
4/15/2010
FOREWORD
The journey through late adulthood can be experienced in different ways. One particular movie entitled “The Bucket List” exhibits an astounding portrayal of late adulthood. In fact, there are many accounts that the movie entails about late-adulthood. This includes the illustration of Erickson’s late adulthood stage – “Ego Integrity vs. Despair,” wisdom, marriage, friendship, parent-child relationship, and death and dying in late adulthood.
Having given less than a year to live because of cancer, the two characters – Edward Cole and Carter Chambers seem to deal with despair rather than integrity, a stage Erickson depicts for late adulthood based on his Psychosocial Stages of Development theory. Edward, although a corporate magnate, is living only with his wealth, since he lost connection with his family – his daughter and four divorced wives, hence his feeling of unhappiness when he found out the news. Carter, on the other hand, have support and love from his family, but is feeling a sense of emptiness – a "hole" because, due to early parenting, he did not get the chance to do what he wanted, such as to be a history professor. Therefore, to compensate for those, they came up with a list called the bucket list before they "kick the bucket." I believe creating the Bucket list changed the course of their lives through friendship, companionship, and finding the joy in life through each other. Personally, I like the idea of creating a Bucket list when faced with death, because it gives a person the opportunity to dig deep and accomplish what is left unfulfilled in their life. I like to call it "sealing the package" of how a person lived their life is all about, passing on lasting memories for their loved ones to cherish once they are gone. The association of late adulthood and wisdom can be seen in the movie. Although the term wisdom can be defined differently from person to person,
Movie Review
Rhea F. Dahilig
PSYCH-320
4/15/2010
FOREWORD
The journey through late adulthood can be experienced in different ways. One particular movie entitled “The Bucket List” exhibits an astounding portrayal of late adulthood. In fact, there are many accounts that the movie entails about late-adulthood. This includes the illustration of Erickson’s late adulthood stage – “Ego Integrity vs. Despair,” wisdom, marriage, friendship, parent-child relationship, and death and dying in late adulthood.
Having given less than a year to live because of cancer, the two characters – Edward Cole and Carter Chambers seem to deal with despair rather than integrity, a stage Erickson depicts for late adulthood based on his Psychosocial Stages of Development theory. Edward, although a corporate magnate, is living only with his wealth, since he lost connection with his family – his daughter and four divorced wives, hence his feeling of unhappiness when he found out the news. Carter, on the other hand, have support and love from his family, but is feeling a sense of emptiness – a "hole" because, due to early parenting, he did not get the chance to do what he wanted, such as to be a history professor. Therefore, to compensate for those, they came up with a list called the bucket list before they "kick the bucket." I believe creating the Bucket list changed the course of their lives through friendship, companionship, and finding the joy in life through each other. Personally, I like the idea of creating a Bucket list when faced with death, because it gives a person the opportunity to dig deep and accomplish what is left unfulfilled in their life. I like to call it "sealing the package" of how a person lived their life is all about, passing on lasting memories for their loved ones to cherish once they are gone. The association of late adulthood and wisdom can be seen in the movie. Although the term wisdom can be defined differently from person to person,