FREE ESSAY ON ORDINARY PEOPLE; MOVIE

ORDINARY PEOPLE; MOVIE

In the film ORDINARY PEOPLE the complex relationship 
types between the main character Conrad his parents and 
psychiatrist not only portrays an example of a disfunctional 
family but also conceals the in depth message of the 
different elements that makes up a relationship. Although 
the relationship examples of this film varies by type, but 
these relationship all share the common elements such as the 
level of trust, intimacy, attitude of verbal and non verbal 
communications towards each other, which allows the audience 
to determine the cause and effect of these different 
elements in action in each of these different case. 
Husbad and Wife 
The relationship between the husband and wife seems 
initially to be perfect. They both show each other 
expressions of love. There is understanding, harmony, 
financial security, and good communication between them. 
The couple spends a lot of time together, discussing future 
plans, and talking about the good moments they had in the 
past. However, behind all of this positive interaction 
between the two of them is something they are both not able 
to face. The tragic loss of their son, Buck has caused a 
great amount of pain and anger they are not expressing. 
We can ask ourselves, is this really what these two 
people were showing us? Is their relationship so perfect as 
it appears in the beginning, or is there some deep dark 
secret yet to be uncovered. The couple was an example of a 
disfunctional family. True and honest communication among 
the family members did not exist. The aspect of expressing 
their real feelings never happened. The pain and sadness 
they felt never came to the surface, even with the passing 
of time. 
The wife lived in denial, trying to live the life of a 
perfect person unaffected by what had happened to her son 
Buck. A certain image had to be upheld and everything else 
was secondary. Even the love for her husband was not as 
perfect as it was shown..She tries to keep these feelings 
and memories of her lost son buried deep inside her. She 
finds it very difficult to show any emotion concerning the 
fact that one of her sons is never coming back. She tried 
to portray an image of things being just perfect. The 
reality was very different however. 
After seeing a Psychiatrist, the husband started to 
realize something was wrong, then began to question the 
soundness of their relationship One of the saddest moments 
for him was his son's funeral. The husband remembered when 
his wife forced him to change into a white shirt from a blue 
one he had first chosen. The color of the shirt was not so 
important at the time but that showed there was something 
more serious happening with her. This aspect of the film 
showed the huaband that she did not care very much for her 
other son Conrad. Which caused him to realized the truth of 
the imperfections in thier relationship to a bitter 
seperation.. 
Conrad and his Father 
Conrad and his father, Calvin, had a very good and 
strong trusting relationship. 
Although Conrad was stubborn and didn't want to speak of his 
troubles, Calvin would keep trying and didn't give up. 
Calvin really cared for Conrad and wanted him to share his 
feelings and emotions. For example, there were times when 
Calvin would walk into Conrad's room just to make sure he 
was doing fine. Calvin not only showed his affections 
nonverbally, he showed them verbally also. He wanted to see 
his son back to life, back to who he was. When Conrad 
finally decided to see the psychiatrist, Calvin was more 
than glad to hear about it and to pay for the expenses. 
Basically, what Conrad wanted, Calvin would give. 
Their father and son relationship was difficult at 
times because of all that happened in the past. However, to 
make their relationship ongoing and as strong as possible, 
Calvin would do anything for Conrad's happiness. One of 
Calvin's biggest goal was to see Conrad enjoy his life. 
Something as little as a smile or a conversation from Conrad 
would make Calvin happy. Although their relationship had 
nonverbal communications or silence at times, their feelings 
were strong for one another and they knew that they could 
count on each other. For instance, when Conrad covered his 
head with a pillow crying, Calvin knew that talking would 
not solve anything. Instead, Calvin would leave him alone 
and talk to Conrad when Conrad felt like talking. They had 
a common understanding for each other, and although there 
was silence, Calvin would still try to understand and 
respect what Conrad was going through. Their relationship 
was built slowly, and became a very strong and unbreakable 
bond. 
Conrad and Dr. Burger 
Conrad and Dr. Burger had a great relationship. Their 
relationship surpassed whatever relationship he had with his 
mom and maybe even the relationship with his dad. In the 
beginning, Conrad was very reluctant in seeing Dr. Burger. 
He was very nervous and uneasy at the thought of talking 
about his feelings and thoughts with a total stranger. 
During Conradis first session with Dr. Burger, he was very 
uncomfortable and unresponsive. Conrad was very tense. The 
answers he gave were very brief and blunt. Conrad wanted to 
leave right away. It was like Dr. Burger had to keep 
pushing Conrad just to talk and all Conrad had on his mind 
was leaving the office as soon as possible. After a couple 
of more sessions with Dr. Burger, Conrad became more 
comfortable with his presence. Conrad started to learn to 
open up, and he didnit have a hard time telling Dr. Burger 
anything. Trust between these two started to form, but it 
was a slow process. Once trust was established, Conrad 
spoke freely about his feelings and his thoughts. His 
responses to Dr. Burger were longer and went into more 
detail. Conrad looked very relaxed and at ease with him. 
Dr. Burger didnit need to push Conrad to open up because he 
did it himself. Conrad started to listen to what Dr. Burger 
said to him. Dr. Burger helped Conrad release some of his 
anger and frustrations about his family and friends by just 
being there to listen to him. No matter how Conrad spoke or 
acted, Dr. Burger was there for him. Dr. Burger was the 
only one Conrad really trusted. Conrad didnit realize that 
till his friend died. Dr. Burger was the first person 
Conrad called to talk about it, and Dr. Burger didnit even 
hesitate to aid his problems. Conrad knew he found a friend 
in Dr. Burger, and that Dr. Burger was a true friend. 
Conrad And Mom 
Conrad a very intelligent, deep thought, serious 
person; suffering from major depression resulting from 
Buck's fatal accident: Conrad blames himself for 
everybody's problem and thus carrie false guilt....he felt 
guilty for Buck's death because Buck let go of the boat and 
Conrad did not; he felt responsible his mother's cold 
behavior towards him. And initially felt guilt for Karen's 
suicide. 
Mother: she is very articulate with the falacy of 
perfection; she does not discuss major issues at hand..She 
would rather pretend everything is fine and move on with 
life..She wants to portray to the world that she has a 
perfect family, and they can handle any problems that occurr 
within the family...however, when the family wants to talk 
about the death of Buck, she somehow changes the subject. 
Relationship between Conrad and Mother: Their 
relationship is very distant; the only time they coverse 
with one another, to discuss the things that Conrad has 
done, such as swimming, school work etc., each time the 
conversation between them would start to go a little deeper, 
mother would leave the room. It appeared that mother 
resented Conrad in many ways; I think she blamed him for 
Buck's death, and I think she resented him because he 
survived and Buck did not...she obviously favored Buck over 
Conrad...Also, I believe mother resented Conrad because he 
tried to kill himself and was hospitalized...Not only did 
this make the family look bad, but it also brought up the 
grief of Buck's death...The mother is a major controller and 
when things do not go her way, she pretends they do not 
exist and leaves the room. Mother did not give Conrad any 
affection at all; when grandmother wanted to take picture 
with Conrad and mother alone; mother became very disturb and 
was very hesitant to stand next to Conrad. However, when 
she had taken pictures with everyone else in the family, she 
was very pleasant...Once in the movie Conrad hugged his 
mother, but she did not respond. I believe this was 
Conrad's way of bringing the relationship back together 
again. I believe mother was also very jealous of her 
husband's love and concern for Conrad. She was always 
trying to get her gusband to go away on vacation, again to 
run from the family's problems...Conrad's and mother's 
relationship was very distant, they could not connect with 
one another, even though Conrad did attempt to connect with 
his mother, but she would not permit it...It as if she just 
wanted Conrad out of the picture, because he was making her