Introduction
“Big” (1988) is an illustrative story of how a little boy has wished to become big and adult at once. His dreams came true by the moment he wished to be big before the machine called Zoltar Speaks in an amusement park (Marshall 1988). In this respect it is vital to admit that the conceptual part of the film is related to dreams of children. It means that there are stimuli making children wish something as long as they have been humiliated once. Thereupon, the development of adolescents may face an obstacle of having lack of understanding from the opposite sex. Thus, “Big” represents not solely comedy-drama movie but also theoretical grounds of adolescent development and crisis.
Main body
The movie is directed by Penny Marshall starring Tom Hanks and Elizabeth Perkins. It tells a story of Josh Baskin who was humiliated by a pretty girl at a carnival. This bad experience of communicating with girls made him wish to become big more than anything else in life. He wishes before Zoltar Speaks machine to be big and experiences materialization of this wish next morning. Now he is a 31 year old man with childish understanding of the world. Later on he rents a cheap room in a hotel and finds job in MacMillan’s Toy Store. His talent is in that he can test toys with enthusiasm, as a contemporary child. Thus, he is doing what he /likes most of all and gets paid. In the workplace he meets Susan Lawrence (Elizabeth Perkins) who further falls in love with Josh. However, he understands soon that it is better for him to become a child again, and with the help of that machine he turns out to be a small Josh Baskin as in the very start of the movie.
The idea of the film is to describe inner worries which boys come through in their lives. In this respect a desire to become big was like Josh’s revenge. He wanted to prove his ability to make communication with girls reliable in his case. However, he also encountered the reality of being adult. In particular, he got through the burden of responsibility. Josh wanted to have relations with a girl that he never experienced before. The point is that it makes most of adolescents worry if they are attractive to the opposite sex or they are judged by girls as stupid geeks. Such formulation of the issue makes it possible to illuminate the scene when Susan and Tom were jumping on a tramp. Such childish attitude toward how it is better to spend leisure time impresses her. However, she does not make Josh’s words out until admitting his being a child at the end.
In fact, desires of a child need special attention, for they are the result of troubles that may have happened to them. In this respect, Josh never used to be with a woman. The scene where he touches Susan’s breast with a finger is a demonstration of first experience of being so closer to a woman that nourishes sympathy to him (Marshall, 1988). The effect of being big resulted in Josh’s satisfaction according to what he wanted initially. He experienced real mutual love. He adored being big, but in the same time he finally understands the pivotal idea of being who you are at the moment.
As long as John is constantly trying to persuade Susan in that he is a child, he encounters another wall of misunderstanding. John, as an adolescent, suffers from being involved into adult life. It is so similar to adolescent development when children are trying to seem adult in everything. However, John reaches the sticking point to be willing to turn into little John Baskin. It was a stage of adolescent crisis that happened in him eventually. Finding no care as a child at home, he neither discovers it as an adult. Here lies a reminder for parents: be interested in what your children are into. It is also vital to use the example of the movie in understanding that children aare likely to play and communicate. They need more freedom in these aspects.
The problem of Josh is concerned with that he cannot consult with parents (his mother, particularly,) on how to behave with girls. Hence, it is a problem of parental indifference toward such aspects of growing up. Most of the adults think that things will go by themselves. However, “Big” demonstrates that Josh was not heard once and he did not want to leave it out. His hopes were extremely focused on the idea of peoples’ intimate relationships. Though, he demonstrated amateurism in case with Susan, his desire was completed by the fact that he found a girl whom he liked and who loved him.
Conclusion
“Big” is a picture of the first steps male adolescents do when attempting to impress girls. It is a set of reasons and outcomes that demonstrate causative-consecutive line of features influencing adolescents in their emotional world. Thus, a viewer should have a reasonable attitude toward lessons provided in the film. It is an instruction, first of all, for current or would-be parents. Judging on the plot and play of the main characters in the film, one may simply highlight merely educational value of the movie (Lehu, 2007). It is no surprise that there are lots of adolescents forced to work out problems by means of communication. Thus, to overcome points on crisis in adolescent development, one should be more attentive to children. It concerns parents and teachers, first of all. “Big” shows particularly the story of one boy that incorporates worries of many other boys in terms of growing up.
Reference
Lehu, J. M. (2007). Branded entertainment: product placement & brand strategy in the entertainment business. London: Kogan Page Publishers, 2007.
Marshall, Penny. (1988). Big. Starring Tom Hanks and Elizabeth Perkins.